New strategies are emerging for the cause of many a blown deadline, late fee and irritated boss: Procrastination.
As digital distractions proliferate, psychologists are adapting tactics from cognitive behavioral therapy to target procrastination. They are also developing smartphone apps to reinforce thoughts of industriousness and weaken the allure of procrastination. The efforts come as some researchers believe that procrastination is on the rise, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Alexander Rozental, a psychologist and postdoctoral researcher at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, has developed a treatment for procrastination based on the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy, an approach that focuses on changing the thoughts and behaviors that drive peoples’ distress.
Here are its core components:
• Revamp your goals—Goals need to be specific and scheduled. “Instead of saying, ‘Next week I’ll start studying for my exam,’ say, ‘On Monday between 9 and 11, I’ll start studying for my exam,’” Dr. Rozental says. Since motivation increases the closer you get to a deadline, larger goals should be divided into smaller subgoals. Then schedule regular rewards when you meet those subgoals.
• Start small, but start—For procrastinators, the first step is often the hardest. To overcome the resistance to beginning a project, Dr. Rozental has people start very small.
• Eliminate distractions—This seems like a no-brainer, but remove everything that isn’t important for the task at hand.
• Assess your values—Dr. Rozental has participants identify their core values to help them see the relationship between the tasks they are putting off and their larger life purpose.
