Procrastination. Symbolic reward system. Part 1

What is procrastination? This is a term in psychology that implies a tendency to constantly put off works or thoughts. Procrastination is not laziness, laziness is the absence or lack of industriousness. What is procrastination manifested in? The fact that a person is aware of the implementation of important things, but puts them off for later or replaces things with entertainment. When the deadlines come, he either drops everything or tries to complete the work in a short period of time, with a predictable result.

For those who want to overcome procrastination quickly, just by reading this article, I will write right away - nothing will work out for you. Procrastination has evolved for a long time, driving you into a corner with deeds, terms, responsibilities. To weaken and overcome it will be difficult, no, not so, DIFFICULT. Therefore, if you need to urgently bring the project to the end, prepare a report or something else, then stop reading and start your duties, they will bring you benefits. Remember this.

I deliberately divide the article into two parts, you will work on yourself without looking ahead, there simply will be no opportunity. Reread the text, make notes on the sheets, write down everything, this is very important. No matter how brilliant you are, intellectually fit, even having a photographic memory, write down, always something flies out of your head.

Some terminology

Comfort zone
This is the combination of all the usual actions, habits, deeds, and everything else that you regularly do. This is what you are used to doing every day. Any of these actions does not cause negative emotions or almost does not cause. A person by nature strives for his comfort zone, there are certain factors - problems, stresses, mood, emotions that increase the desire to return to it. Everything that you put aside for later is outside the comfort zone. Each has her own and she does not mean that things are simple in her. Going to the gym, jogging, learning a language can be in this zone, for many it’s not so comfortable, is it? But in reality, the person who visits the hall will not feel comfortable if they miss the lesson, discomfort, depression, and stress are possible. A person whose comfort zone is narrow enough that is, he performs few actions, may also experience discomfort. From the fact that his life goes even deeper down than it is now and instead of useful things he is engaged in nonsense. Conventional procrastinators do not have this, but those who are already at the bottom often. I note again, if a person does not do what is in the comfort zone, then he also experiences unpleasant emotions and they are stronger than actions outside the zone.

Negative and positive action.
These are my terms, they are needed for a better understanding of the essence of the issue. As I wrote above, there are different actions in the comfort zone and each one is individual. We divide our actions into negative and positive. Negative actions - those that do not bring any benefits and harm health. Positive actions - respectively, bring benefits and do not affect health. Eight hours a day sitting at a computer surfing the Internet is a negative action. Writing code, debugging, learning are positive actions.

Your task is to expand the comfort zone by adding positive actions to it as much as possible.

Internal resistance
I took this term from one article on overcoming procrastination. So, internal resistance is the totality of all the unpleasant, negative feelings and experiences that we experience when we must do some work. For some, this is a small (or large) obstacle through which they easily or with some effort step over; for others, it is an insurmountable barrier, an impenetrable wall.

The strength of this resistance depends on how often you do something in spite of the resistance, how difficult the matter is for you, how uncertain it is, and so on. The stronger the resistance, the greater the procrastination.

Additional barriers in the form - “I must”, “I must” will further strengthen internal resistance. Motivation is reduced in accordance with the amount of repetition of the word "must." “I have to complete the code to the end,” no matter how much you really want to, the very phrase “should” will nullify all your actions. These are all negative associations, they cause us aggression, anger, nervousness, stress. And as soon as the code word is pronounced, the barrier turns on without our knowledge and the desire sinks in its own emotions. Playing on associations can deceive the barrier, but it is valid until a certain time.

Temporary corrosion
Another term, it is deep in itself, but I will try to explain it in simple language. Our brain is a computer, it evaluates, makes calculations, remembers information, but as you know, the technique is subject to wear and tear, as a result of which errors appear. The brain, on the other hand, is subject to illusions, such minor failures, and therefore any calculations become incorrect after time. It is difficult, but you need to understand. A person cannot calculate the time, evaluate his own condition in the future. There was no procrastination, if there was no time, it is time that has a greater effect on our actions. A person is not ready to do the job now, and he puts it off for later in the belief that after a certain period he will be ready to complete it. But time goes on, and internal resistance is growing because the time that a person has set for himself is approaching, because of this, stress is growing. Do you understand? The illusion is that each time we know what the result of inaction will be, but we blindly follow it. For the brain, the execution of the action now and then is equivalent. When choosing to execute now and through the interval, you will choose the second one, because you don’t have to make any efforts and the brain will immediately receive what it would receive only after doing things. When you postpone something for later, you feel relieved, your mood rises and so on, that's all, the brain got its own with minimal losses, endorphins have developed. what would he get only after doing things. When you postpone something for later, you feel relieved, your mood rises and so on, that's all, the brain got its own with minimal losses, endorphins have developed. what would he get only after doing things. When you postpone something for later, you feel relieved, your mood rises and so on, that's all, the brain got its own with minimal losses, endorphins have developed.

Symbolic reward system

Behaviorism, the science of behavior and the technique of CERs are taken from there, it is very old, but indispensable in the first stage to combat procrastination. There are many options for its implementation, the main thing is to follow certain conditions.

What is the essence of the technique? That you symbolically record your results somewhere. This implies that you clearly see your results, respectively, increases motivation. As I wrote above, a person cannot remember everything, let alone list all his results, therefore it is very important to write down.

My table variant is hereif you do not have a printer, draw a table on paper, it is very important that you have physical media. Options for a file on a computer, an account in special networks for personal records, are not suitable! There are two columns that you will fill in when you take any action to combat procrastination, you write the action wide, and draw a symbol in the narrow one, I painted circles. You draw what you like best, just do not need to make art sketches, the symbol should be simple and easy to repeat. Also, the symbols should be equivalent in complexity and importance to the action that you performed. My differences were in color.

If you want to draw up your CERs, then it must meet certain criteria.
- The form must be mobile, that is, in certain situations, you should have no difficulty taking it with you.
- As I wrote above, the symbol should be simple, although if you really want to, then show your creativity. Also, the symbols should be different, for cases 4-7 designations are enough, 10 is a lot.
- There should be a lot of room for marks, if this is a similar form like mine, then 50-100 cells are enough, it’s even better in practice than 200 cells, 1000 is already overkill, because I will demotivate empty cells. As the cells run out, get a new form and put the old one in a daddy.
- Each business should be fixed, no systems with repetitions and the like, everything is clear and simple.
- The system itself should be simple, at least for your understanding. Do not get carried away with details, everything should be clear.

Determination of internal resistance

A very important point, I took it from one guide, I need to learn how to evaluate internal resistance. Take a sheet in a cage and draw a line, at the left end there will be a lack of internal resistance, those things that you do regularly and do not experience any negative emotions, this can be watching TV shows, entertainment portals, social networks and so on, put an end to it. At the right end there will be maximum internal resistance, those things, the thought of which causes discomfort, anxiety and other negative emotions. This is an insurmountable barrier, a wall, an impregnable fortress, it is difficult to give an example, my version will not work for you, yours will not work for me. So think, but remember, it must be something really significant, put an end to it and sign it. Now divide the line into 10 identical segments, try to test it, present cases and evaluate internal resistance, mark the results with evaluations on the line. Below, in accordance with the estimates, you can sign the case, so that you have an example, postpone this sheet somewhere, so as not to lose, then it will be needed.

First steps

The very first step in overcoming procrastination is to create CERs, so stop right now and print or draw a table and fill it out. Your first cell should have an action and a symbol in the next cell. If you just printed it out, then the action is simple and put the first character, if you made an effort, then the character should correspond to them.

Not done yet? Come on! I guarantee it, at all 146% now is the time. If you don’t do it now, you won’t do it tomorrow, and without this technique all the work will be useless. If you don’t have the opportunity now to print, draw, your fingers are broken, the cat is sitting on the printer, then just close this article.

When you have made your form, and only then you can proceed to the next step. The second step is to determine what you will do the next two weeks, it makes no sense now to take a longer time, so it is necessary. These will be very small things, simple, useful, which you will perform regularly. Here a scale for determining internal resistance is useful to us, you can choose anything you want, the main thing is that it does not exceed 4-5 points. Actions should be obvious, mechanical, which you do not need to think about. As an example, you can clean the room, constantly keep the room clean and note the action in the CER. These actions need to be performed regularly, since if once procrastinated in something, then a repetition is inevitable. It is important that your life and comfort zone does not change. You continue to do what you did before for weeks. It is very important now to make yourself reminders. They should be in a conspicuous place, bright colors, sticky leaves for the first time the best option. You quickly get used to reminders, so you should make new ones, at least once every couple of weeks. The creation of reminders is also taken into account in CERs.

An alarm clock is also great, set the time, and when it rings, you’re going to do the scheduled things right away, it’s important.

Stall

With a running case, you can break already at this stage. You start to put off even these simple things, and the comfort zone delivers even more, remember what I wrote about the brain? As a result, days, weeks pass and returning to the path of struggle will be even more difficult.

If you approach the matter responsibly, mark things right away, don’t waste time, then the breakdown should not happen at this stage. If it happened, then try to return to the performance of the marked tasks as soon as possible, after completing the task, set a higher score.

When to proceed to the next stage? Within a few weeks, the actions performed should enter the comfort zone and the internal resistance should disappear or at least weaken. If this happens, then you are moving in the right direction and you can proceed to the next step.

Literature

The Procrastination Workbook - William Knaus
Anonymous Manuals
Own Notes