# You're not Lazy: How to End Procrastination For Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qriNOmeSrmI

[00:00] So, you've been battling procrastination for years.
[00:02] You've tried everything.
[00:04] But despite all the motivation you've tried to summon, you just can't win.
[00:08] Or maybe you win sometimes, but on those days where you're tired, you don't have your guard up, procrastination is always waiting for you.
[00:16] And if after all of that, you still can't beat procrastination and just do your damn work, you must be lazy.
[00:22] Or are you?
[00:25] In this video, I'm going to unpack what procrastination really is and why all of those strategies you tried before didn't work.
[00:32] I'll then teach you a threepart process that you can use to end procrastination forever.
[00:37] And even if you are lazy, how you can use that to your advantage.
[00:41] And it isn't some magic solution that works instantly.
[00:43] It will take time, but it does work.
[00:46] And that's what matters.
[00:48] If you're new to this channel, welcome.
[00:49] I'm Dr. Justin.
[00:52] I'm a learning coach and researcher head of learning at I can study and for the last decade I've taught thousands of people how to learn more efficiently and stop procrastinating.
[00:59] So the first part is
[01:01] that we have to specify the behavior.
[01:04] We need to stop calling it procrastination.
[01:07] Procrastination is not one behavior.
[01:09] It is a whole category of behaviors that lead to this particular undesirable outcome.
[01:14] And because it is not just one behavior, the way that we deal with each behavior is actually different.
[01:20] For example, let's say that the way you procrastinate is by doom scrolling on Instagram on your phone instead of studying.
[01:27] This is not the same behavior and therefore the way that we'd fix it is not the same way as wanting to do a workout but then ending up reorganizing and cleaning your room.
[01:37] Yes, there are similarities and at the end of the day, there's something you wanted to do and you weren't able to get it done.
[01:44] But in terms of the environment and the triggers and the structures, it's not the same thing.
[01:48] And this is important because if we try to fix procrastination just by trying our best to fix procrastination, well, we've only got so much time and motivation that we're willing to give.
[01:57] If we keep trying with
[02:02] a way that doesn't work, eventually
[02:03] we're just going to get demotivated and give up.
[02:05] We start believing we're just too lazy.
[02:07] But by being specific about the behavior, we can be specific about the intervention.
[02:10] We can attack it with precision like a majestic hunter hunting some mythical beast.
[02:13] So when we think of a behavior, we always want to think about the environment and the triggers as well.
[02:16] Think of the behavior as a symptom, a side effect of something else.
[02:20] For example, if you grow up around smokers, your friends smoke, your parents smoke, your grandparents smoke, your chimney smokes.
[02:22] everything around you smokes, then you too are likely to start picking up smoking.
[02:24] Likewise, if you're in a really distracting environment, you're much more likely to get distracted.
[02:26] Or if you're in an environment that makes it hard to do focused work and instead it's much easier to watch a 4-hour video of someone digging a swimming pool in the forest using their bare hands, then you're much more likely to watch that
[03:03] video.
[03:03] The trick to changing a behavior, including procrastination, is to make it so that that behavior becomes ridiculously easy to do and the undesirable behavior takes a ridiculous amount of effort to do.
[03:18] So once we've done part one, which is to identify and specify the behavior of procrastination that we're trying to change, then part two is that we can focus on the drivers of that behavior rather than the behavior itself.
[03:31] For example, ever since I moved to using a MacBook instead of my old Windows PC, I basically stopped gaming on my computer altogether.
[03:40] I just couldn't be bothered unplugging my MacBook and then plugging my computer in and like connecting up to the monitor and everything and then turning it on just to play some games.
[03:46] So, I stopped.
[03:48] I effectively became too lazy to procrastinate.
[03:54] Think about that.
[03:54] So, here's what we can do to make some meaningful changes to the environment.
[03:59] Write down your procrastination behavior using this format.
[04:02] Intentions,
[04:05] events, and we can split events into before, during the transition, and result, feelings in terms of what made it harder or what made procrastinating easier, and then triggers.
[04:20] For example, let's say that someone's trying to study, but then they ended up watching an entire season of Castlevania because it was recommended on their Netflix.
[04:29] My intention was, I mean, someone's intention was to study.
[04:36] The events that occurred might have been before I was eating dinner and I had planned to study once I finished eating.
[04:46] during the transition.
[04:48] This is about what you try to do when you're attempting to do your desired behavior.
[04:54] In this example, it might be something like, I thought about going downstairs and opening up my books to start studying, but I decided to spend 20 minutes digesting after my dinner by
[05:06] Sitting on the couch.
[05:08] And then the result was I ended up turning the TV on and watching a whole new season of Castlevania that was suggested to me.
[05:17] I then hated myself and questioned all of my life choices, etc., etc.
[05:20] Once we've got the chronology of the events, then we can move on to the feelings and the triggers.
[05:23] So, the feeling section might look something like this.
[05:25] I was initially feeling motivated and focused.
[05:28] I was a little tired from the day.
[05:31] Then, when I started thinking about what to study and where to start and everything I needed to cover, I got overwhelmed.
[05:38] This made it harder.
[05:40] My couch was right next to me and I'm logged into Netflix all the time, so that made it easier to start watching.
[05:45] My triggers might have been seeing the couch, my sweet comfortable couch, then seeing the Netflix logo, and then seeing the recommended new series.
[05:56] And so these are all things that would have triggered certain behavioral habits.
[06:00] So, I have a habit of watching Netflix whenever I sit on that couch.
[06:03] Triggers are the things
[06:08] that activate habits.
[06:11] For example, they could be an app icon when I used to play a lot of games.
[06:13] The game logo icon that appeared on my desktop that used to be a trigger to make me want to play games.
[06:20] So, once we've mapped it out like this, you can see it for what it is, not just this big label that's abstract that we call procrastination,
[06:29] then we can start doing something about it.
[06:32] There are some possible changes that we might want to make when we look at this.
[06:35] Like we could log out of Netflix, we can move the couch, just don't plan on studying after dinner in the first place since you can see I was tired to begin with, get my books out in advance, have a clear study plan so I don't have to think about everything and then get overwhelmed.
[06:51] These solutions will all help, but you can see how specific they are.
[06:55] It's not just try not to get distracted.
[06:57] If we find that a big barrier was that we were too sleepy and tired, we can try to change our sleep schedule and get some more sleep or maybe change the time of the day that we're studying.
[07:05] If it's social media that's distracting us, we can try to use app blockers.
[07:07] Or if it's simply our
[07:09] burning urge to like this video, then you can just go ahead and like it.
[07:14] Whatever the problem is, the first step is to identify the behavior.
[07:15] Figure out why it happens and then play around with a combination of changes that we can make to our environment and our structures so that that behavior becomes really hard to do and the desired behavior becomes really easy to do.
[07:30] And when we do this, we want to think like we're some kind of evil human behavior architect that's trapped this group of people and we're trying to manipulate and force them into doing this very specific type of behavior.
[07:45] We want to think, how do we nudge these people indirectly to do exactly what we want them to do?
[07:52] Because that's basically what these social media companies are doing.
[07:54] And if you want to beat them, you have to know how they're thinking.
[07:56] Beat them at their own game.
[07:58] And it might take weeks of trial and error with different combinations of changing your environment to figure out the full map
[08:09] of a particular behavior and learn how to change it.
[08:12] And then for another type of behavior, it might take you a little bit more time to figure out how to change that one and another one, another one.
[08:18] Like I said, procrastination isn't just one single behavior.
[08:20] But when you figure it out, which you will if you do this, it works.
[08:25] You will stop procrastinating.
[08:28] And it doesn't take that much willpower or motivation.
[08:30] In fact, it's surprisingly easy.
[08:33] But sometimes this isn't enough.
[08:35] And that's why we need the third part.
[08:38] If you go ahead with part one and part two, most of you will feel like you're pretty much done with procrastination.
[08:44] You're on top of it.
[08:46] But some of you will still struggle.
[08:48] And this is because procrastination might have become a habit.
[08:50] You've become a chronic procrastinator.
[08:54] You've become a procrastic.
[08:56] you become a procrast.
[08:58] Here's how you know if it's become a new habit.
[09:01] Do part one and part two and just completely max it out.
[09:04] Go 100%.
[09:07] Remove every
[09:10] distraction, every possibility of you to procrastinate.
[09:13] Some of my students have put themselves and locked themselves in a garage with nothing but a desk and a textbook and some notes to write on.
[09:19] If you put yourself in that environment where procrastination is just not an option and you still find that your brain is looking for something to distract itself on and you feel like it's restless, it's looking for something to procrastinate with, then you might be addicted to procrastinating.
[09:35] If that is the case, you need this last part.
[09:36] Part three is to slow our brain down.
[09:43] What's probably happened is that your brain has become trained to need these really shortterm loweffort dopamine hits.
[09:52] So things like reals and shorts and you know Tik Tok, these things train your brain to receive this 30 secondond to a minute dopamine hit from doing nothing.
[10:02] There's no effort involved.
[10:04] It's totally passive, but then you get rewarded for that.
[10:06] I think of it like my brain is getting too jittery.
[10:08] So, in part three, to slow your
[10:10] brain down, what I recommend is number one, install some app blockers.
[10:12] Get rid of Instagram, Tik Tok, whatever is uninstall the app.
[10:15] Just try to remove it from your life as much as possible.
[10:17] It doesn't have to be forever, but for at least this training part.
[10:20] Then, what I'd recommend that you do is practice something like mindfulness meditation.
[10:26] You can use an app like Calm for this.
[10:28] They've got these 30-day trials and these uh beginner courses for you to start getting into it if you've never tried it before.
[10:33] Alternatively, there are lots of YouTube videos talking about this also to search for mindfulness meditation.
[10:38] What you're doing with mindfulness meditation is you're trying to get your brain to focus on the present moment and not hold on to and chase every distracting intrusive thought that comes into your head.
[10:50] A lot of people get put off because every 2 or 3 seconds they're getting some kind of distracting thought coming in and they're not able to be present in the moment.
[10:58] But actually, that's the whole point.
[11:00] We're deliberately putting our brain in a situation where it's going to be restless so that we can train it.
[11:06] Every time you get that thought coming in and then you try to bring yourself
[11:11] back to the present moment and you let go of that thought, that's training.
[11:14] If you do this for around 15 minutes a day for around 2 to 3 weeks, you'll start noticing that your brain is slowing down.
[11:20] It's easier to focus, your attention span is a little bit longer, and you're not feeling that urge to have that 30 secondond to a minute dopamine hit.
[11:29] Over time, as you practice the skill of bringing your brain back and settling it down, it starts operating on a slower, more stable wavelength, which sounds incredibly hippie.
[11:41] You don't have to go and snort some Himalayan salt crystals after this or rub your eyeballs with essential oils.
[11:45] Just meditation is fine.
[11:47] Now, part three is the hardest because it takes time.
[11:52] Just like learning to encode efficiently, it involves retraining your brain.
[11:57] But on the other hand, having a brain that requires a loweffort 30 secondly dopamine hit is just not compatible with life or good mental health or focusing or really anything.
[12:10] So you do have to work on it.
[12:10] It's an investment of time
[12:12] that's well worth it.
[12:14] Now, one note that I will make though is that if you do have some past trauma in your life,
[12:18] sometimes meditation can actually resurface some memories.
[12:20] So if you are aware that you've got some trauma in your life,
[12:24] I would recommend doing this with the guidance of a therapist or a psychologist.
[12:30] So those are the three parts.
[12:30] Be specific with your behavior.
[12:32] Figure out what the behavior is that you're trying to change.
[12:37] Identify why it happens and start changing the environment.
[12:38] And then if that's still not enough, start slowing down your brain by training it with something like mindfulness meditation.
[12:47] There are more things that you can do and other people talk about lots of other strategies.
[12:51] Personally, I think that without doing these three things, those other strategies probably aren't going to work long term and sustainably anyway.
[12:57] If you do do these three things, then you probably don't need those other strategies in the first place.
[13:05] You can use other apps to help you with this process.
[13:07] I've mentioned app blockers.
[13:09] Leave a comment down below in terms of some of the ideas and the apps that you
[13:13] use to help you with this.
[13:16] and leave some of the ideas that you have on how you've changed your environment to help you do or remove some kind of behavior.
[13:23] I'm always really impressed with how creative people get when they start changing their environments.
[13:27] If you feel like a big issue is that every time you sit down to start studying that it's so damn boring that you can't bring yourself to do it ever again, then there's probably some things that we can optimize with your learning methods to make them more engaging.
[13:38] I'd recommend checking out this video here where I talk about how you can learn to encode information more efficiently.
[13:45] Or check out our playlist if you want a start to end series of videos where I just talk about the most important principles that you should know.
[13:52] If you like this video, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss my future uploads.
[13:55] Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.
[14:03] [Music]