Blog Short #232: Beat Procrastination With These 2 Strategies

Photo by Alex Potemkin

Today, I’ve got two strategies for you that I use to successfully stay on top of procrastination.

One is Mel Robbins’s 5-Second Rule, and the other is my own 30-Minute Rule.

I’ll admit that I was skeptical when I first heard about the 5-second rule. So, I read Mel’s book about it and liked some of the research she cited. I decided to give it a try and was impressed with the results.

Both of these strategies used together can help you get over the hump of procrastination and bad habits while building your confidence and meeting your goals.

I’ll start with the 5-second rule.

What It Is and How It Works

The 5-Second Rule works like this:

When you need to do something and dread it or want to put it off, you slowly count backward 5-4-3-2-1. When you get to one, you get up and do it.

For example:

Let’s say you’ve been putting off doing laundry. It’s piled up, and you’re running out of clothes. You’re lazing on the couch, scrolling through social media, and in the background, your mind is nagging you about the laundry.

Finally, you make a decision; you’ve got to do it. You begin the countdown – 5-4-3-2-1. At 1, you immediately get up from the couch, go to the laundry room, and start sorting clothes. Before you know it, you have it under control and do it all.

Here’s a harder one. I used this one today.

I needed to write this blog, but resisted it for several days. That happens with writing sometimes because it requires a particular type of energy and mindset. I wasn’t in the mood.

However, I decided I had to do it today. So I started the countdown, and when I finished, I grabbed my computer, opened it, and began writing. Once I started, I was able to finish a first draft.

That’s the basic strategy. Now, let’s go through why it works.

The Mind Trap

When you procrastinate, you avoid doing something you need to do because you don’t want to do it.

You don’t feel like it.

You might ruminate about it and think of all the ways to get around it or put it off, but the reality is you don’t want to do it. And the more you come up with reasons why you can’t do it right now, the further you sink into your resistance. It feels insurmountable.

The real obstacle is your mind.

We’ve been taught all our lives to think things through. Thinking is a powerful tool, but it’s also a significant roadblock to taking action when your emotions pull you in another direction.

Antonio Damasio, a neuropsychologist, highlights the influence our emotions have when it comes to decision-making. He said,

We are not thinking machines. We are feeling machines that think.

If you don’t want to engage in something emotionally, your thinking brain can come up with all the reasons why you don’t need to do it.

This is the mind trap.

Stress Roadblocks

Stress also plays a major role in procrastination.

When you’re under stress, your emotions take a stronger hold on your decision-making capacity.

For example, if you’re stressed about money, or you’re having relationship problems, or your job is on the line or overwhelming, it’s more likely you’ll buckle when you have to do things that require emotional or physical energy. You’ll be more prone to distractions like binge-watching TV or endlessly scrolling through social media.

The problem is that the more you resist, the worse you feel, even though you find momentary distractions.

The distractions give you a brief respite and a dopamine shift, but the battle feels more uphill when you return to the problem or decision you need to make.

Your feelings will always lead you to resist what you don’t want to do.

You can’t stop that. Emotions arise whether you want them to or not. But you can always take action, and action is the only thing that will turn your resistance around and work for you.

The 5-second rule doesn’t care about how you feel. That’s the beauty of it. It goes straight to action.

The Key is Overcoming Hesitation

The key to the 5-second rule is that you catch yourself before you have a chance to hesitate.

Hesitation is the killer.

By taking action within 5 seconds, your mind doesn’t have time to call out the army and take you hostage. You move out of enemy range before they know you’re there.

By the time they get wind of your location, you’ve already engaged in activity and are out of reach.

Don’t hesitate. Decide what activity you need to take, do the countdown, and engage. Once you’ve started, you’re more likely to continue.

Two Other Points

One reason the 5-second rule works is that it counts down backward, creating an endpoint.

When you’re at 1, there’s no other place to go. If you count up 1-2-3-4-5, the endpoint is infinite. You could keep going, so it won’t have the same effect.

If you count backward from 10, you leave room for hesitation to set in. Some people count backward from 3 because it works better for them. I like starting at 5. It works perfectly for me. If it doesn’t work for you, find your sweet spot.

The second point is that using this strategy repeatedly builds your resistance to procrastination.

It becomes a habit that your brain embraces and automates. You are literally rewiring how you respond to avoidance and stress.

The 30-Minute Strategy

This second strategy is one I often use for all kinds of tasks, especially those I dread doing.

I divide the work into 30-minute segments, sometimes in a single day and sometimes over several days.

I’ve cleaned the garage this way and recently reorganized my office using this strategy. Knowing I only have to spend 30 minutes at a time makes me feel less resistant to starting and more consistent in finishing. If you have the energy and desire to do something all at once, it’s easy. You enjoy it.

But if it’s something you don’t want to do, the 30-minute approach works better. And when you get it done, you’re relieved and feel good! That’s the reward.

Other Benefits

These strategies not only help with overcoming procrastination but also help you tackle problems that feel overwhelming and seemingly have no immediate solutions.

If you read Mel’s book, she describes how she used the 5-second rule to get herself out of major debt, work on her marriage, and overcome excruciating anxiety.

When problems are big and you don’t know where to start, do one thing. That one thing might not have big results, but it moves you forward a little. Then you do another and another. Eventually, you can see a path, and you pick up momentum.

You can 5-4-3-2-1 your way through multiple small steps that lead you out of your stress ball.

It’s not magic, of course, but it is a viable approach to taking action, which is where we all tend to get stuck.

You can’t talk yourself out of your emotions, but you can act, which begins to clear the way to work them through.

We usually wait for motivation to arise before taking action, but when things are stressful, taking action comes before motivation and ultimately manufactures it.

You probably already know when you need to take action, but doing it is where you get stuck.

Try these two strategies and see if they work for you at that stuck place. They did for me.

Also, if you’re interested, read Mel’s book, ​The 5-Second Rule​. She provides many examples of how it’s worked for people in various situations, including her own. I hope you give it a whirl!

That’s all for today.

Have a great week!

All my best,

Barbara