1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,680 Speaker 1: Hey, welcome to sign Stuff, your production of iHeartRadio. I'm 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:07,960 Speaker 1: hoor Hitcham, and in this bonus mini episode, we are 3 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 1: answering the question how do you stop procrastinating? Hopefully you 4 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:16,040 Speaker 1: heard our main episode about the Signs of procrastination, in 5 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:19,960 Speaker 1: which three experts weigh in on what procrastination is, why 6 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: we do it, and what consequences it has. Now we're 7 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: going to talk about what happens if you want to 8 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:29,240 Speaker 1: stop procrastinating, and as it happens, each of our experts 9 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:34,320 Speaker 1: suggest a different strategy. Fir Stop is doctor Pierce's Steel, 10 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 1: a professor of organizational psychology at the University of Calgary 11 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:42,520 Speaker 1: who's written several books on procrastination and has even programmed 12 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: a chat GPT app to help you stop procrastinating. You 13 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:49,840 Speaker 1: can find all his work at procrastinus dot com. Now, 14 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,239 Speaker 1: if you recall, doctor Steele explained that when we procrastinate, 15 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: it's really our frontal cortex finding it out with your 16 00:00:56,720 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 1: more primitive limbic system. 17 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 2: Like a lot of people struggle with this because it's 18 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 2: really the mind is set against itself. You want to 19 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:07,040 Speaker 2: do it, but you don't want to want to do it, 20 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 2: or you want to want to do it, but you 21 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 2: don't want to do it right, so people like struggle, 22 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 2: why can't I get myself going? And partly is the environment. 23 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 2: It's totally stacked up against you. If sometimes there's nothing 24 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 2: wrong with your goals or you, it's about your environment 25 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 2: and accessibility of distractions of temptations. 26 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:28,399 Speaker 1: Tuctor Steele says one of the best things you can 27 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: do to stop procrastinating is to durun off your phone 28 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:33,800 Speaker 1: or hide it in another room. 29 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:34,920 Speaker 3: Make sure you. 30 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,399 Speaker 1: Have a distraction free space in which to work. And 31 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 1: according to doctor Steele, the number of ways for us 32 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:45,040 Speaker 1: to get distracted has only gotten worse over the years. 33 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 2: And it's just gone up and up and up, like 34 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 2: a five hundred percent increase in product procrastination last twenty years. Wow, 35 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 2: And I haven't even checked it recently. 36 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: In his books and website, Tuctor Steel has lots of 37 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:02,639 Speaker 1: techniques to help you stop procrastinating, but the main one 38 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: is to make it hard to get distracted. 39 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 2: And there's like twenty five different techniques, right, but the 40 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 2: fundamental one, the easiest one, is distancing your temptations, make 41 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,080 Speaker 2: them harder to get through. I would always start with 42 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 2: that before moving down to the other ones. 43 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: Next up is doctor Fuschia Sira, professor of psychology at 44 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: Durham University. If you remember doctor Curras, is that at 45 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:31,639 Speaker 1: the heart when we procrastinate is an emotional reaction. There's 46 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 1: always something about the task we're avoiding that gives us 47 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 1: a negative emotion. Maybe the stakes of the thing you 48 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: have to do are high and that stresses you out, 49 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: or maybe you are secretly afraid of doing it because 50 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: then people might judge you and think you're not good enough, 51 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: or maybe you just find it unpleasant, and then the 52 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: negative emotions can pile up and you start to feel 53 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 1: shame or panic about the fact that you're procrastinating. So 54 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: doctor Ciro says to avoid all those emotions, which works 55 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: in the short term but not in the long term. 56 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 3: So you get that immediate reinforcement. You've just engaged in 57 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 3: short term mood repair. But it's what we all go 58 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:17,239 Speaker 3: through when we procrastinate, and I do prostate myself too. Occasionally. 59 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 3: For me, it's because I'm very future oriented with thinking. 60 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,919 Speaker 3: I start imagining how difficult something's going to be, and 61 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 3: that's enough to make me go no, I don't want 62 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:27,240 Speaker 3: to get into that right now, So I put it aside. 63 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:31,239 Speaker 1: You know, the trig doctors Ros says is that whenever 64 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: you feel yourself procrastinating, you sort of can't figure out 65 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 1: why you're doing it. Take a step back and try 66 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: to pinpoint the negative emotion that's making you procrastinate. You're 67 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: saying the correct response should be to basically cope with 68 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: our emotions or dig into our emotions. 69 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, you have to first of all, recognize that there's 70 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 3: an emotion driving this dysfunctional behavior and keeping you from 71 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:58,520 Speaker 3: reaching your goals and you know, making your dreams a reality. 72 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 3: But what is that emotion? You have to name it 73 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 3: before you contame it. Is it boredom? Is it frustration? 74 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 3: Is it anxiety? Is it stress? Is some combination of 75 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,000 Speaker 3: these things? What is the emotion I'm feeling? And then 76 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 3: what are the thoughts that are contributing or past experiences 77 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 3: that might be attributing. 78 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:19,840 Speaker 1: And once you identify the emotion that's making you procrastinate, 79 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: you can deal with it. You can think about whether 80 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: it makes sense for that emotion to be holding you back. 81 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:29,839 Speaker 1: If you need extra help, Doctor Sirah has written a 82 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:32,480 Speaker 1: book and a toolkit to help people deal with their 83 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 1: procrastinating emotions. The link is in the episode description. All right, 84 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:41,480 Speaker 1: now we get to our last expert, doctor Lisa Boylka, 85 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: a researcher in psychology at Tubingin University. As you mentioned 86 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: in the main episode, we all tend to procrastinate less 87 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:52,359 Speaker 1: over time, partly because we get better at dealing with 88 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:57,039 Speaker 1: things and partly because the world puts more constraints on 89 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: you as you get older and have more responsibilities. So 90 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: if you're looking to do less procrastination in a way, 91 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:06,480 Speaker 1: you don't have to worry about it that much because 92 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,479 Speaker 1: the world will sort of do it for you. But 93 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 1: the other big tip about how to stop procrastination is 94 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:16,560 Speaker 1: to realize what one of the big problems with procrastination 95 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 1: really is. 96 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:24,120 Speaker 4: There's another big component, which is that you actually have 97 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,800 Speaker 4: like this guilty conscience that in the back of your head, 98 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 4: Like for instance, when you have a task which is 99 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 4: really difficult or it's just boring and you don't want 100 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 4: to do it, and then you procrastinate, you watch cat videos, 101 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 4: or if you do something that's more fun like on 102 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:43,880 Speaker 4: short term, you feel much better about it, you feel 103 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 4: much better about yourself. But in the end, you have 104 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 4: in the back of your mind maybe I should have started, 105 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:50,480 Speaker 4: Maybe I should do it now. 106 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:53,720 Speaker 1: Interesting, it seems like maybe the difference in is this 107 00:05:53,839 --> 00:06:00,159 Speaker 1: idea of guilt. Yes, guilt. The real problem with procrastination, 108 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:04,640 Speaker 1: it seems, causes all the anxiety and stress is feeling 109 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 1: guilty about it. So one thing all our experts agree 110 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:11,120 Speaker 1: on that could help you out is to cut yourself 111 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 1: some slack. Otherwise you just keep falling down that spiral 112 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:18,200 Speaker 1: of negative emotions. I mean, I asked all three of 113 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:21,320 Speaker 1: our experts if they still procrastinate, and they all said 114 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: they do. So, even procrastination experts procrastinate. 115 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:29,080 Speaker 3: I mean, it's a human tendency. Like we live in 116 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 3: a culture that is so focused on productivity, and if 117 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:35,680 Speaker 3: you've got this as a backdrop, and you know you're 118 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,239 Speaker 3: not doing what you're supposed to be doing, you're immediately 119 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 3: feeling like, I'm not doing what everybody else is doing. 120 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:44,040 Speaker 3: I'm not contributing to society. I'm a bad person, right, 121 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 3: There's something wrong with me. 122 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: And then that feeds back into their negative emotions, which 123 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:50,480 Speaker 1: makes them want to avoid it even more. 124 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:53,599 Speaker 2: Exactly what I would want people to do is to 125 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:56,919 Speaker 2: give themselves a little more self love, you know, forgive 126 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,480 Speaker 2: themselves for being human, but also understand their human I see, 127 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 2: they're not robots or angels of perfection, and this is 128 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:09,080 Speaker 2: really baked into our brain's architecture. If we wanted to 129 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 2: eliminate that, we'd have to be other than human. What's 130 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 2: your understand it? Life gets a lot easier and a 131 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 2: lot more fun to. 132 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 1: All right, So to recap, the three biggest things you 133 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 1: can do assuming you want to stop procrastinating, are get 134 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: rid of potential distractions, dig into your emotions and try 135 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:32,680 Speaker 1: to figure out why you're really putting something off. And 136 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:38,239 Speaker 1: go easy on yourself. Approach your inner procrastinator with love. 137 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: You are, after all, only human. Thanks for procrastinating with us. 138 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 2: See you next time. 139 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: You've been listening to Science Stuff. The production of iHeartRadio 140 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 1: written and produced by me or Y Cham credited by 141 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 1: Rose Seguda, executive producer Jerry Rowland, and audio engineer and 142 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: mixer Jasey Pegram And you can follow me on social media. 143 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:05,080 Speaker 1: Just search for PhD Comics and the name of your 144 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: favorite platform. Be sure to subscribe to Sign Stuff on 145 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, 146 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 1: and please tell your friends We'll be back next Wednesday 147 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: with another episode.