I’ve been helping people overcome procrastination for years now, through my articles, books, and coaching. To that end, the one question I have to keep asking myself is this: “What do people need to know, believe, and do in order to beat procrastination?” It’s easy for me to get lost in the science, because it’s so fascinating to […]
Continue readingWe all have dreams and aspirations of what we’d like to achieve and who we’d like to become. Some of us want hotter bodies, faster cars, bigger houses, or longer vacations. Some want simpler things, such as a happy family or a fulfilling career. Some want to travel the world. Some want to become more confident, […]
Continue readingIt is in the nature of human beings to want things – to desire appreciation, good health, better feelings, kids, a loving spouse, good relationships, peaceful sleep, maybe a beautiful home, a respectable career, or the freedom to travel the world. There’s no denying it. Unless you’re an enlightened being or are willing to meditate for […]
Continue readingGuilt is an emotion all too familiar to most procrastinators. It often leads to a vicious cycle: You feel guilty for procrastinating, then the guilt makes you feel so bad that you procrastinate even more, which makes you feel even more guilty, which leads to even more procrastination, and so on. I’ve been stuck in that loop […]
Continue readingWhat’s the fastest and least painful way to change your behavior? Changing your environment. If you’re familiar with Philip Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment or with Ellen Langer’s Counterclockwise Experiment, you’re aware of the insane changes different environments can lead to, and quickly. In Zimbardo’s case, good people became evil in a matter of days. In Langer’s experiment, they literally […]
Continue readingMy fancy new productivity toolProductivity doesn’t have to be complicated or fancy. I recently bought an old-school $10 alarm clock that has made a remarkable difference in how productive I am. Why? Because it allows me to leave my smartphone in a drawer overnight, which gives me a much more effective start to the day. I get […]
Continue readingTwo days ago, I’ve come back from my second ten-day silent Vipassana meditation retreat. I had done my first retreat a little over a year ago, and published several well-received articles on my experience. I wrote about the whole ten-day experience, the lessons I had learned, how I would prepare, and tips on how to “survive” […]
Continue readingThe War of Art by Steven Pressfield is all about resistance and how to overcome it. Resistance? It’s that internal force that rises whenever we consider engaging in an activity that is highly beneficial for us, but also hard and uncomfortable. Have you ever bought a treadmill but never used it? Ever quit an exercise regimen, a […]
Continue readingProcrastination is a puzzling phenomenon. We delay the very things we want to do. We postpone what we know is best for us. It’s irrational. It’s harmful. It’s against our best intentions. So why do we do it? Why do we procrastinate? Here’s my take on it…The One Mechanism Underlying All ProcrastinationThere’s only one ultimate reason for why […]
Continue readingRecently I was reflecting on my personal procrastination journey. I was proud about how far I’d come when I realized something interesting: It’s not that I don’t procrastinate anymore. It’s just that I procrastinate on a much higher level nowadays. Today, I’d call myself a positive or productive procrastinator. Let me explain…My Procrastination Struggles… Then & NowIn the past, […]
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