How To Stop Procrastinating: Mood Regulation Strategies
A very interesting article was recently published by The Wall Street Journal about the role of mood in procrastination:
“Often, procrastinators attempt to avoid the anxiety or worry aroused by a tough task with activities aimed at repairing their mood, such as checking Facebook or taking a nap. But the pattern, which researchers call “giving in to feel good,” makes procrastinators feel worse later …
The new approach is based on several studies in the past two years showing that negative emotions can derail attempts at self-control. It fills a gap among established time-management methods, which stress behavioral changes such as adopting a new organizing system or doing exercises to build willpower.”
ADHD and Self-Regulation through Visualization
We know that self-regulation (an executive function) plays a key role in learning disabilities such as ADHD. Procrastination is common for those with ADHD, especially for adults. Mood regulation, as the article suggests, can help overcome procrastination.
One of the techniques that the author suggests is time travel, which is defined as projecting yourself into the future to imagine the good feelings you will have after finishing a task, or the bad ones if you don’t. We actually recommend focusing on the positive emotions that completing the task will elicit rather than the negative ones if you don’t. This type of visualization is an effective strategy and is commonly used not only by procrastinators, but also by successful individuals such as athletes and public speakers. Visualizing your success in completing a task helps create positive emotions about the future, and helps move away from the negative emotions about the present.
Mood-Regulation Strategies
According to the article, if traditional forms of time-management and behavioural change strategies are not working to help procrastination, try mood regulation and mood-repair techniques. These techniques include:
- Time Travel to visualize your feelings after completing the task
- Just Get Started on a large project by doing the first step
- Forgive Yourself for procrastinating
- Easy Things First will help build momentum for completing the most difficult task later
The full article and more on these techniques are available here.