Just get started!

Once we start a task, it's rarely as bad as we think. In fact, many participants made comments when we paged them during their last-minute efforts that they wished they had started earlier - the task was actually interesting, and they thought they could do a better job with a little more time.

 

Just get started. That's the moral here. Once we start, our attributions of the task changes. Based on other research, we know that our attributions about ourselves change too. First, once we get started, as summarized above, we perceive the task as much less aversive than we do when we're avoiding it. Second, even if we don't finish the task, we have done something, and the next day our attributions about self are not nearly as negative. We feel more in control and more optimistic. You might even say we have a little momentum.

 

Of course, this simple advice is not the answer to our procrastination problems, but it will take you a long way towards decreasing procrastination. When you find yourself thinking things like, "I'll feel more like doing this tomorrow," let that be a "flag" to recognize that you're about to needlessly delay the task, and let it be the stimulus to "just get started."

 

As with everything from obesity to problematic gambling, the etiology of procrastination is tremendously heterogeneous as is effective treatment. There is a great deal to take into account to understand this self-defeating behavior including emotions, self-regulation, the role of personality interacting with situation and how we perceive reward. That leaves me (and you) lots more to write and think about. In the meantime, give it a try. Just get started.