This presentation will give you a better understanding of why you might be procrastinating and give your methods on how you can stop it.

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How to Stop Procrastinating by
GoodRx Senior Product Manager

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7. Emmalyn Yee
TONIGHT’S SPEAKER

8. Beat Procrastination
By Emmalyn Yee

9. Agenda
1.Goals
2.Why we
procrastinate
3.Blockers & safety
4.Methods & habits

10. This is not about:
● To do lists
● Gettings Things
Done
● Just do it

11. My story… (tldr I used to
procrastinate)

12. My goal: choose your own
(better adventure)

13. Why we procrastinate:

14. Procrastination is a mechanism for
coping with the anxiety associated
with starting or completing
any task or decision

15. We procrastinate when we fear a
threat to our sense of worth

16. Anxiety
● About delaying
● About anxiety
● About quality
● Of life’s missed
opportunities

17. Fear
● Of failure
● Of being
imperfect
● Of impossible
expectations
● Of judgement

18. Procrastination is not a character
defect. It is an attempt at coping

19. A learned defense
● Procrastination is a learned protective
reaction to pressure, feeling
overwhelmed, and fear of failure and of
success
● If these underlying fears are allayed, the
learned tactic of procrastination can
rapidly be unlearned

20. Procrastination is rewarding
● We express resentment / exercise control
● It lessens your fear of failure
● It temporarily reduces anxiety
● Someone else will do it

22. A story
Your job is to walk on a 2x10
board on the ground

23. How procrastination works
1.You give a task the power to determine your
worth and happiness - so you never make a
full effort
2.You raise the board
3.You catastrophize

24. You are not lazy.

25. The blocks to work

26. 3 major blocks
● Fear of being overwhelmed
● Fear of finishing
● Fear of failure / perfectionism

27. Signs of
perfectionism
● Anything I do, I
should do well
● Your parents were
stingy with
praise
● Mediocrity is
death
● I am what I do

28. Perfectionism in you
● Proof of your worth
● Prediction that success = happiness
● Prediction that failure = catastrophe
● Focus on psychological self protection
from fear of failing

29. Procrastination
03
01 02
Perfectionism & fear of
failure
Self criticism, anxiety and
depression
Loss of confidence
Stronger need to escape
through procrastination
Greater fear of failure
05
01
02 03
04

30. Now Habit Tools
● Plan backwards
● Work of worrying
● Persistent starting

31. Worry and anxiety ≠ safety. Create a safety net
● What would I do if the worst happened?
● What alternatives would I have?
● Is there anything I can do now to increase
my chances of achieving my goal?
● What can I do now to lessen the probability
of this occurring?

32. Create a varied
sense of self
● You are not just
your job
● Not all of you
sucks at once

33. Self-worth is
innate
Those less capable
than you are equally
worthy and deserve
respect

34. Stop being a #^@*& to yourself

35. Negative self talk
● Creates inner conflict
● Reinforces victimhood, burden, resistance
to authority
● Confirms belief others make us do things
against our will
● Creates an image of ourselves defeated by
small tasks, overburdened, working without
joy

36. I have to...
● I have to, if I was powerful I wouldn’t
● Your brain must simultaneously tackle two
conflicting situations: providing the
energy for the imposed task, and
providing the energy to resist threats to
the integrity of the self, with either the
stress or depressive response

37. I should...
● Should compares ideal vs. bad reality
● Negative comparison with no way to get from
where you are to where you want to be
● Bad self leadership

38. Say NO
● No, I need time to think about that
● No, that won’t enable me to do a good job
● No, that does not align to our values
● Yes, I’d love to, but I have prior
commitments

39. Use this language:
From To
I have to I choose to
I must be perfect I can be human
How much can I do in 15 minutes?
I must finish When can I start?
This is too big I can take one small step /
draft
I should have done something
different
What can I do now?
I don’t have time for fun I must make time for fun

40. You deserve to have fun

42. Respect yourself
Or is life hard and then you
die?
● Take vacations
● Schedule time for
friends
● Schedule time for
hobbies
● Pomodoro method

43. The results of
play
● More energy
● Motivation for
quality work
● Creativity
● Rewards form
positive habit

45. Smartphone addiction?
● Forest App
● Stop using phones at stoplights

46. I choose to start on one
small imperfect step knowing I
have plenty of time for play

47. The unschedule & persistent starting
● 30 minutes is enough time to do quality
work
● Keep starting, finishing will take of
itself
● Sense of accomplishment
● Builds up desire to work
● Guarantees guilt free play
● Notice your patterns

49. But wait, why is this called the Now HABIT?

50. Each time you make a conscious decision to
create safety for yourself and to speak the
language of the producer, you will be
unlearning the habits of a procrastinator while
strengthening the new healthy habits of a
producer

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