The Connection between Procrastination and Guilt

By Kevin Shirley, Associate Broker (DC), ASP, GRI, e-PRO

If you have a tendency to procrastinate, guilt can come to dominate your emotions, which creates a vicious cycle: You procrastinate about something, which generates a feeling of guilt. That guilt further stops you from acting and only increases the sense of guilt, leading to more procrastination.

The cycle is tough to break.

Many people get stuck in this loop at some stage of life. But you need to find a way to deal with these destructive impulses so that you can become more productive in the future. The pain of guilt should not stop you from carrying out vital tasks; instead, it should motivate you to handle your commitments, values, and intentions more effectively.

Tips for dealing with the cycle of procrastination and guilt

When guilt is paired with low self-discipline, high expectations, and low self-compassion, it can quickly become dysfunctional. You need to self-regulate your emotions and control your behavior associated with procrastination. Here are five trusted ways to help you deal with the guilt caused by procrastination:

• Try self-compassion. Self-criticism and guilt go hand in hand. We do not just keep on feeling guilty for not doing things in a timely fashion; we also continue criticizing ourselves for that. This behavior adds more negativity to your mind, and you will feel worse. And it ultimately leads to more procrastination. The alternative to this behavior is to insert a healthy dose of self-compassion into the cycle. It is the perfect combination of common humanity, self-kindness, and mindfulness. You need to understand that procrastination is very common and definitely not the end of the world; instead, you need to open new doors and make yourself ready to accomplish things on time again.
• Forgive yourself. The self-compassion is closely associated with self-forgiveness, and it can help you deal with procrastination-related guilt. You need to move towards self-acceptance instead of self-punishment to reduce negative emotions and do better next time. This approach can help you avoid procrastination behavior in the future and never experience that guilt again. The idea is to accept your mistake and look for ways to improve your upcoming projects’ performance. It will soon help you to get back on track.
• Strengthen your emotions. Procrastination is a matter of emotional intelligence, and it is also defined as self-discipline. The idea is to manage your emotions to align with your intentions, morals, and values in the best possible manner. You can prevent the negative emotions that invite guilt into your mind. Instead, nurture positive vibes and strengthen your abilities to regulate skills. This is a crucial step to channel your energies towards a healthy and happy life.

5 Ways to Manage Procrastination During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all our lives in many profound ways. The typical social distancing practices, quarantine, and increasing stress rate due to health issues have left many of us unmotivated, feeling lost, and less productive. These consequences are nudging many of us ever closer into the trap of procrastination, which is often confused with laziness. In general terms, laziness is a feeling of not doing anything, whereas procrastination involves the bad habit of leaving some critical actions pending for no real reason.

In the moment, procrastination may give a fleeting pleasant feeling as you avoid doing a task that you do not like. But in the long run, putting something important off could be more stressful. Here are five essential ways to help you manage the habit of procrastination during the COVID-19 pandemic:

• Set simple routine goals. Living a goal-oriented life has several benefits. It helps people become more organized and can also help you track your progress in terms of goals achieved daily. Goal setting is the best way to prevent confusion regarding what needs to be accomplished first and bring personal affirmation and validation for your goals. But one should always take care to set up realistic and achievable goals so that you can feel positive while accomplishing them.
• Set a deadline for your work. Setting particular deadlines for your routine work may help you feel the right pressure to finish it on time. It will help you avoid falling into the trap of “I will do it later.” Moreover, you will be able to make the best use of available time while staying encouraged and prepared to handle it well. Setting a deadline is the best way to avoid leaving your work for tomorrow, and hence, you will naturally be more productive in life.
• Spare time for yourself. Sparing some “Me Time” is the most important practice to help avoid procrastination, and it can improve your general lifestyle as well. When you take care of yourself, you get better strength and determination to handle life’s challenges. But first of all, you should understand that self-care is not like being selfish; so, you should not feel guilty about it. Instead, it is the best way to uplift your energies and mood so that you can perform better in your personal and professional life.
• Be aware of the consequences. It is crucial to be mindful of the consequences associated with procrastination. It may create the desired amount of pressure on your mind to get the work done on time. This tactic is vital in helping you stop wasting time while accomplishing tasks on time. Furthermore, being aware of the consequences may help you to enhance your motivation, energy, and productivity levels.
• Prioritize difficult tasks. The best way to avoid procrastination is to prioritize tasks, especially those that are difficult to handle. When you begin with the easier tasks first, it may lead to poor time management, and you may not allow yourself adequate time to handle the difficult ones later. Moreover, difficult tasks need more energy and focus; therefore, it is better to do them first.

Stop Work-from-Home Procrastination with These 5 Strategies

Although the Coronavirus pandemic has brought numerous difficult challenges into our lives, one significant advantage of this phase has been the routinization of working from home. This new trend has helped eliminate hours-long commutes, annoying traffic noise, and the constant air-conditioning wars at the office. Many people even lost their jobs during this pandemic phase; however, of those who didn’t, many have now started working from home.

There are many positives about working from home, but there’s one notable negative: How easy it is to procrastinate. And this habit further leads to the guilt of lost deadlines and missing work opportunities in the long run. Hence, one needs to be more careful about managing routine work without falling into the trap of procrastination. Here are a few trusted strategies to help you manage procrastination while working from home:

• Acknowledge your behavior. The first most important thing is to accept and understand the behavior of procrastination. One needs to understand what is actually affecting productivity levels. Some of you may lose several hours watching TV, many others might be busy scrolling unworthy social media newsfeed, and a few others might be feeling bored while working alone. Check what is distracting you from your goals and what is eating up all your valuable time. This analysis may help you better to set up a counter plan.
• Establish a routine. The best advice from experts to deal with procrastination is to establish a set routine. When you start working with full determination early in the morning, you can feel motivated to accomplish your small goals all day long. It is better to set up an easy and comfortable routine for your work to be highly productive all day long. Set up your time table ranging from the wake-up time to bedtime to stay focused.
• Make two lists every day. When you get ready for work in the morning and sit on your work desk, the first most thing you need to do is prepare two lists. The first list must include three-to-five crucial things that you need to do today, and the second list must consist of three-to-five things that you absolutely do not need to do today. It may help you to stay focused on your work while maintaining an adequate flow of tasks.
• Align your small goals to achieve bigger. It is not just about focusing on the bigger goal; you need to start with the smaller ones. Taking small steps to achieve the bigger one may help you to succeed fast. Many people fail to maintain their direction towards big goals, but following a step by step approach towards the small ones may assist you better.
• Don’t forget to reward yourself. Last but not least, don’t forget to reward yourself when you succeed to avoid procrastination. Rewards may motivate you to achieve more in life. You may also feel an inner urge to perform better in your routines, and it may automatically lead to success.

Start following these trusted tips and strategies to manage your routines with high productivity levels.

How leaders model productive behavior

Leaders in our time are often admired for their dedication to staying productive and delivering results every day. They seem to have they have preternatural abilities that help them achieve a high level of productivity. But leaders have 24 hours in each day, just like everyone else.

But by carrying out some specific habits and staying true to their purpose, they achieve tremendous accomplishments that inspire the world.

1. The first and most important is that these people avoid procrastination. Needless to say, it is easier said than done, but most people don’t fully understand it. Research suggests that there are two base reasons for procrastination. Either the task that you are doing is too challenging, or it is too dull. When modern leaders face this dilemma, they quickly act. If the task is too complicated and hard to do, they break it into simple and easy steps. If the task is too easy, they add a couple of extras and make it exciting or delegate the job to someone else. In simple terms, to avoid procrastination, bring your work just outside your comfort zone, enough to be compelling but not overwhelming.
2. The second way these leaders model productive behavior is by making a calendar. They add their goals and tasks into their calendar and make it work for them. Even though it is difficult to thoroughly check off the to-do list, they end up hitting it with at least 70 percent accuracy. This is certainly better than not making a calendar and missing your tasks altogether.
3. Another significant way that leaders maintain their productivity is by committing single-mindedly to their goals. It is frequently called the ‘Hyperfocus’ mode. With utter devotion towards their targets, modern leaders cultivate an unwavering ability to focus on their work. They understand that each day, they are bestowed with a limited attentional capacity. And they know that doing multiple things at once will impair it. When they realize that attention is an enormously valuable asset, they utilize it wisely. Picking a few (but the most important) targets is the best way to protect this asset.
4. Moreover, they avoid digital distractions to protect their concentration. Turning off devices or using excellent online extensions help them navigate easily through the web. While they work, they establish a rule where nothing and no one can disturb or interrupt them.
5. Similarly, they also avoid internal distractions commonly described as mind chatter. To calm their mind, these leaders practice meditation and mindfulness relentlessly. This not only makes their focus laser-sharp, but it also increases their attentional capacity, which means they can concentrate on more things without getting tired or losing their attention.

Leaders today are very self-disciplined. They exercise and inculcate productive habits in their lives to increase their income and impact. Likewise, anyone can apply these techniques in their routine to improve their work and personal lives. After all, it is evident that nothing will work unless we do.

Go into a “cave”​ to manage procrastination

By Kevin Shirley, Associate Broker (DC), e-PRO, GRI, ASP

No, that’s not some sort of typo. This strategy’s moniker, coined by Caveday.org, will make a lot more sense once you learn just what this is all about. If you’re the type that loves to let unfinished projects sit until the very last minute or if you’re always in a crunch because you wait until the last possible minute to get started on a project, Caveday may be just what you’re seeking.

What is Caveday?

Caveday is the brainchild of three friends who struggled with productivity issues, including procrastination. They wanted a strategy to stop procrastinating and to hold each other accountable. Jeremy, one of the founding members of Caveday, had once described “going into the cave” to finish a screenplay he had been completing. With his script finished, the friends were awestruck about Jeremy’s amazingly productive strategy. They set out to learn why he could be so productive and see if they could reproduce that same level of productivity among themselves and a few other fellow procrastinators.

As a result, Caveday was formed!

The original Caveday “Cave” was essentially “an event series that’s sort of like a pop-up coworking space; rather than sign up for a weeks- or months-long membership, you register for a single day. The price of [$40] admission includes two meals, snacks, coffee, and a handful of work-related services doled out by a briskly energetic group of facilitators — whose sole job is (as the program’s website puts it) to help you ‘GET STUFF DONE’ with ‘NO DISTRACTIONS.’“

Remote Caves make it impossible to procrastinate

Caveday has helped one-person operations, coders, writers, designers, college students, and even comedians. Obviously, all of these people aren’t able to make it to an actual on-site Caveday “cave” so, instead, they participate in what are called Remote Caves.

During Remote Caves, fellow procrastinators come together for short bursts of work (less than an hour or so) called “sprints,” followed by a small break — all with their cell phones hidden and out of reach.

During Remote Caves, participants gather via a Zoom meeting led by a trained moderator who guides the introductions, sets the time for sprints, and demonstrates periodic stretches and other physical activities to keep participants focused and limber.

We can learn a lot from the wildly successful collaboration of procrastinators worldwide and apply it to scenarios that we all must face. Here are some of the reasons that these Remote Caves are so successful:

• Bursts of focused work. It can seem like a tall task to say, “I need to sit down and do work for 8 hours straight.” But it’s much more digestible when you break it up into smaller chunks. Remote Caves have bursts of work that are between 40 and 52 minutes. They don’t tell you exactly how long because you are supposed to focus more on that task at hand.
• Frequent breaks. Procrastinators often wait until the last minute and then try and cram in as much work as possible — this way of working leaves no room for breaks. Not taking breaks is unhealthy and can leave a poor taste in your mouth about working on future projects. Remote Caves have you take small breaks after every single burst of work.
• Professional direction. Do you have a mentor that can guide you through challenging problems? It’s easy to procrastinate when you’re stuck looking for a solution to something. “Oh, no, that’s too hard, and I’m not sure how to solve this. I’ll come back to this problem later on.” But you never come back to it. Remote Caves are led by trained “Cave Guides” that have diverse professional backgrounds. Having someone to guide you along the workday makes solving problems much more manageable, just like having a mentor with whom to collaborate.
• Accountability. Think about working a salaried or hourly-wage job. You’ve got your coworkers and bosses around you. It’s hard to procrastinate because they’re holding you accountable. When you’re working remotely or working for yourself, who is going to keep you accountable? Your spouse? Your dog? Remote Caves take place over a Zoom meeting where fellow procrastinators and your host can hold you accountable.
• Limited distractions. This one probably goes hand in hand with accountability. If you’re sitting at home dreading your next task, it’s almost second nature for most of us to pick up our cell phones and mindlessly tune out to our responsibilities. Going to an in-person Caveday will require you to turn in your cellphone before the day starts. Remote Caves require that you hide your cell phone and put it out of reach. Would you like to know why they do this? Because it’s an effective way to get people to focus on their work.

Procrastination: Is it normal?

Procrastination is exceptionally common. Now, procrastinating is different from being a procrastinator. Everybody procrastinates with something at some point throughout the workweek. But for some of you reading this, and for many Caveday participants, chronic procrastination is prevalent in our lives. Just know that you are not alone, and we can use the Remote Caves strategy to learn how to tackle our problems better and focus on what’s in front of us.

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KEVIN REID SHIRLEY is a real estate professional with almost twenty-five years of experience. He is an Associate Broker with Long & Foster Real Estate in Washington, DC. He is also an Accredited Staging Professional and a Graduate of the REALTOR Institute. He graduated from the University of Mary Washington with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Classical Civilization and Art History. Find his author page on Facebook; e-mail him at kevin@realastute.com; call/text him on 202.320.6634.