Procrastination: how to start the thing you keep putting off
Another productivity system rarely fixes procrastination, because the thing you're avoiding usually comes with a feeling attached.
These are the practices Thriving uses for it — some about the work, some about the feeling — and the studies each one is built on.
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Start today, free
The free account has a starter version of each of these: a minute or two, and a place to keep track.
Meaningful Action
Plan one activity for today that, if completed, will provide you with a sense of purpose or meaning, and commit to a time frame to complete it.
Prepare
Prepare a space for an important habit so you can easily and quickly start that habit tomorrow.
One Important Goal
Write down the most important goal in your life right now and the deadline for achieving it.
Find Your Level
Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and observe yourself impartially and compassionately.
The practices, and the research behind each one
Inside the app these run as a twelve-week Program, one practice a week, with All-Access. Here they are with their sources.
Productivity: Why It Matters — Productivity Intro
Intro + Ideal Time Use
Productivity isn't hustle culture — it's freedom.
Mark, Gudith, Klocke (2008). The cost of interrupted work: more speed and stress. Proceedings of CHI 2008.
Rubinstein, Meyer, Evans (2001). Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance.
Wood, Mazar, Neal (2022). Habit formation and behavior change. Annual Review of Psychology.
Action Journal Level 0 — Behavioral Activation Foundation
Behavioral Activation + Habits Intro
The foundation.
Uphoff, Ekers, Robertson et al. (2020). Behavioural activation therapy for depression in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Cuijpers, de Wit, Weitz, Andersson, Huibers, Karyotaki (2023). Individual behavioral activation in the treatment of depression: A meta-analysis. Psychotherapy Research.
Schmidt, Collette, Cajochen, Peigneux (2007). A time to think: Circadian rhythms in human cognition. Cognitive Brain Research.
Action Journal Level 1 — Priorities, Time Blocking, Time Boxing
Ivy Lee 6 Most Important + Habits Lifecrafting
Level 1 upgrades your Action Journal with the Ivy Lee Method for laser-sharp priorities, time blocking and time boxing to defeat Parkinson's Law, and behavioral…
Mark, Iqbal, Czerwinski (2014). Bored Mondays and Focused Afternoons: The Rhythm of Attention and Online Activity in the Workplace. Proceedings of CHI 2014.
Mark, Gudith, Klocke (2008). The cost of interrupted work: more speed and stress. Proceedings of CHI 2008.
Locke & Latham (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation. American Psychologist.
Action Journal Level 2 — Eisenhower Matrix
Eisenhower Matrix
Level 2 adds the Eisenhower Matrix — used by President Eisenhower to balance the federal budget three times, end the Korean War, and build the interstate highway system.
Locke & Latham (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation. American Psychologist.
Action Journal Level 3 — Deep Work and Flow
Deep Work + Habits Start/Stop
Level 3 adds the engine of peak performance: deep work and the flow state.
Mark, Gudith, Klocke (2008). The cost of interrupted work: more speed and stress. Proceedings of CHI 2008.
Csikszentmihalyi & LeFevre (1989). Flow as a basic dimension of subjective experience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi (2014). Toward a positive psychology of relationships. Annual Review of Psychology.
Start or Stop Any Habit
Daily Top 3 Anchoring (Fogg)
Design or dismantle any habit using the neuroscience of the habit loop.
Wood, Quinn & Kashy (2002). Habits in everyday life: Thought, emotion, and action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Gollwitzer (1999). Implementation intentions: strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist.
Gardner & Lally (2013). Does intrinsic motivation strengthen physical activity habit?. Journal of Behavioral Medicine.
Action Journal Level 4 — GTD Integration
GTD + Habit Consistency
Level 4 integrates David Allen's Getting Things Done — the most complete task-management system ever developed.
Heylighen & Vidal (2008). Getting things done: The science behind stress-free productivity. Long Range Planning.
Masicampo & Baumeister (2011). Goals and the use of mental commitment for self-regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
A study finding a benefit in the people it tested is not a promise of that result for you. Follow the links and judge for yourself. All the sources.
It's rarely just one thing
What you put off is usually connected to the rest of your life: energy, stress, whether the goal is really yours. Thriving covers four spheres — physical, mental, emotional and purpose — and one or two practices from each is enough.
Everyone tells you what matters. Thriving gives you the exact exercises, somewhere to organize them into a routine that's yours, and the tools to keep going once the novelty wears off.
Also on Thriving: Anxiety & stress · Sleep · Anger · Habits