An easy, effortless way to skip procrastination

[Canadian]

I'm posting this here because I've realized that this is a really good technique several times but it usually does not take long before I forget to use it. I usually ignore any notes I write for myself but I tend to think about what I post on forums, so hopefully by posting this I'll actually remember to use it until it becomes a habit.

So here's an easy, effortless way to skip procrastination and actually do whatever it is you've been meaning to:

Daydream about doing it. That's it.

I'd like to hear others opinions on this, maybe some kind of online conversation about this will help me not forget this time.

[MikeF]

I do agree that this is effective with lighter sides of procrastination. If you can even be bothered to think about the task you have to complete then yeah, daydreaming/imaging yourself doing it helps ease you into it by letting yourself know that it's not as difficult, boring, etc. as you'd been dreading.

[Clint Cora]

I agree that for lighter cases of procrastination, that thinking about what you want to do, as in visualization, could be helpful. For more heavy cases, I think that it's important to enlist the help of other people to keep you accountable. I wrote an article and shot a video to explain what I mean here to overcome procrastination.

Some of the goals we have in life are not meant to be achieved solo and will require the efforts of other people. We can't do everything by ourselves.

[Canadian]

Well, what I use it for is not exactly light procrastination. Basically I have all day nearly every day to be productive and normally I'd waste it all. And every effort to "force" myself just backfires and leaves me hating the idea of being productive even more. If that isn't heavy procrastination then I don't know what is.

Although, I can see that for some people they may have an actual reason to procrastinate that they should work through first.

No offense to you, Clint, but I hate the idea of being held accountable by other people on purpose. I feel as though if I were smart then other people should not have that kind of power over me. The time in my life when I was very motivated by people aside from myself was when I was in school, had no self-esteem, could barely think for or stand up for myself, and became very depressed and miserable.

[bodi]

Read Psycho Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz.

His exercise of 'mental practice' using the 'theater of the imagination' is little more than structured daydreaming. He cited many case studies to show how the mind is conditioned by imagination just as well as by experience.

For example, the experiment in which two groups of equally skilled basketball players practiced free throws for 20 days, one group with a real ball and hoop, and the other just in their imaginations (Imagining vividly the practice of free throws). The imagination group showed as much improvement as the 'actual practice' group.

BTW, you should 'daydream' about remembering to 'daydream'...

[Canadian]

That's cool about the basketball players!

Thanks for the advice on daydreaming about remembering to daydream, I've thought of it before but ironically I forgot about the idea shortly afterwards.

[Lioness]

This is not a foolproof method. I have a couple of tasks I've been avoiding longterm, and I have imagined/daydreamed myself doing these tasks in vivid detail, even realizing; it's not so bad, I can do this. It has never translated into any real-life action.

Sometimes, I think this method can backfire, because your subconscious mind interprets the daydream as a completed task.

[bodi]

The exercise is not really suited to help you perform specific tasks. For example, sitting on the couch one morning, imagining that you will do the dishes that afternoon probably won't help you much. Its not self hypnosis.

It's about changing habits and skills through practice, which takes some time. Maltz said fifteen minutes a day for 21 days is about the minimum time needed to begin to see results. The exercise is also meant to be used along with other tools.

It's re scripting old patterns of behavior with new ones. So what you could do is spend 21 days 15 min a day imagining yourself doing the dishes promptly every day, and then you would likely see some positive results.

[williamkwan]

Originally Posted by bodi

Read Psycho Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz.

His exercise of 'mental practice' using the 'theater of the imagination' is little more than structured daydreaming. He cited many case studies to show how the mind is conditioned by imagination just as well as by experience.

For example, the experiment in which two groups of equally skilled basketball players practiced free throws for 20 days, one group with a real ball and hoop, and the other just in their imaginations (Imagining vividly the practice of free throws). The imagination group showed as much improvement as the 'actual practice' group.

BTW, you should 'daydream' about remembering to 'daydream'...

Very good point, mental practice is used widely in a lot of sports and is proven to be effective because our minds can't tell the difference between what's real and what's not. By that, I mean that if we immerse ourselves in the actions in our heads, we can fire the same neuron pathways that would be initiated if we did it in real life.

Visualization is for many things, but as for procrastination...just get out and do it!

[Jross22]

Daydreaming about doing the job is a great idea. It is planning, and so on. It is logical that one would not start an activity until one had planned it! Or at least considered what it was.

First I make sure that I am in a fairly relaxed mood. Then, I think about the results, notice how much improvement the task will make over doing "nothing" in relation to the task. Then I watch, and as soon as I take even one three second move toward doing the task- something as simple as standing up or moving toward where I will do the task-- I pull my lips into a smile, a subtle smile that is about as subtle as the amount of work I have done. I know that smile will reward me and reinforce the decision to do something. As I accelerate, I make the smile stronger, and the pleasure stronger.

This creates a bit of a propulsion system and makes me get going, at least for a while. It's crude NLP but it works for small hiccups.