6 tips for a better treatment for procrastination
In this article, I’m going to share with you what the best treatment for procrastination is.
In order to answer this question, I will draw on the results of scientific research on procrastination.
Karas and Spada (2007) show that short cognitive-behavioral coaching over a few months has a positive effect on procrastination on the decisional and behavioral levels.
Mühlberger and Traut-Mattausch (2015) find that individual coaching is more effective than group coaching in reducing procrastination.
Finally, Van Eerde and Klingsieck (2018) conduct a meta-analysis of 24 psychology studies to identify the best approaches to reduce procrastination and show that the cognitive-behavioral approach reduces procrastination the most.
In summary, the cognitive-behavioral approach seems to be the most effective in reducing procrastination, with individual coaching being more powerful than group coaching.
If you want to know more about psychological research on procrastination, I recommend you to read my article on anti-procrastination methods in psychology.
Now, I want to share with you some useful tips that will help you to implement a useful treatment for procrastination.
1 – Mentally review your day
As research on procrastination has shown, anything that can help you observe and understand your behavior is useful in reducing procrastination.
Among these methods, I suggest you use visualization to mentally experience again at the end of the day all the situations for which you have procrastinated.
The purpose is to become aware of them without judging yourself.
Among these different events, you can choose one that you prefer and visualize a more productive behavior that you can try in order to reduce procrastination.
Doing this will help you change your behavior.
2 – Use stress to your advantage
As you probably know, procrastination has extremely negative effects on your health.
If you want to learn more about this topic, I recommend reading the article 10 Outstanding Tips to Stop Procrastinating.
Instead of being a victim of stress, you can use it to get motivated to change your behavior immediately.
Think about:
- the unpleasant emotions you felt last time you procrastinated
- the judgment others made of you
- the practical consequences of your inaction
When you experience these emotions, write down the actions you want to take on your to-do list, then plan them in your agenda.
If this is not enough, you can move to my next tip.
3 – Leverage your winning strategies
You can improve your productivity by using what has already been effective in reducing the impact of your procrastination.
Take some time to make a list of all the effective actions.
Focus on the positive emotions you experienced last time you overcame your tendency to procrastinate.
Reflect on the positive impact your decisions had on your self-confidence.
Remind yourself of the material benefits of your behavior.
Focus on what you have learned about yourself through this experience or remind yourself of the positive impact your choices and actions have produced in the lives of others.
Doing this will help you overcome procrastination in your work and personal life.
4 – Become aware of your fears
According to some researchers, fear can influence our tendency to procrastinate.
Among all the fears, there is the fear of failure which impacts the entire individual and can have a negative effect on self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-efficacy.
Other people are afraid of being judged by others, while others are afraid of success or rather they are afraid of not being able to maintain the same level of success over time.
In all cases, these fears are related to self-esteem because the higher the level of self-esteem, the fewer people are affected by their external environment.
But in order to eliminate or at least reduce the impact that these fears have on us, it is essential to become aware of them.
One way to do this is to write down on a sheet of paper the recurring negative thoughts you have week after week.
Once you have identified your fear, you can begin to build a strategy to manage or eliminate it.
Doing this will reduce the negative emotions associated with that fear and increase your motivation to perform the important tasks you need to accomplish.
5 – Every day start from scratch
Studies on procrastination show that procrastination on the previous day tends to influence procrastination on the following day.
It is as if there is no separation between each day.
If you realize early in the morning that yesterday’s events are still influencing you today, you need to take action on the emotions you are currently experiencing.
First, forgive yourself for your mistakes and therefore your procrastination.
Then, tell yourself that you will do better today and do the best you can.
You can also use visualization to imagine that a new version of yourself is working to help you overcome procrastination.
6 – Try different locations
In some cases, procrastination may depend on where you work or with whom you may interact.
Make a list of places you can test to complete a task you are putting off.
This could be a change of room if you work from home or a more radical change.
The important thing is to test different solutions and see if this change brings you the results you are looking for.
Conclusion on the best treatment for procrastination
The cognitive-behavioral approach as practiced in coaching allows :
- to increase awareness of the problem
- to identify your thoughts and beliefs
- to perceive, express, and use emotions in a relevant way
- to effectively manage procrastination
If you are interested in the topic of productivity, I invite you to discover all my articles on productivity.
If you are looking for tools to improve your time management skills, I recommend you read my article on the best time management apps.
If you want to learn how to manage your time, I invite you to find out more about our online time management course.
To take advantage of the expertise of a time management coach, write to us now using our contact form, call us at +33 6 69 46 03 79 or contact us on WhatsApp at +33 6 69 46 03 79.
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Read this article in other languages
Français : 6 conseils pour un meilleur traitement de la procrastination
Italiano: 6 consigli per un trattamento migliore per la procrastinazione