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How to overcome procrastination quickly (Do Something Tangential That Sucks)
Before we get into this week’s habit, I'm thrilled to announce that most of the 15 seats of my new Sustainable Productivity Habits 1-on-1 coaching program – which starts in July – have already been claimed.
In a nutshell, the program helps you develop three key habits for sustainable peak productivity, with "90 minutes" as the golden thread that connects them all.
The Deep Focus Habit: By learning how to focus deeply for just 90 minutes a day, you'll double your overall productivity, according to research from McKinsey & Company
The Deep Sleep Habit: By learning how to get 90 minutes of deep sleep most nights, you’ll build the foundation of sustained performance and health, according to researchers from Stanford University
The Stress Response Habit: By learning how to turn off your stress response about every 90 minutes, you’ll learn to harness the performance-enhancing effects of acute stress while avoiding chronic stress and exhaustion
If you want to master these essential habits (and more!) and reserve one of the last seats, simply reply to this email.
Want to learn more about the program? Go here. Know someone who might be interested in it? Please pass this along to them:
On to this week’s habit:
When they lack motivation, most people procrastinate: They do things that are easier than what they’re trying to do, such as cleaning up their room or computer. Yet, to get out of a motivational trough, that’s precisely the opposite of what we should do.
What to do
When you find yourself procrastinating, start with doing something unrelated that’s even harder than what you’re trying to do. In other words, do something tangential that sucks.
Why it works
Our “molecule of motivation” is dopamine. It lowers our threshold for taking action toward our goals. When our dopamine levels are higher in our brain and body, we tend to focus our attention on outward goals and feel motivated to pursue them.
Stanford Professor Andrew Huberman compares dopamine in our system to a wave pool: There is a baseline of water, and there are waves with peaks and troughs. The deeper and steeper the troughs of these waves, the higher and steeper their peaks are (and vice versa).
This logic points to the counterintuitive key to moving out of a motivational trough and toward a peak. You first need to make the trough steeper and deeper. The quickest way to pull that off is doing something unrelated that’s even harder.
How to do it
Have a list of activities that are hard for you. When you find yourself procrastinating, pick one activity that’s feasible in the situation. Here are three ideas to start with.
1) Focus your attention on your breath for three minutes. As you inhale, count "one" in your mind. When you exhale, count "two." Continue counting up to ten, then start over from one. If your attention wanders, acknowledge the distraction and bring your focus back to the breath, beginning the count from one again. Closing your eyes will help, but it isn’t necessary.
2) Exercise hard for three minutes. For example, do a 3-minute squat and pushup challenge. Set a timer for three minutes. Perform five squats, then go for five pushups. Next, do six squats followed by six pushups. Add one squat and pushup every round until the three minutes are up. Rest whenever needed, but keep the timer going.
3) If you plan to work on a procrastination-provoking task in the morning, start your day with a cold shower. Doing this sucks while you’re in it, but it increases your dopamine levels by 250% for hours. Safety is key: To avoid cold shock, start warm and turn the water to as cold as you can safely tolerate at the end of your shower. Begin with up to 30 seconds.
If you can think of one person who could benefit from overcoming procrastination quickly, please share this post with them.
Until next week,
Christian