Dominic Mann - 17 Anti-Procrastination Hacks: How to Stop Being Lazy, Overcome Procrastination, and Finally Get Stuff Done

17 Anti-Procrastination Hacks: How to Stop Being Lazy, Overcome Procrastination, and Finally Get Stuff Done

By Dominic Mann

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Table of Contents

17 Anti-Procrastination Hacks: How to Stop Being Lazy, Overcome Procrastination, and Finally Get Stuff Done

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Why Intelligent People Procrastinate (And How Not To)

2. Develop the Next Action Habit

3. Build Momentum: The Physics of Productivity

4. Make a Tasty To-Do List

5. The Two-Minute Rule

6. Set Macro Goals and Micro Quotas

7. Time Blocks

8. The Butt-in-Chair Method

9. Airplane Days

10. Create a Distraction To-Do List

11. The (10+2)x5 Method

12. Utilize the Power of Deadlines

13. Kill Your Inner Perfectionist

14. How to Procrastinate Productively

15. The Kind of Visualization That Leads to Procrastination (and the Kind That Leads to Action)

16. The One Word that Kills Procrastination

17. How to Cheaply and Quickly Outsource Tasks

Summary and Conclusion

Introduction

Victor Hugo was quite a man. He is one of the greatest and best-known writers France has ever produced. Among his many incredible works are such classics as Les Misrables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame .

His works and accomplishments are considered to be so great that his portrait was placed on the French banknotes.

From all this, you wouldn't be alone in assuming that this seemingly ultra-productive man of such immense accomplishment should be what all of us frustrated procrastinators aspire to be. That the great Victor Hugo was the epitome of motivated productivity and procrastinations antithesis.

Well, this assumptionsurprisinglycouldn't be further from the truth. The great French poet and novelist suffered from terrible bouts of procrastination.

In late 1829, Hugo made an agreement with his publisher: He would write a new book titled, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame . Unfortunately, the famous French author managed to find more interesting things to do. Instead of writing the book, Hugo spent the next yearthats right, year pursuing other projects, entertaining guests, and endlessly partying.

Understandably, his publisher had finally had enough of all the endless procrastination and so took matters into their own hands, deciding to issue him a deadline. And a formidable deadline it was. Due by February 1831, Hugo had less than six months to finish the book.

Despite the tight deadline, Hugothe master procrastinator he wasstill found himself not doing any work. So Hugo devised a clever plan to combat his unkillable urge to procrastinate: He would strip himself butt-naked and have his servant hide his clothes, not returning them until the appointed hour.

Unable to leave the house and go distract himself, Hugo remained in his study each day, writing furiously until he finally finished the book.

The strategy worked and The Hunchback of Notre Dame was published two weeks early.

And its not just Victor Hugo,

Herman Melville used to have his wife literally chain him to his desk in order to get himself to finish the epic novel, Moby Dick. Unsurprisingly, this extreme method worked. Not only did he finish the book, but Moby Dick is now almost universally listed as one of the greatest works of fiction ever written.

Likewise, a bout of procrastination forced Frank Lloyd Wrightthe great American architectto design his most famous house in less than two hours. Yes, you read that right: Two hours.

In 1934, a wealthy Pittsburgh businessman named Edgar Kaufmann Sr., commissioned Wright to create a house in rural PennsylvaniaFallingwater. In November, Wright went over and took a look at the site and wrote to assure Kaufmann that he was working on the plans. In reality, though, Wright hadnt so much as pulled out a piece of drawing paper.

Much to Wrights surprise (and likely horror), Kaufmann called him up early one Sunday morning in the September of 1935, announcing that he was on his way over and looking forward to seeing the design.

In the time it took Kaufmann to drive up from Pittsburgh, Wright calmly finished his breakfast andwith a group of extremely nervous apprentices watching ondrew up the plans for the house. Funnily enough, Fallingwater was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1966, and is listed by the Smithsonian Institution as one of the 28 places to visit before you die.

The problem of procrastination is not a new one, either.

Even thousands of years ago, men and women wrestled with the perils of procrastination. Demosthenes, an ancient Greek orator, would shave one side of his head in order to force himself to stay indoors and practice speeches for fear of ridiculenot all that different a solution to Victor Hugos hide-your-clothes method.

Despite procrastination having plagued humankind since the beginning of history, it can be defeated. And no, you dont need to hide your clothes or chain yourself to a desk.

Procrastination is, undoubtedly, a massive problem. It is the cause of immeasurable frustration. It can stop us from achieving our goals. It burdens us with stress, anxiety, and an unpleasant combination of self-loathing and guilt. Worst of all, procrastination prevents us from reaching our full potential.

Fortunately, procrastination is something that can be overcomeand thats exactly what this book is for. This book contains a carefully curated collection of techniques and approaches to overcoming procrastination and finally getting things done.

So dive right in and discover the most effective ways to beat procrastination and, in the process, achieve your goals.

1. Why Intelligent People Procrastinate (And How Not To)

Once upon a time, there lived an intellectually challenged gentleman. His finger would constantly be burned on stove tops and pricked by thorny rose bushes. The reason these undoubtedly painful event kept on happening again and again was because this poor man was unable to foresee the consequences of his actions. Whereas a Grandmaster of chess might see seven moves ahead, or an entrepreneur might be able to visualize their business strategy, the mental handicap of this fictional man allows no such ability.

This makes him fun at partiesafter all, hes pretty much permanently drunk. He says and does things while mentally incapable of foreseeing the consequences.

Counterintuitively, though, this dullard is jaw-droppingly productive. No joke.

Procrastination? Hes literally never done it. Never. Not once. He tackles tasks head on and gets them done lightning fast.

Now, how on earth is this?

Heres how: He is unable to foresee how difficult, tedious, and enjoyable doing the task will be. Consequently, all motivation and temptation to procrastinate is gone. He just does stuff without thinking about it.

Ironically, for this reason, intelligent people are more often the ones that feel the urge to procrastinate. This is because they are more likely to see and think about the consequences. Its going to be boring. Its going to be difficult. I might make a mistake. What if its not done properly? I dont want to do this! And on. And on. And on again. Our intelligence ends up being used against usto foresee how tedious and unpleasant doing a certain task will be, demotivating us in the process.