Thread by @waronweakness

Do you feel held back by procrastination?

After experimenting with multiple tactics, reading several books, consulting with numerous gurus and testing every single app you can imagine

I finally overcame it.

It came down to 5 things:

Just to be clear

I am not a productivity or performance coach

I'm a writer who's struggled with procrastination my whole life

This 5 step process was discovered out of sheer necessity:

To crush procrastination:

1) Optimise your physical health
2) Align your task with your purpose
3) Use a timer
4) Give yourself permission to play
5) Impose a strict deadline and obey it

1) Optimise health

We know procrastination is a problem of the mind but fail to see the connection between the mind and the rest of our body.

Before you go digging for new tactics, start by improving your physical health.

For me this meant:
> Eating whole foods

> Optimising my sleep (No screens after 9pm was a BIG change I made)
> Working out 3-5x per week
> Walking daily

This alone eliminated a lot of brain fog and helped me get into focus mode a lot easier.

2) Alignment

We tend to hate work that's unmeaningful to us, even if we're getting paid good money to do it.

Before you invest in a new project, ask yourself:

"How important is this to me and why am I doing it?"

No need to write an essay about it

Just think about the answer and internalise it.

Things that are important to me:

> Building my audience
> Having interesting conversations
> Satiating my creative impulses
> Mastering my craft
> Experimenting with thoughts and ideas
> Learning

Make a list of your core values

Then align your work with one of the values on your list

If it doesn't align, then why are you doing it?

Good chance that's the *real* source of your procrastination

3) Give yourself permission to play

Gurus call this opening your "creativity faucet"

Kids call it play

I prefer to think of it as play for two reasons:

1) There's less pressure when you think of it as play

2) It's easier to remember

The first draft is just play

4) Use a Timer

I work in 60 minute blocks then goof off for 15 minutes (which I also set a timer for)

I find working in set intervals gives my brain sufficient time to produce and recharge when needed.

Play around with the times to find what's optimal for you.

5) Use deadlines

The deadline does not have to be real.

The important thing is that you obey it.

E.g. Before I sat down to write this thread, I told myself I am not allowed to eat dinner until I get it done.

I am hungry AF so I will get this thread done on time.

That is all.

It's simple because simple works.

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Thank you!