Procrastination, the action of delaying or postponing something, has reared its head during Covid-19. In lockdown, we were faced with a situation we’d never been in before: we could barely leave our homes. So, all that extra time indoors meant we’d be at our optimal in terms of productivity in work or outside of it, right? Well, no as it turned out. It transpired that, for most of us, it had the opposite effect – our motivation levels were at an all-time low.

As to why this is, it's a relatively well-known fact that your brain will do everything to protect you and keep you safe. This is why we often don’t like the idea of doing things we are not comfortable with, or for whatever reason are slow to start them, and so, put them off. This procrastination could only have been amplified during the pandemic because our brains were already on safe-mode; doing everything they could to try and help us cope with the threat of a global virus, of our day-to-day lives being so drastically changed. With all that going on, of course, we were going to find any form of a to-do list a challenge (or near impossible).

Luckily, Career Psychologist Sinéad Brady says there are plenty of ways to kick our procrastination habits because that’s all procrastination really is – a habit. She explains three steps you can take to help.

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Take ownership

“First, I would suggest to people that they acknowledge the fact that they are procrastinating, then decide they are making the choice to change this – because it’s actually just a habit. Like anything, habits take a while to change but it is possible to do. Then, I’d suggest they sit down and explore the times they would most likely procrastinate. So, do you do this during deadlines or ahead of a big job? Then, look at the reasons you give for the procrastination. So, is it: ‘I work best to deadlines’ or "‘I do this because when I have a big project I feel overwhelmed and I don’t know where to start.’”

“It’s about taking ownership of your procrastination and why they are actually happening, taking 60 seconds to sit down and do a brain-dump to find out the reasons you do it.”

Write it down

“Then you name it. Say, ‘I procrastinate when I have a big task to do because I feel overwhelmed and I don’t know where to start.’ Then say to yourself, ‘When I’m tempted to procrastinate I’m going to give myself three minutes to write down all the reasons why I procrastinate.’ You’re allowing yourself to procrastinate, but giving yourself a time limit in which you can do it.”

Move to action

“You say, ‘I have allowed myself that time to procrastinate and now I’m choosing to move to action.’ You then create a small action list of your top three priorities that you must do. To stop yourself from procrastination, you then take five minutes at the start of your task, to write a quick a not-to-do list and physically write all the reasons you’ll allow yourself to be drawn away and procrastinate.”

“Then, limit the amount of time you have for each task, breaking them down into doable chunks of say, 30-minute sessions and only focus on a single task during that time. Write down that particular task on a sticky note to put on your computer, so that when you feel drawn away from it – it’s there, in front of you to look at and help pull back your focus, and remind yourself that’s what you're doing – and only doing – during those 30 minutes.”

Jennifer McShane, August 2020.

Do you have any tips to focus and help stop the mind wandering?
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