Build Up Your Anti-procrastination Muscle With This Really Easy Hack

The art of 'nudging' to help you get more done.

Selda Seyfi

Nov 04, 2024

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I was sixteen. Shy, timid and on my way to spend two weeks in Bavaria, Germany at a garden centre.

My parents were so worried, they had sown in ‘emergency cash’ into my coat lining.

This was my first official work experience jaunt outside of working in my parents’ restaurant.

And it was also the first time I realised I was a big procrastinator.

For two weeks I was to count every single item in the garden centre.

It was possibly, the most boring and dullest job that I’ve ever done.

But the experience made me realise two things:

I don’t want to work in a garden centre.
I don’t want to count inventory for a living.

Procrastination is perfectionisms’ favourite meal.

It didn’t help that I am a recovering perfectionist.

In every job I’ve done: pot washer; chef; waitress; analyst; management consultant; mum(!); entrepreneur: there are always tasks that I hate doing, and suddenly turn me into the worlds’ best procrastinator.

But not everyone has these traits.

There are many different types of procrastinators.

Here are ten of the most common:

The Perfectionist - Sets extremely high standards, fears failure or imperfection.
The Overwhelmed Procrastinator - Easily feels burdened by large tasks or numerous responsibilities.
The Impulsive Procrastinator - Easily distracted, seeks instant gratification, has difficulty resisting temptation.
The Dreamer - Enjoys ideation and planning but struggles with execution.
The Avoider - Tends to avoid tasks that provoke anxiety or discomfort.
The Busy Procrastinator - Always feels busy and has a full schedule, often as a means to avoid deeper work.
The Self-Saboteur - Often struggles with low self-esteem or self-worth, fears success or responsibility.
The Decision Paralysis Procrastinator - Indecisive, overthinks choices, struggles to commit to a course of action.
The Pleasure Seeker - Prioritizes comfort, enjoyment, and relaxation over productivity.
The Rebel - Resists external expectations or authority, values autonomy.

Over the years, I’ve worked out methods to help me deal with my perfectionist procrastinator tendencies – maybe you’re familiar with some of them:

Do the big things first, even though you don’t want to do them. Eat the frog and all that jazz.
If you can do it in 2 minutes, then do it right now. If it doesn’t then save it for another time.
Break a bigger task down into smaller chunks. Don’t try and tackle the beast in one sitting.
Iterate – work on a little bit of the task each day, so that by the end of the week, you’ve done more than you realise, and you can improve on the quality as you go.
Avoid looking at my phone – keep distractions out of sight, out of mind.

Nudge, nudge

Since then, I’ve found another useful technique called ‘nudging.’

Stemming from behavioural economics and psychology. Nudging was popularized by the 2008 book Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein.

The idea is to change the "choice architecture"—the context in which decisions are made—so that people are more likely to make decisions that benefit them.

For instance, Google’s offices have various nudges in place, such as offering healthy snacks at eye level to encourage better eating habits, which indirectly affects overall productivity and well-being.

Similarly, in traditional Japanese ryokan (inn), breakfast consists of the same foods you would eat at lunch or dinner like miso soup, further encouraging people to eat healthily.

But how do you apply nudging to your own lifestyle? Here are seven ideas:

Create a series of ‘default settings’

For example, reduce time wasted on meeting scheduling by setting defaults on when meetings are and how long they should be. My friend Joe likes to use what he calls ‘the therapist’s hour’ which is 50 minutes instead of the full 60 😆. I love this and have started using it myself, it works wonders for breaking up back-to-back meetings.

Design your ‘choices’ into your week

This could look like giving yourself pre-set break times.

For example, setting default break times at mid-morning and mid-afternoon can help maintain momentum. I always have a walk planned in after lunch to help get that food digested and avoid feeling sleepy.

Use visual reminders

To get round the ever-increasing number of email newsletters I’m subscribed to, I like to use visual cues.

By placing my headphones where I normally do the washing up, it helps me remember to listen to newsletters whilst doing my chores, rather than putting them off, because I don’t have time to read them all.

In an office, you could place visual cues such as posters or whiteboards on the walls to highlight key deadlines and project goals.

Set up social nudges

Shared team goals or peer accountability are great examples of social nudges. Where you create a system that allows people to collectively celebrate or check-in with each other.

I remember when I first started my meditation practice, I used a mentor to keep me accountable. Each day I would text her to let her know that I’d done my meditation. I didn’t need to do this for long, but it was helpful to start with.

Reward yourself

My life insurance app connects to my smart watch, which tracks my steps and how much exercise I do. It rewards me each month with free cinema tickets, free coffee, and other goodies.

If I haven’t hit the required points each day, then I am further away from my rewards. This gamification and the hit of dopamine I get from playing for these small rewards really builds up my anti-procrastination muscle.

Optimize your physical environment

Have you ever tried to work in a messy room or on a messy desk verses a clean, tidy, and orderly one?

I simply can’t concentrate in a messy space. My mind feels messy.

Using quiet zones at work, or simply keeping only what is necessary for the task at hand on your desk at home (with tidy surroundings), really does help to minimize distractions and improve procrastination.

Use tech to curb impulses

I’m always hesitant to include technology aids as anti-procrastination tools, but there are great website blockers that limit the amount of time you spend on websites and lock you out of them for the rest of the day once you’ve used up your allowance.

Check out StayFocusd (Chrome), LeechBlock (Firefox and Chrome), WasteNoTime (Safari) and Cold Turkey (Windows, Mac).