Procrastination Symbolic reward system. Part 1

What is procrastination? It is a term in psychology that implies a propensity to constantly postpone delays or thoughts. Procrastination is not laziness, laziness is the absence or lack of diligence. What is the procrastination? In the fact that a person is aware of the performance of important tasks, but postpones them for later or replaces matters with entertainment. When the deadlines are right, he either throws everything, or tries to do the work in a short amount of time, with a predictable result.



For those who want to overcome procrastination quickly, just read this article. I will write right away - nothing will come of it. Procrastination has been developing for a long time, driving you into a corner with deeds, terms, and duties. To loosen and overcome it will be difficult, no, not so, COMPLEX. Therefore, if you urgently need to complete the project, prepare a report or something else, then stop reading and take up your duties, they will bring you benefits. Remember this.



I deliberately divide the article into two parts; you will work on yourself without looking ahead; there simply will not be an opportunity. Re-read the text, make notes on the sheets, write down everything, it is very important. No matter how brilliant you are, intelligently pulled up, even with a photographic memory, write, always something flies out of your head.

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A bit of terminology

Comfort zone

This is a collection of all the usual actions, habits, affairs and everything else that you regularly do. This is what you used to do every day. Any of these actions does not cause negative emotions or almost does not. A person by nature aspires to his comfort zone, there are certain factors - problems, stress, mood, emotions, which increase the desire to return to it. Everything that you put off for later is outside the comfort zone. Everyone has their own and she does not mean that things are simple in her. Hike in the hall, jogging, learning the language, can be located in this area, for many it is not so comfortable is not it? But in reality, a person who visits the hall will not feel comfortable if he misses an occupation, discomfort, depression, surges, and stress are possible. A person whose comfort zone is narrow enough, that is, he performs few actions, may also experience discomfort. From the fact that his life is rolling even deeper down than it is now, and instead of doing useful things, he is engaged in nonsense. Ordinary procrastinators do not have this, but for those who are already at the bottom, it happens often. I will note once again, if a person does not do what is in the comfort zone, then he too experiences unpleasant emotions and they are stronger than actions outside the zone.



Negative and positive action

These are my terms, they are needed for a better understanding of the subject matter. As I wrote above, there are different actions in the comfort zone and each of them is individual. We divide our actions into negative and positive. Negative actions are those that do not bear any benefit and are harmful to health. Positive actions - respectively benefit and do not affect health. Eight hours a day sitting at the computer in the surf of the Internet - these are negative actions. Writing code, debugging, and learning are positive actions.



Your task is to expand the comfort zone, adding positive actions to it as much as possible.



Internal resistance

I took this term from a single article on overcoming procrastination. So, internal resistance is the sum total of all the unpleasant, negative feelings and experiences that we experience when we have to do something. For some, this is a small (or large) obstacle, through which they easily or with some effort step over, for others it is an insurmountable barrier, an impenetrable wall.



The strength of this resistance depends on how often you do something in spite of resistance, how difficult it is for you, how uncertain it is, and so on. The stronger the resistance, the greater the procrastination.



Additional barriers in the form - "I have to", "I have to" will further strengthen the internal resistance. Motivation is reduced in accordance with the number of repetitions of the word "must." “I have to finish the code to the end,” no matter how much you really want it, the wording “must” will nullify all your actions. These are all negative associations, they cause us aggression, anger, nervousness, stress. And as soon as the code word is pronounced, the barrier is turned on without our knowledge and the desire drowns in its own emotions. Playing on associations can deceive the barrier, but this is effective until a certain time.



Temporary Corrosion

Another term, it is deep in itself, but I will try to explain it in simple language. Our brain is a computer, it evaluates, makes calculations, memorizes information, but as you know, a technique is subject to wear, as a result of which errors appear. The brain is subject to illusions, such petty failures, and therefore any calculations become incorrect as time passes. It is difficult, but you need to understand. A person cannot calculate time, assess his own condition in the future. There was no procrastination, if time did not exist, it is time that has a greater effect on our actions. A person is not ready to do business now, and he postpones it for later in the confidence that in a certain segment he will be ready to carry it out. But time passes, and the internal resistance increases because the period that the person has set himself is suitable, because of this, the stress increases. Do you understand? The illusion is that every time we know what the result of inaction will be, but we blindly follow it. For the brain, performing actions now and then is equivalent. When choosing execution now and through the gap, you choose the second, because you don’t have to put any effort in and the brain will immediately receive what it would receive only after doing the tasks. When you postpone something for later, you feel relieved, your mood rises and so on, everything, the brain got its own with minimal losses, endorphins were developed.

Symbolic reward system

Behaviorism, behavioral science and CER techniques are taken from there, it is very old, but indispensable in the first stage of combating procrastination. There are many options for its execution, the main thing is to comply with certain conditions.



What is the essence of the technique? That you symbolically fix your results somewhere. This implies that you clearly see your results, and the motivation increases accordingly. As I wrote above, a person cannot remember everything, much less list all his results, therefore it is very important to record.



My version of the table is here , if you do not have a printer, draw a table on paper, it is very important that you have physical media. Variants of a file on a computer, an account in special networks for personal records, are not suitable! There are two columns of them you will fill out when you take an action to combat procrastination, you write an action into a broad one, and draw a symbol into a narrow one, I draw circles. You draw what you like more, just do not need to make artistic sketches, the symbol should be simple and easy to repeat. Also, symbols should be equivalent in complexity and importance to the action that you performed. My differences were in color.



If you want to make your CER, then it must meet certain criteria.

- The form must be mobile, that is, in certain situations you should not have difficulty taking it with you.

- As I wrote above, the symbol should be simple, although if you really want something, then show your creative potential. Also, the characters should be different, for cases 4-7 designations are sufficient, 10 is a lot.

- There should be a lot of room for marks, if this is a similar form like mine, then 50-100 cells are quite enough, it is even better in practice than 200 cells, 1000 is already overkill, because I will demotivate empty cells. As the cells run out, start a new form, and fold the old one into a daddy.

- Each case should be recorded, no systems with repetitions, and the like, everything is clear and simple.

- The system itself should be simple, at least for your understanding. Do not get carried away with the details, everything should be clear.

Determination of internal resistance

A very important point, I took it from one guide, you need to learn how to evaluate internal resistance. Take a sheet in a cage and draw a line, in the left end there will be no internal resistance, those things that you do regularly and do not experience any negative emotions, it can be watching TV shows, entertainment portals, social networks and so on, put a dot. At the right end, there will be maximum internal resistance, those things that are thought to cause discomfort, anxiety, and other negative emotions. This is an insurmountable barrier, a wall, an impregnable fortress, it is difficult to give an example, my version will not work for you, yours will not work for me. So think, but remember, it must be something really weighty, put a point and sign. Now divide the line into 10 equal segments, try to test it, imagine the cases and evaluate the internal resistance, mark the results with evaluations on the line. Below, in accordance with the assessments, you can sign the case so that you have an example, put this leaf somewhere, so as not to lose, then it will be needed.

The first steps

The very first step to overcoming procrastination is to create a CER, so stop now and print or draw a table and fill it. Your first cell should have an action and a symbol in the next cell. If you simply printed, then the action is simple and put the first character, if you have made an effort, then the character must match them.



Haven't you done yet? Get started! I guarantee it, for all 146% now is the time. If you do not do it now, you will not do it tomorrow, and without this technique all the work will be useless. If you currently have no opportunity to print, draw, your fingers are broken, the cat is sitting on the printer, then just close this article.



When you have made your form, and only then you can proceed to the next step. The second step, this definition of what you do the next two weeks, it makes no sense now to take a longer period, so it should be. It will be very small things, simple, useful, which you will perform regularly. Here we can use the scale for determining internal resistance, you can choose anything, the main thing is that it does not exceed 4-5 points. Actions must be obvious, mechanical, over which you should not think. As an example, you can clean the room, constantly keep the room clean and mark the action in the CER. These actions need to be performed regularly, as if once prostrastinirovali something repetition is inevitable. It is important that your life and comfort zone does not change. You continue to do what you did before and for several weeks. It is very important now to make yourself reminders. They should be in a prominent place, bright colors, sticky leaves for the first time the best option. You quickly get used to the reminders, so you should make new ones, at least once a couple of weeks. Creating reminders is also taken into account in the CER.



The alarm clock is also just fine, set the time and when it rings you go to do the planned things right away, this is important.

Breakdown

When running the case, you can break already at this stage. You start to postpone even these simple things, and the comfort zone delivers even more, remember what I wrote about the brain? As a result, days and weeks pass and it will be even more difficult to return to the path of struggle.



If you approached the case responsibly, mark cases right away, do not pull time, then the breakdown should not occur at this stage. If it occurs, try to return to the implementation of the marked cases as early as possible, after completing the task, set a higher score.



When to go to the next stage? Within a few weeks, the actions performed must enter the comfort zone and the internal resistance should disappear or at least weaken. If this happens, then you are moving in the right direction and you can proceed to the next step.

Literature

The Procrastination Workbook - William Knaus

Anonymous tutorial

Own notes