How to STOP procrastinating - simple and effective ways!
Summary
TLDRThis video script addresses the common struggle of procrastination, offering a three-step solution to overcome it. It starts by acknowledging the emotional triggers behind procrastination, suggesting techniques like the 5-minute rule, Pomodoro Technique, and the 321 method to reduce initial resistance to tasks. Finally, it emphasizes the importance of recognizing and celebrating one's success in combating procrastination, fostering a positive mindset for future challenges.
Takeaways
- π Procrastination is a habit, not a personality trait, and can be managed by identifying triggers and taking actionable steps.
- π Junior, the speaker, emphasizes the importance of understanding the root causes of procrastination to find a lasting solution.
- π€ The script suggests that procrastination often stems from feelings like fear, guilt, or embarrassment associated with a task, rather than the task itself.
- π‘ It's crucial to distinguish between reality and imagination to effectively tackle procrastination, as our thoughts can create artificial complexities.
- π Acknowledging the trigger is the first step in overcoming procrastination, and journaling can be a powerful tool for this self-awareness.
- β± The 5-Minute Rule is introduced as a technique to start tasks by committing to just 5 minutes of work, which can build momentum and lead to longer periods of productivity.
- π The Pomodoro Technique is recommended for maintaining focus, involving work intervals of 25 minutes (or a duration that suits the individual) followed by short breaks.
- π The 321 Method is a quick action-prompting tool, where counting down from three and taking immediate action can bypass hesitation and start the task.
- π― Recognizing and celebrating success after overcoming procrastination is vital for building confidence and reinforcing positive behavior.
- π The video script highlights the importance of self-reflection and positive self-talk in maintaining motivation and overcoming the negative impacts of procrastination.
- π The speaker shares a personal anecdote to illustrate the effectiveness of the strategies discussed and encourages viewers to implement them in their own lives.
Q & A
What is the main issue discussed in the video script?
-The main issue discussed in the video script is procrastination and how to combat it effectively.
According to the script, is procrastination a personality trait or a habit?
-The script suggests that procrastination is not a personality trait but rather a habit.
Who is Mel Robbins and what did she teach the speaker about procrastination?
-Mel Robbins is a motivational speaker and author. She taught the speaker that identifying triggers and taking actionable steps can help overcome procrastination.
What is the first step in overcoming procrastination as mentioned in the script?
-The first step in overcoming procrastination is to acknowledge the trigger, which means becoming aware of the reasons behind the procrastination.
What are the three techniques introduced in the script to reduce the initial friction point of starting a task?
-The three techniques introduced are the 5-minute rule, the Pomodoro Technique, and the 321 method.
Can you explain the 5-minute rule as described in the script?
-The 5-minute rule involves committing to work on a task for just 5 minutes before deciding whether to continue, making it easier to start the task.
What is the Pomodoro Technique and how does it work?
-The Pomodoro Technique involves working in intervals, traditionally 25 minutes, called 'pomodoros', with short breaks in between, and a longer break after a set number of pomodoros.
What is the 321 method and how does it help with procrastination?
-The 321 method is a simple tool where you count down from three and take immediate action at 'one', which helps to overcome inertia and start a task.
Why is it important to recognize success after overcoming procrastination, according to the script?
-Recognizing success is important because it helps to create a positive loop in one's mind, boosting confidence and making it more likely to overcome procrastination in the future.
What is the role of journaling in the process of overcoming procrastination as described in the script?
-Journaling helps in acknowledging the trigger by writing down thoughts, creating distance between oneself and the thoughts, and better reasoning with oneself.
How does the script suggest dealing with artificial complexities created by overthinking?
-The script suggests using techniques like the 5-minute rule, Pomodoro Technique, and 321 method to reduce the initial friction and start the task, which helps in overcoming the artificial complexities.
Outlines
π Overcoming Procrastination: A Personal Journey
The speaker, Junior, introduces the topic of procrastination, sharing his own struggles and the realization that it is a habit rather than a personality trait. He emphasizes the importance of identifying triggers and taking actionable steps to combat procrastination, as taught by Mel Robbins. Junior expresses empathy for those who struggle with procrastination and hopes that the strategies shared in the video will be as effective for the viewers as they have been for him. He also highlights the prevalence of procrastination among students and invites viewers to engage with the content through comments and subscriptions.
π€ Understanding the Root Causes of Procrastination
This paragraph delves into the reasons behind procrastination, suggesting that it is rarely due to the task itself but rather the emotions associated with it, such as fear, guilt, or embarrassment. The speaker discusses how these feelings can stem from overthinking and creating artificial complexities in our minds. He also touches on the compounding effect of multiple tasks and the mental health impact of procrastination, such as feelings of demotivation and lethargy. The paragraph concludes with an introduction to a three-step process that the speaker has found effective in overcoming procrastination.
π The Three-Step Solution to Procrastination
The speaker outlines a three-step process to combat procrastination. The first step is acknowledging the trigger, which involves becoming aware of the procrastination and understanding the underlying emotions. The second step introduces techniques to reduce the initial friction point, such as the 5-minute rule, the Pomodoro Technique, and the 321 method. These techniques aim to make starting a task easier, with the understanding that once started, maintaining momentum is less challenging. The speaker provides examples of how he personally applies these techniques and encourages viewers to experiment with them to find what works best.
π Recognizing Success in Overcoming Procrastination
The final paragraph focuses on the importance of recognizing and celebrating success in overcoming procrastination. The speaker points out that we are often our own harshest critics and suggests that acknowledging our achievements can help create a positive internal dialogue. He shares a personal anecdote about a challenging day and how he used the strategies discussed in the video to accomplish his tasks. The speaker encourages viewers to be proud of their accomplishments and to reflect on their successes as a way to build confidence and motivation for future tasks.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Procrastination
π‘Triggers
π‘Mel Robbins
π‘Overthinking
π‘Artificial Complexities
π‘5-Minute Rule
π‘Pomodoro Technique
π‘321 Method
π‘Flow State
π‘Acknowledging Success
Highlights
Procrastination is not a personality trait but a habit.
Identifying triggers and taking actionable steps can help combat procrastination.
Procrastination is often a result of feelings associated with a task, not the task itself.
Feelings of fear, guilt, or embarrassment can lead to procrastination.
Overthinking and creating artificial complexities can contribute to procrastination.
The Pomodoro Technique can be a powerful tool to overcome procrastination.
The 5-minute rule encourages starting a task for just 5 minutes before deciding to continue.
Using a timer can help visualize the 5-minute rule and maintain focus.
The 321 method involves counting down from three and taking immediate action at one.
Acknowledging the trigger is the first step in combating procrastination.
Journaling can help identify and reason with thoughts that lead to procrastination.
The Pomodoro Technique involves working in intervals with short breaks.
Adjusting the time frame in the Pomodoro Technique can cater to individual preferences.
The 321 method helps shift focus from overthinking to immediate action.
Recognizing and celebrating success in overcoming procrastination is crucial.
Reflecting on accomplishments can boost confidence and motivation.
Procrastination can lead to feelings of demotivation and lethargy.
Understanding the root causes of procrastination is key to finding effective solutions.
Transcripts
you have an exam to study for or a paper
to write but instead clicked on this
video congratulations you struggle with
procrastination but truth be told I
struggled with it for most of my life
and it wasn't until University when I
recognized the fact that procrastination
isn't a personality trait it's not who
we are it's a habit Mel Robbins taught
me that once we can identify triggers
once we can take actionable steps
against it the quicker we're able to
return back to our work and get to the
place that we want to be in life I
understand how tough it can be to
procrastinates I really hope that you
learn a lot from this video you can take
a lot away from it my name is Junior if
you're new to the channel welcome if
you're returning welcome back man I am
super excited to do this one because if
you were to do a survey for students all
across the world and ask them hey what's
the biggest issue that you encounter as
a student I would be very surprised if
procrastination wasn't in the top five
so hopefully you can learn a lot from
this this is something that I've been
able to apply in terms of a strategy to
combat procrastin ation it's become very
powerful for me and I hope they can be
just as powerful for you too if you have
any questions or any thoughts please
leave them in the comments below if you
like the video make sure you give it a
thumbs up and then also of course
subscribe with that being said sit back
relax and enjoy this video before we can
even start talking about the solutions
we have to ask ourselves this really
important question of why do we even
procrastinate in the first place because
if we don't take the time to dissect and
then accurately identify what the root
causes then any solution we come up with
will be inherently temporary will be a
Band-Aid approach we don't want that we
want something more concrete we want
something a little bit more permanent
something we can rely on on a consistent
basis so let's just ask ourselves that
question and break it down why do we
procrastinate and I actually think the
answer might surprise you you see rarely
is it because the task is overwhelming
in and of itself instead there are
feelings associated with that task that
we're actively avoiding perhaps you have
a feeling of fear you are a
perfectionist and you've made progress
on a piece but you fail to return back
to it because you're afraid of messing
it up I've been there I know what that
feels like or perhaps it's a feeling
guilt you have a team that you made a
promise to and you're late on that
commitment now they're waiting on you
it's it's hard to try and overcome that
feeling of guilt or perhaps it's a
feeling of just straight up
embarrassment or shame because you've
seen other people successfully
accomplish this task and have made it
look pretty darn easy so you're
wondering what's wrong with me why is it
taking me so much longer whatever the
feeling is you have to understand that
there are occurring not because of an
event that's actually happened instead
it's a result of the thoughts in your
head the thoughts in your mind but it's
actually really difficult to distinguish
between reality and Imagination in real
time but the better we can understand
why procrastination happens the better
off you'll be when you're trying to
identify and then take actional steps
against it we as human beings we have
this natural tendency to overthink we do
you and me both and everyone are really
do believe do some people have it harder
than others yes but we all when we're
introduced to a task jump to the details
right we start to think about when is
the deadline who are the people we have
to work with what is it going to require
out of me what do I have to sacrifice to
get it done we think about every little
thing that can go wrong and we start to
create what I call artificial
complexities or perceived complexities
they're not actually there but they're
in our imagination but we all know that
sometimes our thoughts can seemingly be
our reality what makes it worse is that
we're usually introduced to a new task
before we even get started on the first
one and then what happens is not only do
you have these artificial complexities
built for this first task but now you
have it for a second and then a third
and then a fourth and a fifth and then a
six and then they all interact with each
other and they compound and eventually
they become this insurmountable Mountain
that you can't seemingly overcome I've
been there and if you've ever felt the
full extent of what procrastination can
do to your mental health you know how
serious of a matter this is right you
know that it can make you feel
demotivated it can make you feel
lethargic it can make you you just feel
like you don't want to do anything we
don't want to be there and now that I've
laid the foundation of how serious
procrastination can be let's jump into
the solution this is a three-step
process in which I've utilized I've
applied and it's worked tremendously
well for me so hopefully can help you
guys too so the first step is to
acknowledge the trigger a lot of us we
procrastinate without even knowing that
we're procrastinating we don't have any
awareness of it happening and then
eventually they just start to compile
with one another and then we just have
these feelings of being completely
exhausted and we're wondering what's
wrong with us we have to set time for
ourselves on a daily basis to have that
interaction connection with that inner
dialogue and I talk about how important
journaling is for me and I really hope
that you guys are taking me up on that
but what's happening when you Journal is
you're writing your thoughts down and
you start to create distance between you
and your thoughts paper is more patient
than people there's that great quote and
basically paper's not going to judge you
paper won't make you feel stupid it's
not not going to call you lazy or that
you're being irrational right as you're
able to freely write down your thoughts
you can better reason with yourself you
can even think oh my goodness I don't
even agree with that but you wouldn't
have known that if you didn't get it out
of your head and so once those thoughts
are out you start to go through the
process of actively uncovering those
layers and start to recognize okay this
is what I'm feeling and maybe this is
why I'm feeling that way so that's
acknowledging your trigger and then step
number two is you apply techniques that
reduce the initial friction point you
apply techniques that make it easier for
you to just get started because once you
do you'll realize that that part was the
hardest the three techniques that I love
to use and I actually find myself using
them quite often are one the 5 minute
rule two it's going to be probably the
most widely used productivity tip called
the Pomodoro Technique and three the 321
method we're going to quickly go over
these one at a time the first one being
the 5 minute rle which basically has you
commit to just 5 minutes of work before
deciding whether or not to continue it's
a lot easier for you to grasp working
for 5 minutes versus 5 hours but what
happens during those 5 minutes well I'll
come to my desk and I'll open up the
tabs that I need I'll read the actual
assignment prompt and now I know what to
do so what's going to happen after those
5 minutes I'm going to think okay it's
not that bad now that I've gotten the
assignment up and I know exactly what's
required of me maybe I can get up my
Word document and start a few paragraphs
of the assignment it's hard to start the
momentum but it's not as hard to sustain
it so now that I've created this
positive momentum then it's easier for
me to stay in it because you enter
What's called the flow state that makes
it a lot more natural a lot more
comfortable for you to do that work and
you're able to work effectively you see
after those first 5 minutes it can
quickly become 30 minutes it can become
an hour and eventually you'll have made
significant progress and even if you
don't continue after the first 5 minutes
that's fine go ahead and do something
else and then come back to apply the 5
minute rule again eventually I bet
you'll find yourself being able to
surpass the first 5 minute bout actually
a quick little anecdote I bought a timer
off of Amazon it was a sand timer and
for the first two years it became an
essential piece in my backpack I care e
it around everywhere and what I would do
is whenever I would feel lethargic not
want to do anything and feel like I'm
going to procrastinate I would just flip
that sand timer and look at it and I'm
like I can commit to 5 minutes of work
come on June I know you're tired but 5
minutes you can do 5 minutes and I would
do it and then eventually I'd find
myself going past the 5 minutes I did
this constantly right and actually the
the sandtimer served two purposes not
only did allow me to apply the 5 minute
rule but it gave me a place to put my
visual Focus whenever I start to find
myself being distracted and so instead
of looking out into the public space and
seeing people and be distracted by
movement I would look and Target my
visual Focus to that sand piece or
particle dwindling down and eventually
that got boring so I return back to my
work whether you Ed the sand timer or
not that's up to you but the 5 minute
roll in general is something that I
certainly think you should apply number
two the Pomodoro Technique and if you
haven't heard of this just yet um
hopefully I can bring light to it
because it is so powerful and basically
it has you work for pomodoros which are
25 minute intervals with 5 minute breaks
and then after a set of pomodoros you'll
take a longer break of 30 to 45 minutes
or even an hour break right again it's a
lot easier for you to grasp the idea of
barking for 25 minutes versus 3 hours or
4 hours or 5 hours but you'll find that
each subsquent pomodoros are much easier
to achieve than the previous one right
cuz again it's a lot easier for you to
sustain that momentum then start it so
making that initial task a lot less
daunting the pomodora doeses a really
good job of doing that but also a caveat
here that 25 minute is just a suggestion
right it's not something that you have
to adhere two I don't use 25 minutes I
use 45 minutes because for me that's not
that hard to do 45 minutes doesn't seem
so insurmountable if if it's hard for
you to even get a few minutes in
probably 45 minutes isn't where you're
going to start but 45 minutes still
feels very easy to me and also allows me
to take that break right about the time
in which I'm going to be bogged down by
distractions so just experiment with the
time frame in which you want to utilize
for your pomodoros and then find what
works best for you and apply it but
again the idea is can you find a time
frame in which it's still seemingly
feasible for yourself it's like duh I
can do that um it's laughable almost and
then you'll find that each subsequent
pomodoros are going to be easier for you
to execute number three the 321 method
this is a very simple yet powerful tool
if it could become a subconscious habit
of yours whenever you find yourself not
wanting to do a task count count down
from three and at one immediately take
action towards that step Mel Robbins has
that great quote that says never let
your mood dictate what you do always
take action first because movement
changes your mood and it couldn't be
further from the truth and I love that
quote and so what happens when we're
making these decisions of pursuing our
goals our mind and our bodies actually
enter this battle it's our body saying I
want to stay here I want to stay where
I'm at I want to stay put I want to stay
in my comfee bed I want to stay with my
friends and your mind is racing like oh
my goodness we got to do this and that
and we have these goals we should go to
the gym we should go do our work and
actually if you give yourself long
enough your body usually wins out um
your body keeps you where you're at and
that's why we tend to procrastinate on
our work and tend to not want to go to
the gym but the 321 method has you shift
your focus to the counting and then at
one you take that action so you don't
allow yourself enough time to start to
create those artificial complexities or
at least Ponder upon those artificial
complexities and when you take action
you'll start to recognize that it's not
as hard as you originally thought that
it was so this has become absolutely
essential for me in the mornings when I
wake up so literally when I wake up I I
only ever set one alarm and that's
because when I wake up I do this I I
roll over and I do three 2 1 and at 1 I
get up and I just start my morning
routine and usually that first action
changes my mood and I'm able to continue
sustaining that momentum into my first
task of the day are there times in which
I finish my morning then I go back to
sleep yes I will be completely honest
but is that rare yes and in general more
often than not does the 321 method help
me prevent that procrastination of
getting the day started yes and I think
that's something that you should try
implementing as well so those are three
techniques but really any technique that
helps you reduce that initial friction
that allows you to laugh at how easy it
is to accomplish the better off you'll
be in terms of um overcoming that level
of procrastination and then part number
three this is really important and I
think this is the part in which most
people don't do ever and that is to
recognize the success recognize the fact
that you were able to overcome that
procrastination you see we are our
biggest critics we are so quick to say
June you are useless you're lazy you're
unmotivated you're good for nothing but
rarely do we say June you did a good job
rarely do we compliment her ourselves
rarely do we give us that vat of
confidence and you see like we're
constantly in conversation with
ourselves so if that's not a positive
Loop in your mind of course it's going
to have an impact on you and and how you
go about what you do right so take that
time whenever you do to reflect to say I
did this I felt a certain way and I did
not want to do it but I acknowledged the
trigger I took the actable steps to
overcome it and man did I do a good job
because the more you're able to cement
that as an actual task that you
accomplished that you actually took
steps to overcome the more likely you'll
be doing that in the future I have a
perfect example of this this happened to
me yesterday I had the longest day
yesterday I had projects and I had exams
I had meetings for both my school
projects and then also for my business I
had to go to the gym there's so many
things going on I was getting so many
messages constantly of people that
needed my attention and in my head I was
thinking how am I going to do this how
am I going to try and even make any
progress towards any of these and I
found myself doing that I started to
create these artificial complexities
with each of those tasks and then they
start to compile with one another and
then it became this in of mountain
seemingly where I was like I'm just
going to call it a day but I did it I
acknowledged the trigger I wrote it down
and then number two I implemented the 5
minute rule for the first two tasks and
then I gained that momentum to start I
was able to sustain it and then before I
went to bed I made sure I took the time
to think I did that most people wouldn't
have been able to do that most people
wouldn't have been able to get through
that day yester because they would have
gave up and I'm certainly somebody in
the past that would have gave up but I'm
proud of myself for accomplishing that
you should be proud of yourself whenever
you do accomplish something as dangerous
something as hard as procrastination so
that's part three never skip out on that
okay you have to understand that you are
powerful beyond measure you are somebody
that that has a lot to offer you're
somebody that's very smart that that can
take somehow this
seemingly crazy chaotic world that we
live in and still be able to make
progress on the days that you don't want
to hopefully um what you learned in this
video was a value to you hopefully you
learned a lot right so to to recap we
first understood why
procrastination happens in the first
place that allows us to put ourselves in
a better situation to distinguish
between reality and Imagination in real
time and then the action full steps are
number one acknowledge the trigger
number two apply the techniques that
reduce the initial friction and then
make it easier for us to start and then
number three acknowledge your success
again if you have any questions please
leave them in the comments below I'll be
happy to answer and of course
subscribing until next time I hope that
you take care and of course I'll see you
at the
[Music]
top
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