Here's how you can use time blocking to make the most of the time you have each day. Need more help taking control of your time? RescueTime shows you how you spend your day so you can optimize your schedule for focus and productivity. <a href="https://www.rescuetime.com/?utm_source=Blog">Try it for free </a>. Time blocking is the practice of planning out every moment of your day in advance and dedicating specific time "blocks" for certain tasks and responsibilities. <a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://blog.rescuetime.com/time-blocking-101/&amp;text=While%20a%20standard%20to-do%20list%20tells%20you%20what%20you%20need%20to%20do%2C%20time%20blocking%20tells%20you%20when%20you%E2%80%99re%20going%20to%20do%20it.&amp;via=RescueTime&amp;related=RescueTime">While a standard to-do list tells you what you need to do, time blocking tells you when you're going to do it. </a><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://blog.rescuetime.com/time-blocking-101/&amp;text=While%20a%20standard%20to-do%20list%20tells%20you%20what%20you%20need%20to%20do%2C%20time%20blocking%20tells%20you%20when%20you%E2%80%99re%20going%20to%20do%20it.&amp;via=RescueTime&amp;related=RescueTime">Click To Tweet </a>

This might sound like you're turning your calendar into a chaotic mess. However, it can actually have the opposite effect. When you fill your calendar with the tasks and things you want to do, it's harder for others to steal your time. As behavioral designer, <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/nir-eyal-digital-distraction/">Nir Eyal told us </a>: "In this day and age you cannot call something distracting unless you know what it's distracting you from." The simple reason why time blocking works is that it's designed for focus.

The human brain needs guardrails at work. Otherwise, we fall into what's known as Parkinson's Law: "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion" By scheduling every minute of your day you not only <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/workplace-distractions/">guard against distraction </a>but also multiply your focus. <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/single-tasking/">Single-tasking </a>-focusing on one task at a time-can make you up to 80% more productive than splitting your attention across multiple tasks. Plus, when you know you have time set aside later for checking email or replying to Slack messages you're less likely to give into the FOMO these tools create.

As Deep Work author Cal Newport <a href="http://www.calnewport.com/blog/2013/12/21/deep-habits-the-importance-of-planning-every-minute-of-your-work-day/?utm_source=zapier.com&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=zapier">writes </a>: "Sometimes people ask why I bother with such a detailed level of planning. My answer is simple: it generates a massive amount of productivity. A 40-hour time-blocked work week, I estimate, produces the same amount of output as a 60+ hour work week pursued without structure." This isn't to say that time blocking is a perfect solution, however. In fact, there are a lot of reasons why you wouldn't want to block out your daily schedule:

<ul><li>It takes a lot of time and effort. Scheduling each minute of your day means... scheduling every minute of your day. It's a much more labor-intensive system than just writing out the 4 or 5 tasks you need to complete. </li><li>Few of us (if any) have the same schedule every day. Time blocking is much easier when you have a clear set of tasks. However, most of us need to constantly adapt to requests and demands. </li><li>We're bad at estimating how long tasks will take to do. We all have a tendency to be overoptimistic with how much we can get done in a day (psychologists call this the <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/planning-fallacy/">Planning Fallacy </a>). It can be disheartening (and <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/stress/">stressful </a>) when you feel like you're constantly behind your schedule. </li><li>Constant interruptions and "urgent" tasks can destroy your system. Relying on upfront planning means that when one thing goes wrong, the whole system breaks down. </li><li>Flexibility is key in most workplaces. You can't tell your boss that you won't be able to get that urgent fix out today because it's not on your calendar. A strict schedule like this doesn't always jive with the demands of your workplace. </li><li>You can lose sight of the bigger picture. Focusing just on each day can sometimes make it harder to think about making progress on your long-term goals. </li> </ul>

Potential issues aside, time-blocking is still a powerful <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/time-management/">time management strategy </a>. Especially when you see it as a framework for thinking about your day rather than a set of laws you can't break. As Abby Lawson writes in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2017/04/19/why-highly-productive-people-use-time-blocking/#30d9867465e1">Forbes </a>: "[My day] rarely goes exactly how I planned, but it does... keep me on task, and a lot less likely to go down the Facebook rabbit hole, or get distracted by something else because I know that if I take too much time on this task, it pushes the rest of my schedule back." Let's walk through a simple step-by-step process for setting up your own time blocking system.

The first question you need to answer is: Why do you want to use time blocking? Is it because you want more time for <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/finding-focus/">focused work </a>? Or to reduce your <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/communication-multitasking-switches/">time spent on emails </a>or in meetings? Or simply just to leave work at a reasonable hour and spend time with family? Whatever you choose, knowing your high-level priorities and goals will shape what makes it onto your schedule and how you block out your day. Now it's time to actually start creating your "blocks." Instead of jumping straight into your workday, however, start with guardrails for your time outside of work.

What's your <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/morning-routine-benjamin-spall/">morning routine </a>? How will you <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/disconnect-from-work/">disconnect from work </a>and make time for friends, family, and hobbies? These tasks are just as, if not more important than what you do during the day. Here are a few examples of what this might look like. If you want to make time for <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/meaningful-work-guide/">meaningful work </a>, you can try this method from founder and academic <a href="https://medium.com/@kptaylor/3-powerful-time-management-principles-for-makers-and-thinkers-f4bf274fe661">Kevin Taylor </a>. Each morning, Kevin has a recurring 2-hour block set aside for writing. At the other end of the day, your schedule might look something like this example from Atomic Design author Brad Frost. At the end of each day, Brad schedules a "wind down" period followed by family time, an evening routine, and then personal time.

Again, how Brad blocked out his time was based on his priority of spending time with his family. <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/brad-frost-deep-work/">As Brad told us </a>: "Before having a baby, my wife and I would both work well into the evening hours, largely because we could and there was nothing stopping us! Of course, that isn't healthy on a number of different levels. So it's been great to ask ourselves, 'how can I maximize my workday so that I can play with my kid?'"

<ul><li>Place buffers in between tasks. We all have what's called "Attention residue" after completing a task that can take anywhere from 10-15 minutes to get over. If you assume you can switch gears on the spot, you're going to end up frustrated and behind schedule. </li><li>Schedule your breaks (not just lunch). We're not machines. Make sure you set aside time throughout the day for a quick stretch or walk to give your brain (and your eyes) a rest. </li><li>Use the right daily time management strategies to stay on track. Time blocking means sticking to your schedule. Use daily <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/best-time-management-strategies/">time management strategies </a>like the Pomodoro method or the <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/2-minute-rule/">2-minute rule </a>to keep you moving through your schedule and hitting your goals. </li><li>Overestimate how long things will take (at least to start). Remember the <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/planning-fallacy/">planning fallacy </a>? Don't be over-optimistic with your day until you have a solid understanding of what you can get done. Some experts say you should give yourself 2-3X as long as you think a task will take. </li><li>Put in time for downtime, relaxation, and learning. <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/deliberate-rest/">The most productive people pair work with rest </a>. Give yourself the time you need to relax, let loose, and even learn new skills. You don't have to be 100% productive 100% of the time. </li><li>Tell people what you're doing. No one is an island. Make sure the people around you understand what you're working on, when you're available, and <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/communication-debt/">set realistic expectations on communication </a>and collaboration. </li><li>Set an "overflow day" to stop you from feeling overwhelmed. If you're constantly falling behind on tasks, you'll want to <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/julie-morgenstern/">set aside an overflow day </a>dedicated to getting caught up. </li><li>Revise as needed. No one works well within a rigid system. Try to be as realistic as possible when you set your schedule but be prepared to move things around or throw it out for a day if a crisis unfolds. </li> </ul>

Want to see some real-world examples of schedules designed for focus? Check out our <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/context-switching/">guide to setting up a work scheduled designed for sustained attention </a>. One of the great things about time blocking is that it can be dead simple to start. All you really need is a piece of paper and a pen. However, there are a few simple and free tools you can use to make it that much easier. Any calendar app will do (bonus points if you can share with teammates). However, if you want to use Google Calendar, we've put together <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/google-calendar-focus-guide/">this list of power features and best practices </a>to make the most of it.

Time blocking is all about focus. To stay on task during each block, I like to use a simple Pomodoro timer (Right now I use <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/be-focused-focus-timer/id973130201?mt=8">Be Focused </a>). Having your remaining time visible can be a huge motivator and also help you estimate in the future. There are too many <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/workplace-distractions/">distractions </a>just waiting to ruin your perfectly planned schedule. By using a tool like <a href="http://rescuetime.com">RescueTime </a>, you can quickly see where you're most distracted, what time of day you're most productive, and even set goals around time spent on email, social media, or entertainment during the workday.

You can probably count on your fingers the number of times you've completed 8 hours of work in an 8-hour workday. Whether it's endless meetings, constant emails, or coworkers popping in for a "quick chat," your productivity rarely makes it through the day.

Produtividade

You can probably count on your fingers the number of times you've completed 8 hours of work in an 8-hour workday. Whether it's endless meetings, constant emails, or coworkers popping in for a "quick chat," your productivity rarely makes it through the day. The problem is that when you design your to-do list for an 8-hour workday but end up with just 1-2 hours of productive time, you're going to be in trouble. But to-do lists aren't the only way you can organize your daily schedule. Some of the world's most productive people, from Elon Musk to Bill Gates to Deep Work author Cal Newport have sworn off to-do lists in favor of something else: Time blocking .

How to start time blocking your schedule in 5 steps

2. Create a "bookend template" for your day

3. Set aside time for both Deep & Shallow tasks

Again, how Brad blocked out his time was based on his priority of spending time with his family. <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/brad-frost-deep-work/">As Brad told us </a>: With your personal priorities taken care of, it's time to take the same approach with your workday. For most people, the appeal of time blocking is in setting aside long stretches of time for focused work. This is what Y Combinator founder Paul Graham calls <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/how-to-make-a-schedule/">"Maker Time" </a>-sessions where you're working on deep focus work like writing, designing, or coding. However, you can't spend all day on Maker Time. Instead, it's all about finding a balance.

Here are a few examples. First, designer Dan Mall (clearly an early riser) starts each day with an hour of meaningful work, followed by some simple tasks before time with his family and getting caught up with work. He even sets aside an hour for email, Slack, twitter, and mail. Why this works so well is that Dan's scheduled his most meaningful work for when his attention and energy naturally peak and email/Twitter for when he'll naturally hit a dip. We all follow what's called a <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/when-to-work-productivity-curves/">Productivity Cycle </a>throughout the day. And the more you can block out your best time for productive and meaningful work, the better.

4. Add blocks for reactive tasks each day

Time blocking will never work if you're overly optimistic about your time. You still have emails to answer, calls to take, and meetings to attend. However, the power of time blocking comes in choosing when you do these tasks instead of letting them infiltrate every moment of your day.

Here's a glimpse into what <a href="http://jessicahische.is/thinkingthoughtsonscheduling">designer Jessica Hische </a>calls her "Ultraschedule." You can see how she sets an hour each day for responding to reactive things like email. This works for two reasons: <ol><li>She knows there's dedicated time for email on her schedule and doesn't need to keep her inbox constantly open (a major distraction) </li><li>She's batching her email time into "bursts" so that it doesn't taint the rest of her time. </li> </ol>As we've written in the past, <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/collaboration-bursts/">we all do better when we communicate and collaborate in "bursts" </a>rather than all the time. If you can, try to find a few times a day where you can commit a chunk of time to email, calls, or even meetings.

Speaking of meetings, your schedule should have dedicated blocks where people can book you. And everything else should be off limits (as much as possible). If you use <a href="https://blog.rescuetime.com/google-calendar-focus-guide/">Google Calendar </a>at your company, you can even create "Appointment slots" where you're available for meetings during the day.

5. Write down your daily to-do list (for work, home, and family/social) and fill it in

Now that you have a template of how you'd like your day to look like it's time to see how/if it works. Write out your tasks for the day and fit them into the appropriate slots. Do you have enough slots for both your deep and shallow work tasks? Remember, this is a framework and not necessarily set in stone. It will take some time to find a schedule that works for you. It's never easy changing up the way you work. If you want to make the most out of time blocking, follow these tips.

The best time blocking apps to help you get more out of your day

A time-tracking tool for identifying distractions and perfecting your schedule

Either you control your calendar or it controls you

Time blocking is only one of the many time management strategies out there. Yet, it's one of the most popular for a reason. We're all beholden to our calendars. And the more you can be in control of what's on there, the more in control you'll be of your time, focus, and productivity. Do you use time blocking to make your daily schedule? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter.

Time blocking 101: A step-by-step guide to mastering your daily schedule

It doesn't really matter why you procrastinate. Some love the pressure of deadlines. Some are afraid to fail so they put it off until the very last moment. One thing that all procrastinators have in common is that procrastination has a price. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40063233?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">This highly cited study </a>, published in the American Psychological Society journal, by Dianne Tice and Roy Baumeister discusses the cost of procrastination. It is related to: Procrastination is not innocent behavior. It's a sign of poor self-regulation. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Losing-Control-People-Fail-Self-Regulation/dp/0120831406">Researchers </a>even compare procrastination to alcohol and drug abuse.

Distractions, other ideas, other opportunities, failure, negative self-talk, etc, would get in the way. And the results are always the same: You never get anything done. To me, the key finding from the study by Dianne Tice and Roy Baumeister is this: "The present evidence suggests that procrastinators enjoy themselves rather than working at assigned tasks, until the rising pressure of imminent deadlines forces them to get to work. In this view, procrastination may derive from a lack of self-regulation and hence a dependency on externally imposed forces to motivate work."

Distractions, other ideas, other opportunities, failure, negative self-talk, etc, would get in the way. And the results are always the same: You never get anything done. To me, the key finding from the study by Dianne Tice and Roy Baumeister is this: Self-regulation, self-control, willpower, are all things that we overestimate. We think:"Yeah sure, I will write a novel in 3 weeks." In our minds, we're all geniuses and mentally strong. But when the work comes, we cop out.

If you're a procrastinator, you can't help but delay work. And that's true for the small and big tasks. Sure, everybody fears to step outside of their comfort zone - that's why we call them comfort zones. It takes courage to make a bold move. But it sure doesn't take any courage to complete small tasks like paying bills, printing out something for your boss, doing taxes, etc. The truth is: Procrastination has nothing to do with what you're trying to do - small or big, it can wait until later. It can always wait, right?

Then, you think: I might as well watch one episode of Game Of Thrones. Then, a video on YouTube-and then another one. Then, a little bit of Instagram browsing. And so forth. It always ends with a bang: "This is the last time I'm wasting my time! " Yeah, right. What you really need is a system for doing work. A lot of people shy away from routines, systems and frameworks because they want to have "freedom." I'm sorry to disappoint you: Freedom is your enemy.

The fact is that, if you want to get things done, you need rules. What are some things that research proved to be effective? <ul><li>Self-imposed deadlines. </li><li>Accountability systems (commitment with friends, or a coach). </li><li><a href="https://dariusforoux.com/takebreaks/">Working/studying in intervals. </a> </li><li>Exercising 30 minutes a day. </li><li>A healthy diet. </li><li>Eliminating distractions. </li><li>And most importantly: Internal motivation. </li> </ul>If you combine the right productivity tactics , you have a productivity system .

The deadlines create urgency, accountability will create responsibility, working in intervals improves your focus, exercising will give you more energy, so does a healthy diet, and eliminating distractions will take away the temptations. But there's no system that can help you if you don't have an inner drive. People overcomplicate that concept, but it's simple: Why do you do what you do? If you don't know. Make something up.

Procrastination is the destroyer of our dreams. Every time we don't do the things we should or want, we're putting off our lives. It's not innocent behavior. In this article, I'll show you how to beat procrastination so you can live the life you desire.

Procrastinaçăo

Procrastination has been around since the start of modern civilization. Historical figures like Herodotus, Leonardo Da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Benjamin Franklin, Eleanor Roosevelt, and hundreds of others have <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/procrastination">talked about </a>how procrastination is the enemy of results. One of my favorite quotes about procrastination is from Abraham Lincoln: "You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."

Procrastination has been around since the start of modern civilization. Historical figures like Herodotus, Leonardo Da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Benjamin Franklin, Eleanor Roosevelt, and hundreds of others have <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/procrastination">talked about </a>how procrastination is the enemy of results. One of my favorite quotes about procrastination is from Abraham Lincoln: The funny thing about procrastination is that we all know that it's harmful. Who actually likes to procrastinate? No one enjoys doing that. Me neither.And yet, procrastination was the story of my life. When I was in college, every semester, this would happen:

In the beginning of each semester, I was the coolest mofo on the planet. Relaxing, going out, enjoying myself. Big time. I experienced no stress whatsoever. However, about a week before my exams, I would freak out. "Dude, why didn't you begin earlier?" I would tell myself. And what would follow is an ugly sight of me, with a bunch of Red Bull cans, locked up in my room - freaking out while I was studying. And research shows exactly that: When you procrastinate, you might feel better on the short-term, but you will suffer in the long-term.

It's some serious shit. And I've experienced that for many years. The years after I got out of college were also a struggle in terms of starting and finishing work. Procrastination is a habit that just sneaks into your system. It's not something you can shake easily. Every time I had a business idea or wanted to start something, it went like this: Every time I had an idea or a goal, I would start, but along the way, things would go wrong. I went from start to total chaos.

For me, completing tasks, went like this: There comes a moment between the start and end of a task-I call it the slope of procrastination-when you give into one distraction. And that's exactly the moment you give up being productive. You start working on a task, you're excited, you're focused, but then, after some time, you think: Let's read the news for a second. It always starts with just one thing.

Do you want to get my best productivity tips for free?

If you know why you're doing something, even the most annoying tasks become bearable. It will become a part of the bigger picture. So, instead of diving into work, take a step back, think about why you do what you do, and then rely on a system supports that. Not rocket science. Just science . I've made an eBook with 5 tips, exercises, and video training, that you can use to get immediate results. Curious?

How To Beat Procrastination (backed by science)

8 . Procrastination is not a problem of <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/time-management">time management </a>or of planning. Procrastinators are not different in their ability to estimate time, although they are more <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/optimism">optimistic </a>than others. "Telling someone who procrastinates to buy a weekly planner is like telling someone with chronic <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/depression">depression </a>to just cheer up," insists Dr. Ferrari.

7 . Procrastinators are made not born. Procrastination is learned in the family milieu, but not directly. It is one response to an authoritarian <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/parenting">parenting </a>style. Having a harsh, controlling father keeps children from developing the ability to regulate themselves, from internalizing their own intentions and then learning to act on them. Procrastination can even be a form of rebellion, one of the few forms available under such circumstances. What's more, under those household conditions, procrastinators turn more to friends than to parents for support, and their friends may reinforce procrastination because they tend to be tolerant of their excuses.

5 . Procrastinators tell lies to themselves. Such as, "I'll feel more like doing this tomorrow." Or "I work best under pressure." But in fact they do not get the urge the next day or work best under pressure. In addition, they protect their sense of self by saying "this isn't important." Another big lie procrastinators indulge is that time pressure makes them more creative. Unfortunately they do not turn out to be more creative; they only feel that way. They squander their resources avoiding.

4 . Procrastinators actively look for distractions, particularly ones that don't take a lot of commitment on their part. Checking e-mail is almost perfect for this purpose. They distract themselves as a way of regulating their emotions such as <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/fear">fear </a>of failure. 3 . There's more than one flavor of procrastination. People procrastinate for different reasons. Dr. Ferrari identifies three basic types of procrastinators:

<ul><li>Arousal types, or thrill-seekers, who wait to the last minute for the euphoric rush. </li><li>Avoiders, who may be avoiding fear of failure or even fear of success, but in either case are very concerned with what others think of them; they would rather have others think they lack effort than ability. </li><li>Decisional procrastinators, who cannot make a decision. Not making a decision absolves procrastinators of responsibility for the outcome of events. </li> </ul>

2 . There are big costs to procrastination. Health is one. Just over the course of a single academic term, procrastinating college students had such evidence of compromised immune systems as more colds and flu, more gastrointestinal problems. And they had <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/insomnia">insomnia </a>. In addition, procrastination has a high cost to others as well as oneself; it shifts the burden of responsibilities onto others, who become resentful. Procrastination destroys <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/teamwork">teamwork </a>in the workplace and private relationships.

There are many ways to avoid success in life, but the most sure-fire just might be procrastination. Procrastinators sabotage themselves. They put obstacles in their own path. They actually choose paths that hurt their performance. Why would people do that?

There are many ways to avoid success in life, but the most sure-fire just might be <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/procrastination">procrastination </a>. Procrastinators sabotage themselves. They put obstacles in their own path. They actually choose paths that hurt their performance. Why would people do that? I talked to two of the world's leading experts on procrastination: Joseph Ferrari, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at De Paul University in Chicago, and Timothy Pychyl, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Neither one is a procrastinator, and both answered my many questions immediately.

10 . Twenty percent of people identify themselves as chronic procrastinators. For them procrastination is a lifestyle, albeit a maladaptive one. And it cuts across all domains of their life. They don't pay bills on time. They miss opportunities for buying tickets to concerts. They don't cash gift certificates or checks. They file income tax returns late. They leave their Christmas shopping until Christmas eve.

9 . It's not trivial, although as a culture we don't take it seriously as a problem. It represents a profound problem of <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/self-control">self-regulation </a>. And there may be more of it in the U.S. than in other countries because we are so nice; we don't call people on their excuses ("my grandmother died last week") even when we don't believe them.

6 . Procrastination predicts higher levels of consumption of <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/alcohol">alcohol </a>among those people who drink. Procrastinators drink more than they intend to-a manifestation of generalized problems in self-regulation. That is over and above the effect of avoidant coping styles that underlie procrastination and lead to disengagement via <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/addiction">substance abuse </a>.

Why We Procrastinate

Tax Day is a horror for many procrastinators. For many people, a little procrastination isn't harmful - like 15 minutes lost in Facebook or putting off doing the laundry for a few days. But then there are things like taxes. And all the people who keep meaning to start <a href="http://www.vox.com/2014/7/31/5882885/retirement-planning-saving-how-much-do-i-need">saving for retirement </a>, but never do. And people with <a href="http://www.vox.com/2014/11/17/7230641/maps-charts-obesity-weightloss">obesity </a>or <a href="http://www.vox.com/2014/6/10/5797264/diabetes-is-on-the-rise">diabetes </a>who constantly tell themselves, "I'll start eating right tomorrow" - but never do. For some people, p rocrastination creates huge problems at work, at school, and at home.

<a href="http://http-server.carleton.ca/~tpychyl/prg/about/about_director.html">Pychyl </a>, a professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, has been studying procrastinators for some 19 years. I talked to him about why people procrastinate and how they can learn to stop. Susannah Locke: What are the biggest misconceptions about procrastination? Tim Pychyl: When a procrastinator thinks about themselves, they'll think, "Oh, I have a time management problem," or, "I just can't make myself do it. There's a problem with my willpower." And when other people think about procrastinators, they use that pejorative term: "They're lazy."

But psychologists see procrastination as a misplaced coping mechanism, as an emotion-focused coping strategy. [People who procrastinate are] using avoidance to cope with emotions, and many of them are unconscious emotions. So we see it as giving in to feel good. And it's related to a lack of self-regulation skills.

I can simplify that and say that psychologists recognize we all have a 6-year-old running the ship. And the 6-year-old is saying, "I don't want to! I don't feel like it!" SL: What are you discovering about how procrastinators' brains work? TP: Recently we've been doing research that relates to the work on "present self"/"future self" because what's happening with procrastination is that "present self" is always trumping "future self." <a href="http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/marketing/faculty/hershfield">Hal Hershfield </a>has done some really great research on looking at how we think about <a href="http://nautil.us/issue/9/time/why-we-procrastinate">"future self." </a>He's shown that in experimental settings if someone sees their own picture digitally aged, they're more likely to allocate funds to retirement. When [the researchers] did the fMRI studies, they found our brain processes present self and future self differently. We think of future self more like a stranger.

She's doing a study right now using an imagery intervention. So she's going to have students think of an image of themselves at the end of the term. And the hypothesis is that those students who engage with this imagery of future self will then procrastinate less. We [think] that people will make less procrastinatory choices now because they'll realize that "It's me in the future we're talking about here. I'm going to be under the gun."

SL: What's the most surprising thing to you about procrastination? TP: I think the most surprising thing I'm still grappling with is that for many people, the experience of procrastination doesn't match the definition that most of us are working with: a voluntary delay of an intended action despite knowing you're going to be worse off for the delay.

If you speak to people, they'll tell you that it doesn't feel voluntary: "I feel like I have no control over it." For some people, it feels totally involuntary, like they can't help themselves. SL: What's your one biggest tip for stopping procrastination? TP: One of my pet expressions is, "Just get started." And it's important you don't say, "Just do it" - that's overwhelming. But just get started. Whenever we face a task, we're not going to feel like doing it. Somehow adults believe that their motivational state has to match the task at hand. We say, "I'm not in the mood."

Our motivational state rarely matches the task at hand, so we always have to use self-regulation skills to bring our focus to it. So at first it will be, "Okay, I recognize that I don't feel like it, but I'm just gonna get started." SL: What's the evidence that just beginning a task, even in a very small way, makes it easier to follow through? TP: We know from psychological research by <a href="http://www.psych.rochester.edu/people/elliot_andrew/">[Andrew] Elliot </a>and others that progress on our goals feeds our well-being. So the most important thing you can do is bootstrap a little progress. Get a little progress, and that's going to fuel your well-being and your motivation.

TP: <a href="http://www.psych.nyu.edu/gollwitzer/">[Peter] Gollwitzer </a>and his colleagues for years have shown us that implementation intentions make a huge difference to even deal with things like distractions. Implementation intentions take the form of "If, then." "If the phone rings, then I'm not going to answer it." "If my friends call me to say we're going out, I'm going to say no." So you've already made this pre-commitment. You can use implementation intentions to keep yourself focused: "If I've finished this part of the article, then I'm going to immediately turn my attention to reading the next part."

SL: Can people really overcome procrastination? TP: I guess I'm a living case. When I was an undergraduate, I procrastinated a lot. And now that I understand procrastination, I just have no room to wiggle. Because it's all about self-deception - you aren't aware that it's going to cost you, but you are. When there's no more self-deception and you face yourself, you either shit or get off the pot. You're either going to do it, or you're not going to do it. I really like my life, and I like to make time for the things that are important to me. [Robert] Pozen, who's written a book on <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588&amp;xs=1&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FExtreme-Productivity-Boost-Results-Reduce-ebook%2Fdp%2FB007HBLNSS">extreme productivity </a>, has the OHIO rule: only handle it once. And I'm like that with email. I look at that email and say, "I can reply to it now, or I can throw it out," but there's not much of a middle ground. I'm not going to save it for a while.

Tax Day is a horror for many procrastinators. For many people, a little procrastination isn't harmful - like 15 minutes lost in Facebook or putting off doing the laundry for a few days. But then there are things like taxes. And all the people who keep meaning to start saving for retirement, but never do.

Roughly 5 percent of the population has such a problem with chronic procrastination that it seriously affects their lives. None of it seems logical. How can people have such good intentions and yet be so totally unable to follow through? Conventional wisdom has long suggested that procrastination is all about poor time management and willpower. But more recently, psychologists have been discovering that it may have more to do with how our brains and emotions work. Procrastination, they've realized, appears to be a coping mechanism. When people procrastinate, they're avoiding emotionally unpleasant tasks and instead doing something that provides a temporary mood boost. The procrastination itself then causes shame and guilt - which in turn leads people to procrastinate even further, creating a vicious cycle.

But getting a better understanding of why our brains are so prone to procrastination might let us find new strategies to avoid it. For example, psychologist Tim Pychyl has co-authored a <a href="http://postcog.ucd.ie/files/2010%20I%20forgive%20myself,%20now%20I%20can%20study%20How%20self-forgiveness%20for%20procrastinating%20can%20reduce%20future%20procrastination.pdf">paper </a>showing that students who forgave themselves for procrastinating on a previous exam were actually less likely to procrastinate on their next test. He and others have also found that people prone to procrastination are, overall, less compassionate toward themselves - an insight that points to ways to help.

My graduate student <a href="http://www.spsp.org/members/?id=29450161">Eve-Marie Blouin-Hudon </a>just did three studies, and what she looked at is our ability to imagine the future self. She measured people's self-continuity. You'd see circles representing present self and future self and choose how much to overlap them. Some people see these selves as completely distinct, and some people see them totally overlapping. The people who see the present and future self as more overlapping have more self-continuity and report less procrastination.

Back in the 1990s, I put pagers on students and paged them [eight times a day for five days before an academic deadline]. And when they finally started working on the project, empirically we found that they didn't see it as as difficult or as stressful as earlier in the week. So their perceptions of the task changed. There's lots of reasons to think that that's what happens to us when we get started. SL: But what about getting distracted?

And so if I can deal with it in two minutes - this is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Allen_%28author%29">David Allen </a>'s work - I deal with it. I used to procrastinate, and now I don't, because I got all these wicked strategies. And it's every level: some of it's behavioral, some of it's emotional, some of it's cognitive. And now my biggest challenge is how do I teach my kids this? That's really hard. Pychyl also hosts a podcast, called <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fpodcast%2Fiprocrastinate-podcast%2Fid129144284%3Fmt%3D2">iProcrastinate </a>, which often features interviews with other psychology experts in related fields and is also heavy with tips and tricks for overcoming procrastination.

Miguel Gonçalves

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