Ending Distraction & Procrastination Forever

This writing is about reframing your view on procrastination and distraction so that you have a long term solution that will not only enhance your self awareness but also terminate any negative views/beliefs you might have, or guilt you might feel, about procrastination and distraction.

Big topic this one - so we will stick to the essentials.

The minimum reading in order for you to have maximum benefits leading to a full understanding of a long term solution to treat them as allies rather than enemies.

To treat them as both tools and conductors to personal growth, rather than something to be avoided at all costs and feel guilty not being able to.

Let's first define distraction and procrastination, as well as the subtle difference/nuance between the two.

Distraction refers to when you divert your attention from the task at hand to something unrelated. For example, checking your phone notifications during a work session or meeting.

Procrastination refers to when you deliberately choose to delay or postpone a task that you know you "should" be doing, usually because it has to be done relatively soon. It also doesn't matter whether you are delaying the "start" of a task or the "continuation" of a task.

For example, choosing to scroll through social media or to do the dishes instead of a difficult project is an example of procrastination.

Although there is certainly an overlap between the two - for example, when you are working on a "should do" task and then a distraction leads you to procrastinate - you can think of "distractions" as momentary lapses in your attention and think of "procrastination" as a deeper avoidance of starting or completing a task.

Regardless of the difference, both of these "productivity blockers" hold opportunities for unique insights in the context of your life.

In today's fast-paced and hyper connected world, countless blogs, books, and gurus preach the elimination of all distraction and procrastination as if it were the enemy.

Let's flip the script and uncover the "positive" side to both, first.

They are only separated for clarity, however; in practice, you will find it most helpful to combine the two and understand the trends.

Without further ado, here's the good side to each.

Distraction (Positives):

* Mental Recovery Trigger

When we get distracted, it may partly be because our brain is craving a rest from whatever it was doing. It is impossible to be focused for 2-4 hours straight (unless you're in a very deep flow state), and your body and brain work in high-low energy cycles that last approximately 90-120 minutes. When distractions arise, they may be used as a trigger to recharge - go to the bathroom, have a drink of water, get up, stretch, go for a walk - even for just a few minutes. When we come back into the previous task after this little "mental reset", we will be more efficient than before. So thank you, distraction.

* Creative Problem Solving

When distraction happens, our mind heads into a different direction and experience than the task at hand. Whether it was intentional (maybe because the brain has just thought of something which was related to the problem at hand) or not, the experience of having something distracting will trigger new ideas. And these new ideas fire off a chain reaction of creativity, connecting your thoughts with plenty of other ideas. Meanwhile, your subconscious mind is still working on the task that you have been distracted from. This subconscious processing often leads to breakthroughs when you least expect them (just like great ideas that come out of experiences in the shower). When you give you mind a chance to alternate between "conscious focus" and "distracted creativity", you can unlock a whole new set of tools to propel you forward. So, thank you distraction.

* Increasing Interest Awareness

When distraction happens, sometimes it's just plain old lack of interest in what you're currently doing. The catch here is whether you will remain in the "distraction rabbit hole" or not. The best way to avoid the distraction rabbit hole is to use the distraction as the opportunity to take a "mental reset" break (as explained in Mental Recovery Trigger, above); however, sometimes we find that we actually want to remain in the distraction rabbit hole. Maybe it's a new topic that particularly piques your interest, or maybe it's something that is particularly relevant to your life right now. When this happens, it's actually a really good and strong signal that this is an area to explore more in. It's not reasonable to assume that every single thing we do will always capture our interest - but the more we explore what life has to offer, the more we can progressively move closer and closer to that - and distraction helps us increase our awareness about those areas of interest to us. So, thank you distraction.

Procrastination (Positives):

* Increasing the Challenge/Skill Balance

Procrastination has many causes, but one of them is that the task might feel "too easy" relative to your skills and the deadline. If this is true, what procrastination does is reduce the overall amount of time you have left to do the task. This increases the risk (of failure) and heightens your focus, leading you to become more efficient as the deadline gets closer. With that additional risk, you're more likely to enter a flow state, problem-solve creatively, and get the task done in the least amount of time. All these benefits happen so long as the balance is still tolerable: if the time is too short, your stress levels will spike and you might get to a level of feeling overwhelmed, resulting in either missing the deadline or missing the mark regarding the quality of the completed task. Read how to avoid this in the next one. When used consciously, though, some level of procrastination is a handy tool for commanding effortless focus and hyper productive flow states. Thank you, 'conscious procrastination'.

* Opportunity Cost Management (Strategic Delay)

Often in life, we have many tasks open in parallel, all with different deadlines and all competing for our attention. You might know that multitasking is, at worst, impossible and at best, a bad idea. Enter the idea of "opportunity cost management" and "strategic delay". Sometimes, a task requires more information or additional clarity to emerge. Sometimes, unexpected tasks pop up which are more urgent than what was in our awareness before. If we push too much to "not procrastinate", we may end up losing the precious time and energy required for something more urgent. Similarly, if a task is not pressingly urgent, 'conscious procrastination' can be used to free up time and energy or simply take advantage of other (more timely) opportunities that pop up. Procrastination is not procrastination if you still manage to make your output of "high enough quality" and "completed on time". And, the idea of "using up" ALL the time you have available until the deadline is intentional use of strategic delay. An additional plus side is that you leverage your creative problem solving mind in order to end up with a better overall final product or completed task. The key to using this is to balance the procrastination periods with "making progress", so that there is more "material" to creatively think about in the background whilst procrastinating (NOT leaving it all till the last minute). Thank you, 'conscious procrastination'.

* Inner Work, Emotional Awareness

Procrastination might still get the best of you, despite having the knowledge and tools above, so this one is the "catch all" that takes every remaining case of procrastination and spins it into a positive. The root of procrastination is often an emotional one: fear of failure, lack of confidence, perfectionism, hidden fears, or limiting beliefs. These are buried deeply in the unconscious (we are blind to them) and we cannot be aware of them. When procrastination comes up, it provides us with an opportunity to see these "hidden" emotional or unconscious factors, by shedding a light on what kind of tasks we avoid and in what situations. For example, you might not have any fear of failure with a task that involves only writing, but you may be frozen by this same fear when it comes to making a speech. These insights are priceless - because it's not "productivity" or "neuroscience" knowledge which will solve them forever. What will solve them forever is deep inner work designed to rewire your subconscious such as therapy; but you wouldn't even know you had this work as a subject to tackle if it weren't for the procrastination leading you to awareness. Thank you, "unconscious" procrastination.

As you've read, there is much more to distraction and procrastination than meets the eye.

By treating them both as friendly signs and allies, we can come to much greater understandings of ourselves and how we work in the work.

They can be powerful signals and tools for growth, creativity, and self-awareness.

There is no need to feel any guilt or shame, because we are all "slaves to our brain chemistry".

When procrastination and distraction arise, it's for very good reasons.

You might not have all of these reasons, but you can trust that they exist.

To ending procrastination and distraction forever is a fine balance.

On one hand, there is a set of skills to acquire (some of which are in productivity books, some of which are revealed by the neuroscience of "flow") for the conscious part and emotional inner work to do for the unconscious part.

On the other hand, there is a set of real life cases where procrastination and distraction are welcome friends and can be opportunities leveraged to your advantage.

Having read this writing, you are aware of most of the basics. Take some notes of the key concepts/ideas that were not already part of your awareness, so you can integrate them more fully.

And the next time you find yourself distracted or procrastinating, pause...

Instead of forcing yourself to fight it, explore the possibilities it might reveal.

Ask yourself

"When was the last time I took a mental break?"
"What is preventing me from starting/continuing this task?"
"What additional information or clarity do I need to proceed?"

As you keep gaining experience and learning, trust the insights you will gain from every opportunity - day in, day out - and they will keep improving your situation.

Thank you for reading. You don't need to integrate it all - just take away one key point.

And you are already on your road to success!