PROCRASTINATION, we are often told, is the 鈥渢hief of time鈥�. When I notice my days slipping away in some unfulfilling activity, I can鈥檛 help but feel a sense of loss for all I might have achieved and guilt for failing to keep that burglar at bay.
According to the psychological research, our self-admonishment may only make it harder to break the habit, because procrastination is often a way of coping with stress and self-criticism. If I feel anxious about writing a new chapter of my book, for example, I may choose to hide my head in the sands of social media rather than facing the feared reality of a bad first draft. This is counterproductive, since the lost time will only make poorer performance more likely, but it provides short-term relief from the anxiety I am facing.
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Studies show that the higher our , the more likely we are to procrastinate. If we then beat ourselves up, it is only going to raise our levels of stress and anxiety, which may cause us to look for more relief in temporary distractions 鈥� disrupting our next task, too. The result is a .
For this reason, psychologists suggest that practising greater . Imagine you are talking to a friend in a similar situation. What kind words of encouragement would you use? This exercise reduces self-criticism and people who practise it tend to find it easier to meet challenging goals. Engaging in self-compassionate thinking increased , for example.
You might also consider employing a little 鈥渟trategic indulgence鈥� 鈥� a concept I recently discovered at the conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Put simply, this means including procrastination as part of your daily schedule. One of my main sources of time-wasting is funny YouTube videos, for instance, so I might decide to enjoy those for 10 minutes at 11am, before returning to writing.
With strategic indulgence, we can still experience the short-term mood boost we crave. But since it is a deliberate decision, we don鈥檛 have the feelings of failure that come with our spontaneous procrastination, so we are then less likely to descend into that spiral of unproductivity.
It seems to work. At the conference, Lile Jia at the National University of Singapore revealed early research showing that students who work distractions into their schedule tend to maintain higher motivation and make better progress towards their goals, with less stress.
In today鈥檚 hustle culture, it is reassuring to see research that celebrates self-compassion and self-indulgence. The thief of time may be an inevitable guest, but, with the right mindset, we can ensure its visits are short.
David Robson is an award-winning science writer and the聽author of The Expectation Effect: How your mindset can聽change your life
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