Procrastination toolkit
This toolkit consists of three modules with a mix of practical experiments, coaching, and podcasts that will help you work with each of these aspects.
By the end of these modules, you’ll know how to recognize procrastination not as a flaw, but as a signal. And you’ll be equipped to meet that signal with clarity and ease.
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Ali Abdaal
YouTuber, Productivity Expert
"AOA is absolutely life-changing. It’s helped every aspect of my life including productivity, purpose and happiness.
the root of procrastination
A quick intro
For decades, I've watched brilliant people, from young entrepreneurs to seasoned CEOs, sabotage themselves with their to-do lists.
They write down "Reply to Jen about the investment" and then spend three weeks avoiding a five-minute email. They add "Call mom" and somehow never find the time.
Conventional wisdom says this is a time management problem or a discipline issue. We're told: “Use better systems. Push through. Hack your willpower.”
These methods may work for a while, until the emotional resistance eventually reasserts itself. Because at its core, procrastination has little to do with how much time you have or how disciplined you are.It’s an emotional avoidance problem. Below are three ways to actually start shifting the root.
Step 1
Wonder
Most of us are so focused on trying to overcome our procrastination that we never stop to hear its wisdom. What makes us procrastinate in the first place?
Wonder helps us deeply listen to ourselves. It pulls us forward with natural curiosity, and it's one of the most powerful ways to dissolve procrastination without force.
Step 2
The voice in
your head
Procrastination is a symptom of your inner war. It's a manifestation of how you respond to the critical Voice in Your Head that attacks, shames, or tells you "You have to get this right."
But in a war with yourself, you always lose. Use these resources to begin transforming how you relate to the Voice.
1. Listen - Who is the voice?
2. Experiment - The 5x5x5
For the next 5 days, journal out the Voice in Your Head for 5 minutes every day.
For the next 5 days after that, try 5 different ways to respond to your Voice every day. (i.e. "Please treat me with more respect" or "I see that you're scared, and I'm right here with you." or "I see that you're in pain.")
Bonus: Go through your journals and find times where
1) What the Voice was saying was not true.
2) The Voice contradicted itself.
3. Watch - Coaching Session
Step 3
Feeling stuck
At its essence, procrastination is about avoiding the emotional experience we think the task will bring.
We're often stuck between two uncomfortable feelings: the one we have while procrastinating, and the one we're afraid we'll have if we actually do the thing. Use these experiments to begin seeing through the illusion of stuckness.
1. Listen - Emotional Inquiry
2. Experiment - The Double Blind
Length: 7 days
Every time you’re procrastinating on a task (or thinking about procrastinating on it), pause.
1. Name the emotion you're feeling as you procrastinate (i.e. shame, anxiety, dread)
2. Name the emotion you’re scared you’ll have to feel
4. Do Emotional Inquiry on both emotions.