Psychologist gave advice on combating procrastination

Lydia Inshina, a specialist in manipulation and extreme communication, told us how to deal with procrastination.

In an interview with the agency RuNews24.Ru On Monday, January 19, the expert explained that procrastination is not laziness, but a form of systemic self—sabotage: the brain leads a person away from tasks that are associated with stress, fear of evaluation or failure. According to her, motivation is not worth waiting for — it needs to be triggered by action, creating conditions under which postponement becomes unprofitable.

The specialist suggested five steps to combat procrastination. The first is to start with an extremely small action in order to reduce anxiety about the scale of the task. The second is to clearly plan the work in time and at the same time "resolve" inactivity, making it less attractive. The third is to separate the inner voice of sabotage from oneself and realize the consequences of following it. The fourth step is to identify the hidden fear behind procrastination and test it for reality. The fifth option is to introduce an immediate reward for starting work, so that the brain can quickly consolidate a new behavior model.

The expert emphasized that procrastination signals a task that is too big, frightening, or meaningless, so it is more effective not to "force yourself", but to break the threat into safe parts and act through micro-steps, a timer, and a conscious dialogue with fear.

On January 14, psychologist and neurophysiologist Irina Pavlova said that procrastination occurs due to failures in internal motivation and action planning. She advised to honestly analyze your true motives, make your goals more specific and allow yourself to take imperfect steps, writes RIAMO.

On January 12, Mina Khachatryan, a public figure, member of the Board of Trustees of the Integral Business School, HSE expert, mentor of the Skolkovo Fast Track, told how to deal with procrastination. In the case when the task causes severe internal discomfort, the expert recalled the principle "a terrible end is better than a horror without an end."

On the same day, expert Tatiana Moshagina told RT that returning to work after a long New Year's vacation requires smooth activation and proper planning to avoid stress and burnout. She paid special attention to restoring the regime: quality sleep and a stable schedule help to return productivity faster.

At the same time 360.ru He wrote that researchers from Kyoto University have identified a neural circuit in the brain of macaques responsible for the tendency to postpone tasks. This discovery may help in the development of treatments for motivation disorders, such as depression.

In November, clinical psychologist Marianna Abravitova spoke with Pravda.Ru said that procrastination is more common in rational and intelligent people who tend to analyze everything carefully and postpone actions while waiting for the "right" moment. The specialist emphasized that it is impossible to completely get rid of procrastination, since it is part of personal characteristics. However, stress levels can be reduced by planning and clearly allocating tasks.

In October, the study hh.ru and Bitrix24 showed that more than a third of the Russians surveyed complained about the lack of free time. Respondents aged 25-44 spoke most often about the lack of free time: only one free hour per day was indicated by one in eight of them, NSN notes.

Earlier, psychiatrist Yuri Sivolap stated that procrastination may be a sign of a new subtype of depression. Decreased concentration, difficulty concentrating, and decreased productivity are typical signs of depression: a person lacks the strength to start work and engage in tasks, the website notes. kp.ru . If depression has caused procrastination, then you want to postpone everything, including entertainment, and not just work.

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