4 Things They DON’T Tell You About PROCRASTINATION

have you ever found yourself in a situation where you have a looming deadline but you just can't seem to get started you know you should be working but instead you're scrolling through social media or binge watching your favorite show and not writing that 10 page essay due tomorrow morning before you know it the day is almost over and you haven't written a word so what do you do you knock back a couple of energy drinks get to writing and just barely complete your paper in time to meet the deadline we've all been there and it's not a fun experience if you're tired of telling yourself I'll do better next time only to find yourself in the same situation again and again here's how to break the cycle of procrastination Dr Jubal Med schoolinsiders.com before we get started I'd like to announce that we're looking for a director of content to add to our growing team if you're eager to learn highly organized Integris and have previous experience in managing social media accounts for brands or content creators please fill out an application or forward it to someone who you think would be well suited we've already hired a few amazing new team members over the past few months and we're always impressed by the caliber of individuals who subscribe to our channels learn more at medschoolinsiders.com forward slash hiring the first step to overcoming procrastination is to identify why you're procrastinating in the first place contrary to what you might think people don't usually procrastinate because they're inherently lazy or lack discipline if this were the case most of us would never get anything done instead there are countless reasons why someone might be putting off a particular task the key is to identify the underlying reason for your behavior and adapt your approach accordingly most tips for procrastination are too vague or too General to overcome your particular reason for procrastination you need to get to the root of the problem and nip it in the bud although it would be impossible to cover every reason in a single video most people procrastinate for one of four reasons let's go through each reason one by one and talk about some strategies to overcome them the first reason that people procrastinate is that the task seems too intimidating or difficult to combat this break down the task into smaller more manageable steps for example instead of aiming to write a whole book in in a year set a goal to write one chapter a month or one page a day breaking down complex or difficult tasks into smaller subtasks often makes it appear much more attainable once you've determined the steps necessary to complete a task the next step is to determine what subtask you should work on first there are two approaches you can use for this the snowball method and the eat the Frog method the snowball method involves starting with the easiest task and gradually working up to the more challenging ones by completing the easier tasks first you build confidence and momentum to help motivate you tackle the harder tasks the eat the Frog method on the other hand is the exact opposite you start with the most difficult task first and then move on to the easier ones once it's complete the phrase eat the Frog comes from a quote by Mark Twain who suggested that if you have to eat a frog you should do it first thing in the morning and if you have to eat two frogs you should eat the biggest one first the idea behind this method is that by tackling the hardest task early on you've gotten the worst part out of the way as such everything you do after should be easy by comparison both the snowball method and the eat the Frog method can be useful and there's no one right approach you should experiment with both methods and find what works best for you regardless of the approach you choose the next step is to just start although it sounds easy this is often the most challenging part for people one way to overcome this is to tell yourself that you only have to work for five minutes as a way of reducing the friction and intimidation factor of starting sometimes reducing the activation energy is the key to just getting the ball rolling after those five minutes are up evaluate if you need a break or if you can continue working you'll often find that you can work for much longer as you've overcome the hardest part of starting it's also important to focus on completing one task at a time even though you may be tempted to switch between tasks especially when you have a lot of work to do it's best to avoid doing this multitasking is often seen as a way to accomplish more in less time but it's actually a myth when you multitask you're not really working on multiple tasks simultaneously but rather rapidly switching between them focusing intensely on one task will save you time and lead to better results the next reason that people procrastinate is that they feel there isn't enough time to make progress or complete a task if this is your reason for procrastinating then the first thing to understand is that this is factually untrue we all make time for what's important to us if you haven't made time for it it's probably because you haven't made it a priority your schedule should be a reflection of your priorities by regularly scheduling time for important tasks like studying or exercise they can eventually become habits which makes avoiding procrastination that much easier this is also a great time to apply Parkinson's law which states work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion estimate how long a particular task or subtask will take you to complete and only give yourself that much time to complete it when determining how much time to set aside it's important to find a balance between being realistic and at the same time slightly ambitious if you're too ambitious you might feel overwhelmed and discouraged by the lack of progress however if you're not ambitious enough you might not feel pressured to complete the task and end up dragging your feet when you set a deadline that is reasonable but still puts some pressure on you you'll often be surprised at how much you can get done done the next reason that people procrastinate is that they lack the energy to work on a task to overcome this it's important to first take a look at your physical well-being there are three pillars of Health Sleep nutrition and exercise when any one of these is out of balance you're not able to perform optimally I discussed these three pillars and how to optimize them and how I study 10 plus hours a day in med school and why I can't anymore over on the Kevin Jubal MD YouTube channel Link in the description although it may seem unrelated prioritizing your health can have a significant positive impact on your ability to overcome procrastination when you feel good you have a greater capacity to get things done that being said even with good health habits there may be days when you still feel low on energy in these situations there are some things you can do to boost your energy levels in the moment to start taking breaks is crucial I found that taking a short break every 30 to 60 Minutes helps me keep my energy up during long work sessions any less than 30 minutes and I found I don't get much done but any more than 60 minutes and I feel my energy and attention start to dip the Pomodoro Technique is a great way to start incorporating breaks into your day and we have several videos on this channel discussing how to use it effectively links in the description just as important as taking breaks however is how you choose to spend your breaks instead of scrolling through social media or responding to text messages use your brakes as an opportunity to get up and away from your study space use the restroom play with a pet make a healthy snack or do some mild exercise research demonstrates that short bursts of aerobic exercise improve memory and arousal this is not only a great way to incorporate movement into your busy schedule but it can also serve as a great pick-me-up and let you get back to work feeling recharged if you're still feeling tired even after taking breaks and moving you can also consider taking a brief nap I found that 13 minutes is the sweet spot for me any less and I don't feel refreshed any longer and I end up falling into deeper levels of sleep and wake up feeling groggy lastly consider fixing your posture I found that if I'm in a relaxed posture such as sitting in a comfortable chair or couch or laying in bed I'm more likely to fade into a relaxed state with zero intention of getting anything done working at a standing desk or even sitting on a stool without a backrest has helped keep me alert and focused on the task at hand the last reason that people procrastinate is that there are simply more interesting or enjoyable ways to spend their time writing an essay or studying for an exam is rarely as exciting as spending time with friends or watching a new show on Netflix in order to get the hard work done you need to make the task you're trying to accomplish more attractive than the other options available to you you do this by adding friction to distractions and reducing friction for getting work done the trick here is to make your environment work with you you want to create a space that is free from distractions where the only option available is to work if you have other more attractive options available then you're much less likely to get work done in contrast if your only options are to be productive or do nothing you're actually more likely to be productive than sit there doing nothing as humans we hate boredom and isolation this is one reason why solitary confinement is considered one of the harshest punishments for prisoners surprisingly one study even found that when placed in a room with nothing but a button that administered a painful shock many people would rather shock themselves than experience boredom when faced with the option of work or boredom we often choose work your environment extends to your digital environment as well make sure your computer and smartphone are free from distractions and remove or restrict any apps or websites that tend to distract you lastly you can motivate yourself by setting specific goals or milestones for your work and then rewarding yourself once you achieve them for example you could set a goal to write five pages of a 10-page essay and then reward Yourself by having lunch or going out with friends in the evening this not only gives you a sense of accomplishment but it also allows you to enjoy your leisure time without the guilt of Unfinished work it's important to remember that even the most productive people in the world experience the urge to procrastinate it's not a matter of always feeling motivated to get things done rather it's knowing how to get things done even when you don't want to thank you to our awesome subscribers for providing their procrastination tips in our recent Community post if you'd like to contribute to our video videos make sure you are subscribed so you don't miss out on future polls and posts your ideas might just be featured in one of our videos thank you all so much for watching if you enjoyed this video check out study less studysmart what I wish I knew in college or this other video much love and I'll see you guys there foreign

Channel: Med School Insiders

Views: 31,970

Keywords: Pre-med, Premed, Med Student, Medical School, Med School, Medical Student, procrastination, procrastination cure, master procrastinator, ted talks, pomodoro, motivation, pomodoro technique, study schedule, increase productivity, tim ferriss, get things done, accomplishments, personal growth, be more productive, stop delaying, how to overcome procrastination, tips for procrastination, get work started, improvement, procrastination tips, self-discipline, hardwork, motivation equation

Id: -5Np6dsWLdc

Length: 9min 22sec (562 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 29 2023