11 ways to stop procrastinating-for good | Tim Ferriss, Dan Ariely & more | Big Think

11 ways to stop procrastinating-for good | Tim Ferriss, Dan Ariely & more
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Most of us feel guilty or lazy when we put things off until a later date or time, but procrastination is normal and happens to everyone. The key is not to eliminate the word from your vocabulary, but to find ways to work and rest smarter so that tasks get done.
In this video, investor Tim Ferriss, behavioral economist Dan Ariely, health and wellness expert Jillian Michaels, and others share 11 tips for mastering procrastination including focusing on long-term happiness, understanding the differences between inspiration and motivation, trying the Pomodoro technique, and removing the things that are distracting you from the project at hand.
One interesting tip shared by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charles Duhigg is to build procrastination into your workflow as a reward. "If you need five minutes every hour to look at tweets or to just surf the internet, you need to schedule that into your schedule." According to Duhigg, it's when we try to ignore that urge completely that things fall apart.
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TRANSCRIPT:
"TIM FERRISS: Alright. Procrastination. Let's talk about it. It's a big topic. And by the way we all face it. It is an ever-present, evergreen issue for a reason and even the people you see on magazine covers, most of them - there are a few mutants, but they all have things they put off and there are a few different tactics, approaches that I found very helpful that I borrowed from whether it's guests on the Tim Ferriss Show or people I interviewed for ""Tools of Titans,"" my newest book. Here we go, so down the list.
DAN ARIELY: So the first I think mistake is that we pursue momentary happiness rather than longer term happiness. We do the things that will make us laugh out loud today kind of, not always laugh out loud but kind of like that. And we don't do the things that are difficult and complex and challenging but give us a very different sense of happiness. Think about something like running a marathon. You don't see anybody happy. If you came as an alien and you imaged people's brains and you looked at their facial expressions as they're running a marathon you would say somebody's punishing them. They are paying for something terrible they've done and this is how they're paying their debt to society. It is kind of miserable, but it's also meaningful and creates a sense of achievement and so on. So we're pursuing momentary pleasure rather than truly understanding the depth of what happiness is or what meaning is.
FERRISS: Prolific music producers like Rick Rubin who's legendary and it all comes down to tiny homework assignments. So Rick, if he has a stuck artist for instance he will say can you get me one word or one line that you might like for this song that you're working on by tomorrow. Is that possible. Mini, mini homework assignments. So with a creative project in the beginning that's one. It's related to a piece of advice that I got from Neil Strauss and that is lower your standards. So he doesn't believe in writer's block. He says your standards are just too high. You're creating performance anxiety for yourself. So the advice that I got from another writer which matches with that is two crappy pages per day. So a lot of people are like I'm going to kill it. I need an ambitious goal. Let me do 1,500 words, 2,000 words per day for this book I'm working on. Well, there's a very high probability that you're going to fall short of that and then you will get demoralized. Then you'll get intimidated by the task and then you will start procrastinating. So make the hurdle. Make the success threshold really, really low. That's what I've done for my last three books is two crappy pages per day. That's all I need. If I don't end up using them that's fine. I just need to get out two crappy pages. If you're going to exercise and you're making a New Year's resolution, don't make it an hour a day, four times a week. No, no, no, no, no. Five to ten minutes at the gym three times a week, plenty. And in all those cases you will feel successful because you've checked your box for success. And then very often you'll exceed that for extra credit. You'll be well, I'm already at the gym. I'll go for an extra ten minutes. Well, I'm already flossing my teeth. We'll do an extra four. Well, I've already hit my two pages but I'm feeling great and I'm in the flow. Maybe I'll do ten. Maybe I'll do 20. But it prevents you from feeling like a failure. This is very, very important. That is what derails a lot of people...
Read the full transcript at bigthink.com/videos/how-to-st...

[@bigthink]

What do you think are the most effective ways to stop procrastinating?

[@lawnmowerman7]

I'll tell you later...

[@lgamarrac]

The option to do something for at least 25 minutes and then to do another thing which is entirely entertaining

[@theguardian3431]

Let me add that to my to do list.

[@alisamarvelamerigo]

To find and keep in mind the thought about motivation & reward anytime you doing it. Turn any boring action in smth you like, enjoy it more than just a daily grind.

[@stevoofd]

Removing distractions, basically forcing yourself to focus on the task at hand. When the mind is in an understimulating environment, it will look for any form of stimulation. When the task you set yourself to do is the only remaining option, it will latch onto it since it becomes the more attractive alternative to boredom.

[@HollowShotgunXx]

I’ll be sure to watch this tomorrow.

[@MegaRedrun]

🤣🤣🤣

[@Mrs.Page4u]

😂

[@colby9529]

Literally was thinking that before you said it kinda feel guilty 😂

[@IsmaelKizito]

Legeng

[@TaraRoseAstrologer]

Watching now from my watch later playlist…

[@theguardian3431]

As a true procrastinator, I am saving this to my Watch Later list.

[@Nikkoloko86]

Just did the same.

[@jemal999]

damnit, he beat me to it.

[@davidekdal7190]

Fuck, didn't expect that everyone made the joke already. I literally clicked on the video to make this joke and then watch it later :(

[@chandra2519]

😆

[@metamorphosis5407]

Yes

[@marcb08]

1. Focus on long-term (0:39) 2. Set mini-assignments (1:38) 3.Understand "inspiration vs motivation" (3:31) 4. Try pomodoro technique (5:15): 25min + 5 min break reward 5. Build procrastination in (5:51) 6. Recognize structured procrastination (7:07) 7. Protect your time (7:52) 8. Make yourself accountable (9:07) 9. Keep distractions out (10:11) 10. Reflect on root causes (11:07) 11. Make an appointment with yourself (11:23)

[@kazskate4lyf]

Ok, so I clearly missed some, but: 1. Focus on long-term happiness 2. Set mini assignments 3. Understand inspiration vs. motivation 4. Try the Pomodoro Technique 5. Recognise structured procrastination 6. Make yourself accountable 7. Keep distractions out 8. Reflect on root causes 9. Make an appointment with yourself

[@aaditya4556]

I did't even get that many

[@sakshamsisodiya1158]

@@Chris-rg6nm you are the best procrastinator.😃

[@muthukumaranl]

Thank you!

[@mururoa7024]

You could've done the damn thing already before reaching step 4 😁

[@bryander]

- Build procrastination into your plans. - Protect your time.

[@stewiegriffin12341]

I’ll just put this video in my watch later.

[@mahmoudhussein1119]

That means you won't watch it later 😂

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

I’ll put it in my watch list later

[@fortitude120]

I won't watch the video today, neither tomorrow.

[@mcoptimysticalrainbowkitty7462]

Lmao I just did that 😅😝

[@dracomet2097]

I'll put my watch later into my to-do list

[@maxischmidt1299]

5:40 accurate display of someone listening to music to reward themselves.

[@DanielDavies-StellularNebulla]

The thing with procrastination is that it's like a brick wall. Instead of trying to butt your head against that wall until you make it through, my advice from what I have done, is to deconstruct the wall. Brick by brick, identifying each piece of the wall as you lay it to the side in order to create a clear path.

[@SunilSkanda]

Yea, I imagined what you described as we limit ourselves thinking there's a wall but in reality there's nothing there.

[@patate618]

That seems extremely specific to your exact situation and is spectacularly unhelpful. Thanks! :)

[@Commander6444]

While the Pomodoro technique is a great weapon against procrastination, the 25/5 split isn't ideal for everyone. I personally work best in 20/10 splits. Experiment and find what works for you.

[@prosperenfantinylosgeograf2721]

agree. i sometimes also do 50/10 lol when i'm high on adrenaline of due dates

[@joinandy]

Love this collaborative style of different presenters - giving different points of view

[@lucky-mud]

I like this new topic-centered instead of person-centered videos.

[@sophiarodriguez1861]

I love Dan Ariely deeply, and always happy to learn from him!!!

[@julielevesque2668]

No social media, a laptop only and a flip phone with no internet helps me with having less distractions so I can try to get things done. I meditate as well. I realized how much anxiety piles up from creative avoidance procrastination...I'm in the process of trying to change habit loops. We have to be consistent with the new habits that are positive so they stick.

[@yokobyeol6255]

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the video, was " I'll watch it later, I don't have time now" (while I'm literally chilling). So I just realized,procrastination is fear in general, and more specific the fear to realize you're procrastinating 😂😂😂

[@knowhowtodo]

Procrastinating is one of the worst habits and sadly it's not easy to break. Good luck to everyone ryone who is trying! 💪🏻

[@rikcoach1]

The only thing I don’t procrastinate on is putting things off.

[@otibed358]

I never procrastinate when it comes to skipping ads.

[@kritikachauhan2873]

As a true procrastinator , will watch this after 2 days when I will finish my 1 page of chemistry , history , physics , etc.

[@postmodernyogi296]

This was a great video until Jillian Michaels started talking. Motivation is fleeting. She is talking about discipline. One thing about the majority of successful people is that they can show extraordinary amounts of self discipline.

[@tsargeorge]

I’m planning to watch this video tomorrow or maybe next week.

[@laapache1]

I was going to look at this but I will do it later

[@George4943]

I have been thinking of starting a Procrastinator's Club since 1984. I keep putting it off. I did this years taxes on July 15. (Thanks for the delay in reporting requirements.) Putting off the watching (commenting first).

[@FedJimSmith]

Nice compilation

[@andrewacton5885]

Save to watch later

[@inthevault9603]

Supposed to be planning for my class but I thought I’d watch this first! 😂 I feel like I might’ve already missed the point of the video. 😜

[@narcisoanasui246]

Amazing video

[@thomasdavey1513]

More like work 5 minutes and then take a 55 minute procrastination break.

[@importantname]

i do the things that are essential. Eat, drink, breath, sleep. All the rest is non essential. Can be put off till later.

[@julielevesque2668]

Motivation gets you going, self-discipline keeps you growing!

[@AK-wm8lj]

I love the music that plays at the start of ur videos, please don’t change it 😗

[@user-lm5hy4gh3i]

At the right time. ❤

[@shobhit378]

Great

[@bethbartlett5692]

In the Now, One must find the desired feeling in the now. When we experience a positive experience that feels like it, is how we bring the Dreams our of a "Future Idea" and Living it in the Now. ...cause all our living is in the Now. Plan to feel good doing a "responsibility" and it will be reflective of that feeling, in the expierence. Thoughts literally Create and the "Universal Law of Attraction" is *absolute.* We Create *"our own reality."*

[@manoliumarius]

When you don't have anything to do, you can't procastinating

[@valensomm]

I just got this recommended to me from my watch later playlist

[@thinking7371]

Thank you. It really helped, I finally stopped procrastinating and finally got down to removing all these ridiculous amount of teaching vids. I feel healthier, I am motivated, I stopped feeling guilty that I'm not living up to everyone's standards or even my own silly self standards about living a full life... I no longer putting it off, I am making sure from now on to be free of you and I feel terrific about myself. I shouldn't put this off... thank you, now go away please.

[@AO-wg9ne]

Who were you even talking to??

[@allertonoff4]

erm .. you got a couple of LOL's out of me and i'm only halfway through .. Great work guy's !

[@Msfruity44]

1. Tiny homework assignments- a word or line. Lower your standards- Two crappy pages a day. Workout 5-10 minutes a day. Not an hour. 2. Pomadora technique - set a 25 minute timeframe to do a task. Then reward yourself afterwards. 3. Give yourself 5 minutes every hour to check social media. 4. Building in accountability- rewards and consequences 5. Remove negative impacts in your environment 6. Seek counseling to see what may be getting in the way 7. Make an appointment with yourself.

[@abhishekonine]

Added to watch later

[@troubledsole9104]

Stop procrastinating is the top thing on my to-do list when I get around to creating a to-do list.

[@RogerWazup007]

I'll watch this eventually... Maybe tomorrow, next week, near year...

[@redacted5035]

Added to "watch later" 👌

[@tylerbradshaw7957]

"Procrastination, let's talk about it...by the way." I believe you just procrastinated talking about procrastination.

[@Tellezeus78]

I had this on my “watch later” playlist for a year

[@rahulbangar786]

Most important thing is to get rid of laziness with exercise and low carb diet and stay grounded with grounding yoga poses

[@TruckinGal-by1so]

Speeding up the video helps.

[@kooshikoo6442]

Step one: Just be a different person,not the procrastinating one.

[@mururoa7024]

I'll watch this video tomorrow...

[@BrockBarr]

Add to Watch Later list

[@himanshuverma97]

Basically everything that I already know. Shame on myself.

[@mariap9654]

Procastination can fall into the category of a habit or addiction in which a human dependency of tackling their workloads in associate of cutting corners by getting someone else to do their work

[@DCB0I]

If u procrastinate by watching this video to avoid procrastination does it still accounts to procrastination?

[@jasongr3219]

It's true, subjective thinking is usually emotional but objective thoughts tend to be rational. View yourself as somebody else you're responsible for leading, and you will think more rationally.

[@ramdomstash32]

I understand where you are coming from but there's still some things that I NEED to do but still.... Drives me insane

[@ramdomstash32]

Must be natural gut going off people's free choice

[@DataSmithy]

It seems to me there are some assumptions to this talk that are worth mentioning. One is that of course anything you're procrastinating on should be on important or high priority item. Anything that's low priority or not affecting your goals is okay to procrastinate. So the prioritization of items is something that's not really discussed in this talk. This seems worth mentioning to me because some people work on low priority or unimportant items to feel like they are making progress when they really should be working on their high priority items.

[@DataSmithy]

Another thing that seems worth mentioning is that if your goals are not well defined, then maybe you should procrastinate on those. Maybe it's better to think about what your real goals are.

[@hussammustafa5267]

I'll watch this later

[@ANOLDMASTERJUKZ]

Our cure for this terrible debilitating condition was to become a bizybee, A bizybee can be defined as a person who has an overwhelming obsession for accomplishment. Example ( One might think to themselves "My task list is the master task list for the world, the only thing that matters is checking off the item (s) I have chosen for the day. If I don't the world will crumble".

[@morty7145]

3:27 what did they do to you

[@xshadowscreamx]

Throw out everything in your room and get a drum set like jack white.

[@TheDavveponken]

Why is this video cut up? I was like ready when he said "ok, here we go"- CUT; here's someone else entirely mid sentence. And then, let's jump back to the original guy ALSO mid sentence. One way to stop procastinating COULD BE to cultivate focus, and you know what (hard to guess): Cutting up videos/compilations don't help. Big Think, THINK.

[@BrainsApplied]

*Step 1: Stop wasting time on watching KZbin videos!*

[@mahmoudhussein1119]

Totally agree 👍

[@Red_Ocean901]

Or you could use it as tool to gain knowledge.

[@sakshamsisodiya1158]

Today I watched KZbin totally 7 hours .. Even I watch good content but its not a good habit

[@DanielDavies-StellularNebulla]

@@sakshamsisodiya1158 Why not? I'm just curious as to why people think this.

[@sakshamsisodiya1158]

@Mike Moloch very well explained 👍

[@jeremywade9343]

Suffering is never payment.

[@JoeWestcottVFX]

“Added to watch later”

[@lostn65]

i saved this video to my Watch Later list

[@MsMilkytheclown1]

*added to my watch later list* LOL

[@sinazzk]

Get this video to George R. R. Martin

[@TheDarkLordOfBass]

I promptly saved this video to my “Watch Later”

[@DJRod91]

I started my journey by not finishing this video

[@markkravitz4678]

👊 Try and fail, but don't fail to try. The best young entrepreneur ever @evenkingsfall (his insta) says you have to THINK BIG to WIN BIG! Always keep that mindframe! Keep up with the great videos 🧡

[@twistersidecontrol]

I'm the one who waited Twist the animated yeaaah

[@Draemn]

This is way better than 95% of the "stop procrastinating content out there." Also suggest Mel Robbins

[@metamorphosis5407]

1. Don't save this in watch later.

[@antonemilia4484]

I think we have a pandemic of How-to.

[@roughbuttough4426]

11 ways to stop procrastinating. Me: save to watch later

[@whatthefunction9140]

I dont procrastinate. I get board quickly.

[@msmith53]

Dylan T .....work on your spelling....”bored”...easy place to dwell!

[@voradorhylden3410]

Shit, im late!

[@mikeraskin7319]

Good stuff but, I'm in complete disagreement with the statement that people who don't get affected or knocked off course are ones who plan etc as the video states. I'm 100% positive that's not why. Some people are natural at this while others are not. Some people are able to compartmentalize while others cannot. That is to say at least to the same degree as the people who do this by nature. This is a fact, period, and unchangeable.

[@MAYK1NG]

I mean, who can live by scheduling?!

[@JamieRossUK]

Gillian Barberie Michaels

[@rivera3089]

I'll saved this under my "watch later" playlist.

[@LYbmtUdpyvI1JVBN]

Stop procrastinating? Maybe tomorrow.

[@talkgooder]

Anyone else find this when they should have been working?

[@duhmez]

I just clicked WATH LATER and I am closing the video before I watch ^^

[@juicyMoviemaking]

Jillian is hot and smart,damn.

[@unclerat2131]

PROCRASTINATION - When you get more pleasure from not doing the work then you get from doing the work. There was no such thing as procrastination before the 1930s. The closest thing to it was the idea of the sin of sloth. What made the idea of procrastination was the scientific management movement that started to push the idea that people are mostly mechanical things that just need to have a new motivator stuck in them to get them to do things they don't want to do. The real explanation is that if it isn't fun, it isn't done. The workaround is that since you aren't going to do it, you need to create something you want to do that accomplishes the same thing. There, I saved you hours of research that you were going to put off anyway.

[@havenbastion]

It's not simple anymore if you call it "The Pomodoro Technique" when what you really mean is "use a timer". Give me a fucking break.

[@jenjencannon3224]

Big Think Selling out? Tim Ferris givng himself a plug.... and that screaming trainer woman?? Come on!! Someone is selling out!

[@tbauss2974]

4:56 idk, that looks like a bad drug habit to me

[@someguy752]

omg i cant even be bothered to watch it. thats how bad its gotten for me

[@WormDiGital30]

Thumbs up if you saved this to "Watch Later"

[@PhilipNelson1991]

Meh, I'll watch this later...

[@saket7762]

Today, I did not procrastinate to write this comment.

[@FerGalicia]

Jillian Michaels ruins a perfect video

[@trenza2566]

me, adding this video to watch later: 🤡🤡

[@indridcold8433]

Turning off the computer, tablet, smartphone, and get off KZbin. Get to work!

[@sumeshshetty1882]

Something about that wellness expert womens face I don’t like. I may be wrong.

[@sarthaksaini7542]

please save me from this thing

[@paegglaresi3597]

Non of this helped me in any way...

[@T2a585]

cringey