12 Comments
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Manan Pahwa's avatar

Amazing effective writing! Thank you so much for a beautiful read. Pls keep writing.

Christopher Chin's avatar

I love the tip to practice self-compassion rather than self-criticism. Because of negativity bias, we dwell on things we did wrong, and are often so hard on ourselves!

One thing that's helped me is thinking, "What would my best friend tell me?" That gives me another opinion, besides the default negative one in my brain. I can weigh both perspectives and make a more informed decision: "Yes I messed up. But my best friend would tell me to keep going. I can do better next time!"

Charles Duhigg's avatar

That is great advice. We're always easier on our friends - because we recognize what they need is compassion, not punishment. And the same is true for what we owe ourselves: Compassion is what helps us improve.

Joyce Strong's avatar

💙💪🥰

Jennifer Haubrich's avatar

Curious, if procrastination is about emotional self-regulation, is there any link between being highly sensitive and being more likely to procrastinate?

Charles Duhigg's avatar

I don't know - but that seems worth looking into.

Jennifer Haubrich's avatar

I’ve done a comprehensive study of one individual and all signs point to yes. 😆

Cathy's avatar

Wonderful article! Appreciate the bits of humor/your personal experiences.

Norberto Casabal's avatar

Thanks for this piece of advice on how to manage procrastination. I agree with the "Do the one thing" approach and I believe, @Gary Keller and Jay Papasan had a thorough discussion of this approach in their book, "The One Thing," which is very helpful. Likewise, I also apply "temptation bundling" - a powerful strategy, which I learned from the book, "Atomic Habit" by @James Clear. New learning from this article is the "body doubling" approach. Yes, I've been practicing it for the longest time - and finally, I now know the term.

Verena Potočnik's avatar

I use EFT Tapping to deal with resistance.