Lecture #7 - My Method for Defeating Procrastination

Summary

This video script addresses procrastination as an emotion management issue rather than a time management one. The speaker shares three personal methods to combat it: using rewards to break tasks into manageable parts, removing distractions to avoid temptation, and 'motivation harvesting'—a technique that leverages one's existing desire to impress or not disappoint others to stay motivated and complete tasks. The script also includes practical examples and insights from the speaker's own experiences as a college student and later as a professor.

Takeaways

• 🕒 Procrastination is an emotion management problem, not a time management issue. It's linked to the unpleasant emotions associated with a task, such as fear or boredom.
• 🎮 The speaker used the example of playing 'Mario Kart' to illustrate how procrastination can lead to skipping classes and falling behind in schoolwork.
• 🏛️ To combat procrastination, the speaker recommends creating a dedicated study space away from distractions, like a library desk, to maintain focus on academic tasks.
• 🍬 Method one for tackling procrastination is 'rewards', which involves breaking tasks into smaller parts and rewarding oneself after completing each part.
• 🚫 Method two is 'temptation removal', where one removes or avoids distractions to stay focused on the task at hand.
• 🔒 The speaker personally uses browser blockers and a cell phone lock box to remove temptations and maintain productivity.
• 🌱 'Motivation harvesting' is the third method introduced, which leverages existing social motivations, like impressing others, to complete tasks.
• 👥 Accountability groups, like the one the speaker participated in during graduate school, can be effective for motivation harvesting by sharing daily goals and accomplishments.
• 📑 Printing out materials can help with focus by reducing the urge to switch tasks or get distracted by digital alternatives.
• 🏆 Setting up scenarios where one's actions are visible to others, like projecting work on a screen, can harness the motivation to impress and prevent procrastination.
• 📝 Professors often use the strategy of submitting abstracts before writing the full paper to create a commitment that motivates them to complete the work.
• 📚 Sitting at the front of the class can be a form of motivation harvesting, using the fear of embarrassment to stay awake and focused during lectures.

Q & A

What is the main argument presented in the video about procrastination?

The main argument is that procrastination is not a time management problem but an emotion management problem, where tasks are associated with unpleasant emotions that individuals seek to avoid.

What are the three methods mentioned in the video to combat procrastination?

The three methods mentioned are: 1) Using rewards to break tasks into smaller parts and incentivize completion, 2) Removing temptations to prevent choosing easy alternatives over the task at hand, and 3) Motivation harvesting, which involves leveraging existing motivations to complete tasks.

Can you explain the concept of 'motivation harvesting' as introduced in the video?

Motivation harvesting is a technique where one takes a pre-existing motivation, such as the desire to impress others or avoid embarrassment, and applies it to a task that they are procrastinating on, thereby increasing their desire to complete that task.

What personal anecdote does the speaker use to illustrate the struggle with procrastination?

The speaker shares an anecdote from his first year of college, where he avoided going back to his dorm to prevent playing Mario Kart and instead reserved a desk in the library to focus on his studies.

How did the speaker's experience with a work accountability group in graduate school help with motivation?

The work accountability group helped by creating a structured environment where members declared their daily tasks, worked in the presence of others, and reported their accomplishments, leveraging the desire to impress peers and avoid looking lazy or unreliable.

What is the significance of the 'rainbow road' analogy in the video?

The 'rainbow road' analogy illustrates the difficulty of stopping an enjoyable activity (like playing Mario Kart) once started, which can lead to skipping important tasks such as attending classes.

How does the speaker describe the use of browser blockers as a method to remove temptations?

Browser blockers are software that prevents access to distracting websites, helping the speaker to focus on work by eliminating the temptation to browse the internet.

What is the concept behind the 'cell phone lock box' mentioned in the video?

The cell phone lock box is a device that locks the phone away for a set period, preventing access to it and thus removing the temptation to use it while trying to focus on work.

How does the speaker explain the effectiveness of setting up a situation to harness motivation?

The speaker explains that by setting up a situation where one's existing motivations, such as the desire to impress others or avoid embarrassment, are aligned with the task at hand, it becomes easier to overcome procrastination and complete the task.

What are some examples of motivation harvesting provided in the video?

Examples include arranging a meeting with friends to ensure getting out of bed and bathing, committing to a weekly pickup basketball game to practice consistently, and submitting an abstract to a conference to motivate writing the full paper.

How does the strategy of sitting at the front of the class relate to motivation harvesting?

Sitting at the front of the class is a form of motivation harvesting where the pre-existing motivation to avoid embarrassment by falling asleep in front of others is harnessed to stay awake and attentive during a lecture.

Outlines

00:00

🎯 Procrastination as Emotion Management

Procrastination is an emotion management issue rather than a time management problem. The video introduces three methods to combat procrastination, with a focus on 'motivation harvesting,' a term coined by the speaker. The video aims to explore these methods and their implementation.

05:02

🎮 The Tale of Mario Kart and College

The speaker shares a personal anecdote about avoiding Mario Kart to stay productive during college. By reserving a desk in the library and avoiding the dorm, the speaker managed to maintain focus and succeed academically, illustrating the importance of environment in combating procrastination.

10:03

📱 Overcoming Temptations and Emotional Barriers

The speaker discusses strategies for removing temptations, such as using browser blockers and working in distraction-free environments. Emphasizing that procrastination stems from emotional discomfort with tasks, the speaker shares methods like using a phone lock box and printing materials to stay focused.

15:05

👥 Motivation Harvesting through Accountability

Motivation harvesting is explained through the example of a work accountability group. By leveraging the desire to impress peers, the speaker and colleagues boost productivity. This method involves setting up situations where existing motivations are redirected to achieve tasks, helping to overcome procrastination.

🏀 Practical Applications of Motivation Harvesting

Various examples of motivation harvesting are provided, such as arranging social commitments to encourage personal hygiene or setting up regular practice sessions to improve skills. The speaker emphasizes that motivation harvesting involves managing one's psychology to achieve desired outcomes.

📚 Academic Motivation Techniques

Professors often use motivation harvesting by committing to conference presentations based on incomplete work, creating a necessity to complete it to avoid embarrassment. Sitting at the front of the class is another classic strategy to stay alert, driven by the desire to avoid public embarrassment.

🔄 Motivation Harvesting: A Procrastination Solution

The concept of motivation harvesting is summarized as a powerful tool for managing procrastination. By setting up scenarios that align immediate desires with necessary tasks, individuals can overcome emotional barriers and maintain productivity.

Keywords

💡Procrastination

Procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing tasks or actions, often due to a lack of motivation or fear of the task's difficulty. In the video, it is framed not as a time management issue but an emotion management problem, where the unpleasant emotions associated with a task lead to its avoidance. The script discusses various methods to combat procrastination, emphasizing that it's about managing emotions rather than time.

💡Time Management

Time management refers to the process of organizing and planning how much time is spent on specific activities to increase efficiency and productivity. The video challenges the common notion that procrastination is a time management problem, arguing instead that it is rooted in emotional responses to tasks.

💡Emotion Management

Emotion management is the ability to control and regulate one's emotions, particularly in response to stress or challenging situations. The video's central theme is that procrastination is fundamentally an emotion management issue, where tasks are avoided due to associated negative emotions such as fear or boredom.

💡Rewards

In the context of the video, rewards are used as a motivational tool to break down tasks into smaller parts and provide positive reinforcement upon completion. This method is part of the speaker's strategy to combat procrastination by making the task completion more appealing through associated rewards, such as a piece of candy or a short break.

💡Temptation Removal

Temptation removal is a strategy where distractions or temptations that could lead to procrastination are actively eliminated from one's environment. The script mentions this as a method the speaker uses, such as avoiding common areas with video games and using browser blockers to prevent access to distracting websites.

💡Motivation Harvesting

Motivation harvesting is a term coined by the speaker to describe leveraging existing social motivations, such as the desire to impress others or avoid embarrassment, to complete tasks. The video explains this concept as a powerful method to prevent procrastination by setting up situations where one's inherent desire to maintain a positive social image drives task completion.

💡Work Accountability Group

A work accountability group is a collective of individuals who hold each other responsible for their work progress. In the video, the speaker describes using such a group during graduate school to declare daily work intentions, work in the same space, and share accomplishments, which helped to prevent procrastination and maintain motivation.

💡Browser Blockers

Browser blockers are software applications that restrict access to certain websites, typically those deemed unproductive or distracting. The script mentions their use as a form of temptation removal to help the speaker focus on work by eliminating the option to visit fun or distracting websites.

💡Cell Phone Lock Box

A cell phone lock box is a physical device that secures a phone for a set period, preventing access to it. The video describes using such a box to remove the temptation of checking the phone, which can be a significant distraction and contribute to procrastination.

💡Academic Conferences

Academic conferences are events where scholars gather to present and discuss their research. In the context of the video, they serve as an example of motivation harvesting, where the commitment to present at a conference can motivate the completion of a paper that has not yet been written, by leveraging the desire not to embarrass oneself in front of peers.

💡Sitting at the Front of the Class

Sitting at the front of the class is a strategy mentioned in the video as a form of motivation harvesting. It is based on the idea that being visible to the instructor and other students increases the motivation to stay awake and engaged in the lecture, harnessing the desire not to embarrass oneself by falling asleep.

Highlights

Procrastination is not a time management problem, but an emotion management problem.

The speaker uses three methods to combat procrastination, with the third method being the most powerful.

Motivation harvesting, a term invented by the speaker, is highly effective in preventing procrastination.

The video is the eighth in a series aimed at college students on how to succeed in college.

The speaker shares a personal story from college involving avoiding the common room to prevent playing Mario Kart and instead studying in the library.

The decision to study in the library and avoid the dorm common room was crucial for the speaker's college success.

Rewards method: Break tasks into smaller parts and reward yourself after completing each part.

Temptation removal method: Remove temptations that distract you from completing tasks.

The speaker uses browser blockers and a cell phone lock box to remove distractions.

Motivation harvesting involves using existing motivations, such as the desire to impress others, to complete tasks.

An example of motivation harvesting: Work accountability groups where participants declare their goals and work together in silence.

Another example: Setting up a public display of your work to harness the motivation to avoid embarrassment.

Using motivation harvesting to overcome procrastination by leveraging social accountability and personal pride.

College professors often use motivation harvesting by committing to present papers at conferences before writing them.

Sitting at the front of the class to avoid falling asleep is a classic example of motivation harvesting.

Transcripts

procrastination is not a problem

with time management it's a problem with

emotion management

just like everyone else i have this

problem

and i use three methods to solve it

the first two methods are obvious and

commonplace

the trick is to design them so that you

actually use them

the third method motivation harvesting

this is a term that i invented and of

the three

this one really is the most powerful the

most effective

in preventing procrastination at least

for me

this video is the eighth

in a series of videos designed for

college students

about how to succeed in college but this

particular topic

procrastination applies to almost

everyone

the purpose of this video is to explain

everything that i've just said

like what exactly does it mean for

procrastination to be an emotion

management problem what is that and what

exactly are these methods for

combating procrastination and how

exactly do you implement them

that's what i'm going to do so let's get

started

[Music]

i begin with the tale of a video game

in the summer of 1996 the nintendo

corporation

released a new video game console with a

64-bit processing unit the handheld

controller for the nintendo 64 console

had three things the best game

on n64 was a go-kart racing game

called mario kart and the best track to

race on

in that game was a colorful psychedelic

track

floating in space called rainbow road

in my first year of college there was a

television

with the nintendo 64 in the common room

of the dorm

where i lived and i remember the exact

moment

two weeks into the semester i had just

finished a 9 a.m class

and i was walking back to the dorm and i

realized

i can't go back if i enter that building

then i'm just gonna end up playing mario

kart and i'm not gonna get anything done

for the rest of the day

so i stopped walking i turned around

and i went to the library and when i got

to the library

i reserved a desk they were called

carols like a

library carol there was just a desk in

the library

and i was the only one who was allowed

to sit there i reserved that desk

for four years for the rest of my

college career and i would

leave all of my textbooks and all of my

notebooks

on that desk in the library i never

brought those books

into my dorm room and i used that desk

as a hub and i would go there in between

classes during the day i would wake up

go to class and then i would go to the

library and i would work for a few hours

and then go to my next class and then go

to lunch

and then go back to the library and work

for another few hours go to my last

class or whatever

but i did not go back to that dorm

during the day this decision may have

saved my college career

if you're one of those guys who you know

sits and plays mario kart in the common

room

all day well then what happens is that

you're you're on rainbow road

and you know you have class in three

minutes from now

but once you're on that rainbow road

you're not getting off

and so you skip class and then you skip

class again

and now you've skipped class a few times

and you've fallen way back

in the material and it's just too hard

to catch up and so then

you flunk out this happened to one of

those

guys who played mario kart in the common

room

dude flunked out today i'm a professor

here at the university of north carolina

at greensboro

and i still struggle with

procrastination

and the insight that i've discovered

that has helped me

deal with my own procrastination or lack

of motivation

is the one that i said at the very

beginning of this video which is that

procrastination is not a time management

problem

it's an emotion management problem when

you procrastinate

it's not that you don't know how to

allocate your time or how you should

allocate your time of course you know

you should be working on this

task now instead of like scrolling

around on the internet

the problem is that task whatever it is

that thing that you've got to get done

for some reason it is associated with

some

unpleasant emotion maybe it's

fear you're afraid of doing

poorly on that assignment or or doing a

bad job at that task whatever it is

and actually working on the assignment

forces you to confront the fact that you

might not do well

and that's unpleasant or maybe it's just

boredom

of course you don't want to experience

boredom

boredom is bad okay so whatever it is

there's some unpleasant emotions

associated

with the task that you are

procrastinating doing

and so you need some methods some

techniques that you can use to

overcome this fact and i'm going to

write them up again

these are the three that i use

this one is kind of easy rewards so what

you do is you break the task up into

little parts

and then at the end of each part you get

a reward you set

up a reward a chocolate or

a break or you know you get to scroll

for five minutes or whatever

right and what this does is it means

that

if you if you complete that portion of

the task

not only do you get the unpleasant thing

which is the boredom

but you also get this this pleasant

thing which is the candy

or whatever so then when you sort of

like add the boredom and the candy

together

it's not so bad and you're able to get

it done that's rewards

you break the task up and you set up

rewards along the way

method number two temptation removal

you have to be serious about this one if

you're afraid

to do this task you're overcome with

fear

and also there's right in front of you

some tempting alternative then then

you're forcing yourself to

choose fear over something else

something pleasant and easy

like scrolling on the internet or

whatever and if you

pit these two tasks against one another

or these two options

then scrolling on the internet is always

going to win

so you have to remove the temptation

right that's what i was doing

by not going back to the common room

where there's

the n64 with mario kart you wouldn't

realize that you have to do this

if you thought that procrastination was

a time management problem

if it was a time management problem you

just have to learn some you know

techniques for managing your time like

like what to do in what order or

whatever but that's not the problem

the problem is your emotions and so you

have to remove temptations

i'm now in my 30s and i'm a professor at

a university

here are the things that i do currently

to remove temptations so i can get my

own work done

the first thing is that i have browser

blockers

on all of my browsers so my computer in

my office

and my cell phone i have you know

a blocker it's a piece of software that

prevents me from going to fun websites

and i work in a barren room like usually

i don't do my own research

in my office because there's all sorts

of stuff there so i will go

to the library amongst the students or i

will go to various secret places that i

won't tell you about

where there's nothing just a just a

plain desk no distractions

whenever possible i print things out

because if you have a piece of paper

and you're looking at a piece of paper

and you have a pen you can't just click

somewhere on the paper to go to some

more interesting thing now this is all

you've got on the paper

so i print things out and then i use

this this is my

cell phone lock box i've shown this in a

previous video

but the way it works is you take your

phone you put it in

you lock it for a certain amount of time

one hour two hours three hours

and then there's no way to get your

phone out you can swipe there's like a

hole here

so you can swipe to answer a call and

put it on speakerphone if it's an

emergency

but you can't get your phone out there's

no override in this thing my phone is

locked away i

literally lock my own cell phone in this

box

when i'm trying to get work done and

then i noticed this thing

in the library this is a phone charging

station

but you could also use it as a phone

lock box like

you leave your phone in there when you

go into the library

even if your phone doesn't need to

charge the point of this

method is to set yourself up for success

you're only human i mean have you ever

even played

mario kart it's amazing if every time

you try to get work done you

have to resist the temptation to play

mario kart

you're going to lose

i made up this term motivation

harvesting

and now i'm going to explain what it

means when i was in graduate

school i had a work accountability group

with three other graduate students

there were four of us we were graduate

students and we would meet

in an empty classroom and we'd start by

going around the room

and everyone declared what they were

going to work on that day

and then we would work in silence in the

same room

for an hour and then someone's you know

alarm would go off and we'd all

take a break and use the restroom and

chit chat we'd all

say what we accomplished in the previous

hour

and then we got back to work we worked

for another hour and then the alarm went

off again

we'd take another break and we did this

over and over again this was

very effective we still do it

now we're no longer graduate students

most of us are professors at various

universities around the country

but we gather in like a video conference

and we all make chit chat at the

beginning about our children and our

lives and whatever

and then we declare what we're going to

do and we get to work

and while we're working we leave our

cameras on

but our microphones are muted and we

work for an hour

and then after an hour we all turn our

microphones back on and

and say what we just accomplished and

chat some more

and then turn our mics off and work for

another hour and we do this for

three or four hours once a week why does

this

work like this work accountability group

the fact that you go into a room with

other people in this way

why exactly does this prevent

procrastination

or give you a very effective consistent

motivational boost i have a theory

you see you are already

motivated to impress people what this

work accountability group does is

it takes the motivation that you already

have

to impress your friends or at least to

have them not think that you're like

really lazy and unreliable it takes your

motivation

to not you know let them down and it

transfers that motivation over onto the

task that you need to get done

here's another thing that you could do

that would work very similarly

let's say you went into the library or

whatever or some common place where

people are walking by and there was a

big projector screen there

and you plugged your laptop into that

screen so that

everyone who was walking by strangers

could see what was on your screen

and then you got to work so you're just

working looking at your screen but

you know that whatever's on your screen

everyone can see it

everyone can see what you're doing this

would prevent you from clicking around

randomly on the internet

why is that well because if you're like

me

you care about what other people think

of you

you want them to think that you're not

lazy and that

you can get work done or whatever and

that you're not just you know

working for a few seconds and then

clicking off and doing something else

right

so you want them to think that about you

and you take that want

you take that motivation that you

already have to impress other people

right and you set up a scenario where

your screen is projected

on the wall or whatever and that

scenario is a scenario where

in order to impress other people you

have to do the thing that you need to

get done which is like you know read

your chemistry textbook or

write your essay or whatever this is

what i mean by motivation harvesting

you take some motivation that you

already have

like to impress people or to have them

think highly of you or whatever you take

that motivation and you harvest it you

you pull it out of that area you set up

a situation

where now that motivation gets applied

to this thing that you have to do

otherwise more examples of this same

technique

let's say that you're just laying in bed

and you know that you should get up and

like

bathe yourself and like you know

emerge into the world but you're lacking

the motivation

so here's what you do you reach over for

your phone and you send a message to

your friends

and you arrange to meet up with them in

a few hours

if you show up to this event

without having bathed then they will

smell you

so because you arranged for this

get-together

in two hours or whatever your motivation

not to have your peers think that you

are

filthy that motivation gets applied to

your current circumstance

well now this thing that you didn't want

to do you didn't have enough motivation

to do it which is

get up out of bed and take a shower now

you're motivated to do that thing

because that's the only way

to get this other thing that you want

which is for your friends not to think

that you're a

filthy creature another example you have

tryouts

for the basketball team

in six months what you need to do for

the next

six months is practice playing

basketball so you can make the

basketball team in six months

but you're lacking the motivation how

are you going to do it you set up a

pickup basketball game

every week for the next six months with

people who you want to impress people

who you want to beat

at the game of basketball well you've

agreed to play basketball at this time

and at this place

and you don't want these people to think

that you're irresponsible for not

showing up

right they will dislike you if you just

flake on them and don't show up

so now you have to show up but also you

want them to think that you're good at

basketball

you want to dunk on them so now you have

one week to practice to get to

an acceptable level of basketball skill

and so you hustle all week long and then

you

play in the pickup game but then there's

another pickup game next week and you

want to impress those people

so you practice the next week too and

you do this every week for six months

and then you were able to do this thing

that you were otherwise

struggling with motivation to do which

is consistently practice over the course

of six months

so that you can make the team you know

during tryouts

okay now an example that college

professors

all over the world use all the time so

there are conferences like academic

conferences these are

when faculty or academics when we get

together and we present

our work our research to each other we

need to publish papers we need to write

and publish papers well some of these

conferences that you present a paper at

you can apply to present a paper without

the paper all you need is like an

extended abstract

that means like a two-page summary of

the paper so what what people do is

they write the two-page summary of the

paper before they've ever written the

paper

they send the two-page summary off to

the conference

and then the judges at the conference

who are other uh other professors other

academics

they read the the abstracts and they

accept the papers

okay so they accepted your paper now oh

but the paper doesn't exist you just

wrote a two-page summary of a paper that

doesn't exist

professors do this all the time well now

you don't want to embarrass yourself at

the conference

so you've got to write the paper and

that's how you get the motivation

to write that paper you harness your

pre-existing motivation not to embarrass

yourself

in front of other scholars

you have that motivation not to

embarrass yourself and you set up a

situation

the situation is where you're now

expected to present a paper that doesn't

exist

you harness that motivation

and apply it to the case so that now you

have to write the paper

that's motivation harvesting faculty use

this all the time

another classic strategy

that has existed for decades maybe

centuries maybe millennia

and that really it turns out i only

realized later it really is a form of

motivation harvesting

is sitting at the front of the class you

show up

to a class or a lecture and you're tired

and you're worried you're going to zone

out or just

altogether fall asleep so what you do is

you decide to sit all the way in the

front

why does that work well it works because

you have a pre-existing motivation

to not embarrass yourself by falling

asleep

right because if you're in the front and

you fall asleep well then the

the person giving the lecture will

notice that

and will hate you when other people will

see you because you're in front of them

you're in their line of sight so you set

up a situation by walking to the front

of the room and sitting down there

where now your motivation not to

embarrass yourself

turns into motivation not to fall asleep

so now you have extra motivation not to

fall asleep and you're able hopefully

to stay awake during that lecture that

is a classic

move sitting at the front of the room

when you're tired

and it's a version of motivation

harvesting

fundamentally motivation harvesting

is just a powerful way to

deal with procrastination in a way that

recognizes

that it is an emotion management problem

you are

managing your own psychology your own

desires

and you're setting up a situation so

that you can

do the thing when you lack the immediate

desire

to do it

you