How to use the Procrastination Equation to stop my Procrastination Habit?

By identifying which part of the equation is giving you trouble, you can easily overcome procrastination.


1. More Impulsiveness = Increased Procrastination.

Impulsiveness includes:

  1. Don’t know what to work on next.
  2. Don’t know where to get started.
  3. Don’t know how to proceed after starting.
  4. Keep getting distracted. Distraction can be made by yourself or by your peers.
  5. Keep getting interrupted. Interruptions caused by peers are high compared to self-interruptions.
  6. Too many things to do.
  7. Uncomfortable work environment.

How to overcome Impulsiveness?

Good planning, Fixed Work-hours without interruptions, muting notifications, and staying away from the internet is helpful. Shift to a positive work environment.

2. More Delay = High Procrastination.

Few examples of delays that start procrastination are:

  1. The Rewards that are far away.
  2. Having vague goals.
  3. Very distant goals.
  4. The Lengthy projects.
  5. No timely recognition and appreciation.

How to overcome Delay?

Chunk the projects. Have your own deadlines and self-targets. Setting simple goals and achievable targets is important to beat procrastination.

3. More value = Motivation. No Procrastination

Few examples of High value and Low value include:


  1. Passionate projects are of value to you. You will not procrastinate.
  2. The subject of interest, a field of interest stops procrastination.
  3. Too difficult, boring, and unclear tasks bring a low-value score. You procrastinate.

How to bring more value?

Begin your work in the areas you like to gain momentum and motivation.

4. Optimistic Expectations = Motivation. Low Procrastination.

Few examples of low expectancies to avoid include:

  1. Fear of failure, criticism
  2. Lack of self-confidence
  3. Fear of judgments from others

How to overcome Expectancy?

Think about ‘I can try instead of I don’t think I can do it.’ It is important for boosting your confidence. Do it for yourself. It’s better to make an effort instead of procrastinating.

Seinfeld Strategy Explained with an Example:

Imagine you have an assignment to cover 30-40 topics in a month. Doing ‘At a stretch’ or ‘Last Minute Work’ leads to procrastination.

Bring Seinfeld Strategy here.

Cover two-three topics every day. Mark a Big Red-Cross. The chain of X forms. Keep at it and don’t break it. End of the week, you would have accomplished a good percentage of work.

You can apply the Seinfeld Strategy to overcome procrastination in all areas of your life.

For instance:

  • Hitting the gym, having weight goals is all good, but we end up procrastinating. Apply Seinfeld strategy here. Start by doing 10-20 pushups every day. Start forming the chain. Don’t break the chain. In time, you will gain the motivation to push yourself better than pushups to more workouts.
  • Working on long assignments and projects can be overwhelming. We somehow procrastinate, bringing multiple reasons to justify, right? Try the Seinfeld technique. Finish tasks that are within your limit daily like researching, start writing a few hundred words, covering 3-5 topics in subjects daily, etc. start building your chain of “X”s.
  • Is your report likely to become overdue in the office? Don’t worry. Start your chain of X by doing some tasks within your ability every day regarding your presentation. At the end of a week, you will definitely have an advantage with your reports than before.

Takeaway:

Seinfeld Strategy is an easy and effective way to resolve your procrastination habit. It focuses on keeping the productive habit alive and beat the procrastination mindset. Try this technique. Start by choosing tasks that you can manage doing daily. Don’t worry about the results, performance, ranks, and appreciations. It doesn’t matter here. Build your chain. Don’t break the chain. After some time, build your chain with little more challenging tasks than simple tasks.