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- Опубликовано: 16 авг 2024
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Why do we procrastinate work and studying? Exams, deadlines and essays - we all put them off until the last moment. In this video, Taha explores why we procrastinate, how we can actually stop procrastinating and most importantly how delicious frogs can be. Move over Matt D'Avella & Ali Abdaal. It's time for Taha D'Avella? Taha Abdaal?
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SOCIAL MEDIA
Sabrina
Twitter: / nerdyandquirky
Instagram: / nerdyandquirky
Melissa
Twitter: / mehlizfern
Instagram: / mehlizfern
Taha
Twitter: / khanstopme
Instagram: / khanstopme
CREDITS
Produced by Taha Khan
Video Editing by Joe Trickey
Motion Design by Olivér Varga & Krisztina Varga
MUSIC
Epidemic Sound. Get started today using our affiliate link. share.epidemics...
RECOMMENDED READING
How to Stop Procrastinating by James Clear: jamesclear.com...
Inside the mind of a master procrastinator: • Inside the Mind of a M...
Why Procrastinators Procrastinate:
waitbutwhy.com...
Two Harvard Professors Reveal One Reason Our Brains Love to Procrastinate: jamesclear.com...
Eat that Frog by Brian Tracy
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Effortless by Greg Mckeown
Co-working/Body doubling: blog.focusmate...
Commitment devices: irrationallabs...
What Is “Revenge Bedtime Procrastination”?: www.sleepfound...
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - procrastination is ruining my life
1:12 - why procrastination is bad
1:49 - checks notes - it's worse than you think
2:00 - tangible consequences, uh oh
2:50 - intangible consequences (even MORE uh oh)
3:33 - why do we procrastinate?
4:28 - how to stop procrastinating, in 5 easy steps.
4:40 - TAHA'S FAVOURITE APP IS SPONSORING HIM !!!!!!
5:55 - i made an anti-procrastination notion template for u
6:08 - step 1: eat the frog
6:36 - failure and pain
7:12 - step 2: eat the tiny, delicious frog (the two minute rule)
8:14 - step 3: building a library (co-working)
8:44 - step 4: the walled garden (commitment devices)
9:17 - step 5: stop working (how doing less helps you do more)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to the joke under the fold!
i'll put a joke here later!
Leave a comment with the word FROG to let me know you were here ;-)
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:)
Frog
the afternoon of watching ludwig, meditating, and listening to bezos 1 for an hour is scarily accurate to me.
lets gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok
Frog
I learned from Rick Green to differentiate between a "task" and a "project". If there's only one step, it's a task. More than one task is a project. Understanding that something like doing the laundry is a project means all I have to do to get started is one task. Helped me to reduce my procrastinating.
Big brain
Over time I started calling it "focusing on the step and not the staircase"
Ah that’s an interesting perspective on it. I can see that helping some people and hurting other people’s productivity. So I hope only the right people see this 😅
I’ll try out this mentality and hopefully it helps and doesn’t overwhelm me. But we will see
Also doing the laundry is a quest
The thing that I procrastinate most with IS that first task.
Im watching this while avoiding other tasks. Namely, getting out of bed
Same lmao
i’m watching this while avoiding other tasks. Namely, going to sleep
I'm watching this while avoiding getting into the shower. 🤔
Same
Aren’t we all?
I added this video to my watchlist like 3 months ago and been avoiding it since 😭😭
SAME 😭
...felt
King of all
i did this for seven months lmaoo
Same 😭
V useful video, made me clean my room right away :) happy 12th taha!
HOW DOES THIS ONLY HAVE 25 LIKES??!?
Wtf you really commented this 8 months ago
Yo!! ❤
69
OMG I remember you from those months I was obsessed with animation story time!!! I’m still annoyed with you for saying green is a warm color!
This video came right as I’m procrastinating…perfect!
BAHAH SAME
well, it was bound to happen, if you procrastinate all the time 😅
@@_nikdo TRUE
Same
Same lol
i've always considered high-functioning procrastination to be a sort of "failing up." you're getting the thing done, but you aren't learning it as you should or reaping the full breadth of experience that comes with doing it paced over time. then you are less-equipped in future situations because you haven't learned properly, but because you successfully did the thing that one time, people now expect you to. it's not ideal.
2 year edit: it was adhd all along. like, so much adhd. i've gotten diagnosed and medicated since making this comment, and hoo boy. life is good, medication has been a godsend, especially for actually keeping up with university workloads. it has also basically nuked my anxiety and depression - turns out they were symptoms of a much larger issue. adhd coaching has also helped a lot with learning to manage stuff and is something people can look at without a diagnosis - if you relate a lot with both this video and this comment, look into it, it may help a heap. idk, life is good, and we all deserve that.
The way you’ve just described it is very accurate to my experience with chronic procrastination 😬
Wow, this hits the nail on the head!
And you've just described why high school was easy and college was hard.
I feel like I'm the opposite with things that are important to me. Like I have trouble keeping focused on the stuff I will actually be tested on, instead going down rabbitholes of deep learning and only getting through half the course material.
If I have no personal interest though? "Failing up" is it. It's ironical how sometimes I work 20 times harder for a course I get 3/5 than one I got 5/5 lol.
damn we're really all living the same life
I actually tried to get over my procrastination once... But the problem is, my brain has never failed me at the last minute: assignments got high marks in school & now my projects at work get complimented. I just can't seem to be creative when there's no risk of failure involved.
Just imagine there is a giant frog that's going to eat you if you don't complete that personal project of yours! The success rate varies from not working at all to this is so dumb that I'm just gonna do it anyway, but it doesn't hurt to try!
@@RGC_animation You know what? I'm gonna try that! Cause the creativity is not worth the weeks of stress & self-hatred that preceed it. And also like he said, I'll make a task tiny enough that it seems stupid not to just do it.
@@luckyk7978 how is it?
@@gtc239 Worked for the first couple of tries until I started procrastinating the tiny tasks... Also, I'm currently procrastinating by replying to you.
@@luckyk7978 Keep fighting!
This was actually useful. I got obsessed with "productivity" channels during my PhD and they all focused too much on your last point about resting and I always felt like their advice didn't apply to me because they came at it with the assumption that you're burnt out and already working hard. My problem is that I'm scrolling and anxious and then I feel bad at the end of the day for not doing any work at all. PhDs don't really have hard deadlines (and the work I do now is kind of similar with soft deadlines). No real tangible repercussions - it was a difficult transition coming from years of highschool/undergrad education where everything has hard deadlines and I always knew I was able to meet them.
i struggle with the same thing when it comes to deadlines. i hate hard deadlines because they stress me out, and i like soft deadlines because they feel more flexible and i'm less stressed because missing deadlines doesn't have tangible consequences. but the problem i ran into with classes that gave me soft deadlines was that i'd procrastinate so far past the soft deadline that when i finally got around to doing it, i couldn't do it anymore because i wasn't allowed to submit it anymore. and i got into so much trouble because of that. what helps me now is putting all my work tabs in front of me (especially NOT in closed groups) so i essentially peer pressure myself into doing them so i can stop looking at them and feeling like i want to throw up. i do the things that make me want to die the least, first, so i can use the energy i build up from doing it to finish other assignments that i hate. i also try to do my work the day it's assigned, because i have memory issues and if i don't do that then i'll forget along with procrastinating. reminder apps and planners never help for me, since i always end up ignoring them some way or another. this is the only way i've been able to get myself to work so far.
One of my fave anti-procrastination tips is to keep a post it note on my desk where I write down the distractions that pop into my head while I'm working. For example, if I'm working away and my brain suddenly thinks it would be a good idea to check Instagram, I can just quickly write that down and get back to what I'm doing. And then when I've completed the task, checking the distracting item list is like a reward 🏆
I attended a “help with procrastination” session that my graduate school hosted, and that was one of the tips the psychologist gave us! I love that it lets you acknowledge that you want to procrastinate, but doesn’t let you do the thing yet
That’s good tips I’ll try doing it
That is actually very interesting. Let me try that and hopefully it would help me do my work more efficiently and spend my time wisely.
similar to me, but for me I just write it on a new tab and put it at the leftmost position, so when all work is done and I close the tab, I can see it
😭i gotta apply this...
"I need help doing the bare minimum". man, that was so comforting. My procrastination is rooted in a fear of failure so sometimes even the bare minimum turns into this irrational giant scary frog
Thank you for this video
Realizing the root is a huge step! That was the case for me too, and through therapy I worked on my self esteem and fear of failure, which has helped a ton. I don’t procrastinate nearly as much now. Keep working on those underlying beliefs about yourself, it takes years but it’ll pay off.
I.. procrastinated watching this video
Clicked on this, then went to get a snack, forgot to bring a drink, so I went to get a drink again. Took out all my subject notebooks in which I have homeworks in, then drew a picture on a post-it. Forgot about this video and searched for a playlist I might like. Took another 20 minutes search for songs because I kept changing the playlist. Found a text from a friend, then remembered to start on homework. Looked at the work, then realized I didn't text back my friend, so did it. Saw my phone on my desk, played games for around an hour. Rememebered about my homework again, then wanted to procrastinate, so went into my youtube tab to find this video again. I'm still half way through the video, and I'm writing all of this in the comment section :)
It's been 6 hours. I still haven't finished watching this video, and I haven't done my homework. Wish me luck for tomorrow
:) I didn't finish it yesterday. Got an extra day today, so I have to finish it by today. 3 hours has already passed until I got distracted thinking about yesterday, which led me here again ✨
@@bloodrenaline1883 Jeez Louise. I procrastinated reading this comment of yours, while procrastinating on my actual work that's laid out right in front of me. But I did get myself together to finish reading your comment, then writing this comment, and then, hopefully by god's grace, I'd be able to pick my pen up and make sure I don't fail this semester and eventually slide down the unending abyss of self-pity and disgust.
@@moldytexas I mean, I procrastinated clicking on my notif button to read your comment. After checking my notif, I remembered about this video, so I proceeded to watch a bit more until realizing that I came here to reply to your comment. (28 min pause here) Btw good luck with your semester test stuff, I should also probably revise for my semester test
You are the only person I’ve ever seen in a video like this who I feel actually understands the problem and struggles with it himself. The part about “eating the frog” and just putting off doing anything because you’re avoiding the hard task really hit home. Thank you for this video. It helped.
Bro the quality of these videos increase every upload 👌👌
the thing with his phone and the time literally HOW DID HE DO THAT!!
In addition to the "instant gratification" explanation there's also the "fear of failure" aspect, I think. There's that feeling of knowing the result won't be up to my expectations and it oftentimes keeps me from starting... which then leads to not working on any projects I've been planning for years, which then leads to stressing out over the likeliness of dropping dead before getting any personal projects done increasing every day. OTL
Ugh, thissss so much
This is actually a leading theory of Procrastination! Nic Voge has a TED talk about it.
Basically, procrastinators judge their Self-Worth and Competence by their current performance. So any minor slip-up makes them think "I'm a useless person who can't do anything". This is especially true in tasks involving judgement or competition where your self-worth is on the line.
The result is that you don't start any tasks to avoid failure, even when you desire success.
This was exactly the root cause for me. I didn’t really believe I could do the task right, so I put it off. Once I fixed that underlying belief I stopped procrastinating so much
You just described how I feel about my monograph right now
Putting off work because of fear of failure also means that if your work doesn't meet your expectations because you've crammed it all in at the last minute before the deadline you have a ready-made excuse. "Oh sure, I could have done better but I ran out of time. It wasn't my fault. With more time it would have been perfect."
as someone who has ADHD, this sounds like very textbook ADHD struggles! it's not exclusive to it ofc, but procrastinating EVERYTHING and being unable to stay focused on something long enough to get it done was a huge reason why I sought out diagnosis haha
Honestly I find setting an inescapable schedule helps put pressure on myself to not procrastinate. What I mean by this is creating a commitment (making an appointment or reservation at some point of time) which you absolutely cannot miss or there will be huge consequences. By doing this I've cut down on procrastinating a lot because now the time slot for doing work is a lot more restricting rather than previously where I would have plenty of time to do nothing and cram everything at 11am.
Absolutely love the color of the background wall, combined with the lamps and animation. Very aesthetically pleasing.
in these shots taha looks tiny which i find funny
Goes great with the couch
Agreed. Worth the wait!
Taha's sofa ties the room together.
Also the library thing is me but once you stop feeling self conscious it’s all over…
Exactly! The fact that I would leave my place and spend almost all morning scrolling through Twitter and YT in the library- lol.
I just knew I had to keep changing my 'library'. I guess the point is just to not get *too* comfortable wherever you are.
@@mideadigun deffo just have to keep relocating 😪
I think I worked in just about every coffee shop and quiet spot on my whole campus... And I still failed my degree!! Not to say I don't agree - I only ever got as far as I did using this strategy, and I didn't even know it!!
After watching this video for a minute, I thought to watch this later then I realised this is the reason why I'm watching this video.
Very informative and helpful. Thanks Bud !
"Stop Working" is what I needed to hear. I'm in that self-punishing loop right now of spending 12+ hours at my desk because the first 10 were completely useless. I've reached the point that not even coffee is remotely energizing.
i was going to say “well at least i don’t procrastinate playing minecraft” but then i remembered that i do, in fact, procrastinate playing minecraft. what a life
i did this just now, which is how i found this video💀
I'm procrastinating starting my 48th playthrough of skyrim haha
Yeah, I have been doing so as well 😑😔
i downloaded minecraft this day, i can't-
@@skizooooooooo 48th...bro.?
I interpret the "eat the frog" rule not as doing the most important thing first, but rather doing the most unpleasant thing first. Do the thing you least want to do first, so it can't just sit on your list forever. And if you have a rule which forces you to remove from your to-do list the most dreaded item, you'll always start your day with an actively dread-lessening to-do list. It feels great!
Yeah, I have more friction if the first task I have to do is literally the most unpleasant.
The trick to me is always starting by doing a task that is relationed with the unpleasant task, and then continue working from there
Most unpleasant task second after a self limiting first task is ideal, I reckon.
For some tasks I'll time myself to see how quickly I can get it done or I'll guess how much time it'll take first and try to get as close to that time as possible. The the dopamine from trying to see how close I can get to the time I guessed helps and adds an element of fun, even if it's a small one. Life as a game with a purpose.
Yeah. I understand the theory on this one but I second Taha - this mostly just ends up with me procrastinating on that first task because it's so unpleasant *and* feeling guilty about starting any other task first.
IMO the opposite (aka 'the snowball approach') works better - start small and build up. That way you have some momentum behind you by the time you hit the worst stuff. And, if you still don't eat the frog, at least you got some other stuff done.
I think it just depends on the person!
Have not finished vid yet but that edit at 0:26 of 9:00am -> 9:01am -> 11:27pm is unbelievably satisfying.
I can’t explain this video, from all the procrastination videos I’ve watched while procrastinating, this guy literally reads my mind
Taha really became a very strong presenter. This was wonderfully paced and written and delivered. Nice job.
Agreed! It also felt a lot more comfortable to watch compared to the big productivity youtubers, almost like listening to a friend.
This reminds me of "How to ADHD" ( She's amazing) . Chronic procrastination is a big sign of it and needing help doing the bare minimum sounds like executive function issues of ADHD
Came here and made the same comment lol.
I love her channel! so sweet and really helpful
Yep coming here to ask if old mate might just have ADHD?
While I have been diagnosed with ADHD, it's a lot more complicated than "I have procrastination issues". I had to establish and provide evidence that I exhibited solid symptoms of ADHD in childhood by presenting school reports, teacher letters etc. regarding my behaviour and how I approached schoolwork.
It's all well and good that people are getting past the stigma of getting tested, but I really have to stress that the system is already severely overloaded everywhere with people watching a tiktok video and taking up appointments to psychiatrists because they want access to stimulants immediately.
I don't want to be seen as a gatekeeper, but if you've struggled your entire life with maintaining focus, organisation and generally sitting still for stuff that doesn't 100% engage your brain then maybe look into it. It's really really easy to read a list of common symptoms and distort your experience to fit them.
@@misterscienceguy It's not gatekeeping, self-diagnosis is a fucking plague.
I'm a major procrastinator... to the extent it negatively impacts my life significantly. I first started watching this video when released... now I'm back to finish it. 😢
This was way better than I feared. A lot of these videos try to push you to be productive, but you ended with the most important thing people forget nowadays: Take time for yourself. You cant work if you are too fatigued or stressed.
I do want to say: I tried a website blocker back in college, started right before what was unknowingly going to be one of the most tumultuous periods of my life. Eventually, instead of being distracted by lights and sounds, I regularly became distracted by my own anxious or self-pitying tumultuous thought cycles. My ability to be distracted was replaced by an ability to distract myself. I don’t really have an answer for this problem, but wanted to point out that maybe distractions, while inconvenient, can help us to get through the day and live to tomorrow - until hopefully, one day, we no longer need distractions to feel okay.
Sounds like the root cause might be anxiety and thought loops. I bet if you worked on those things for a while your procrastination would improve. Worked for me
@@Meraxes6 Kind of you to suggest it, thank you!
Yeah, I've found that even when I ignore or remove distractions, It doesn't make me all that more productive, Because then instead of doing one of those distractions I'll wind doing effectively or literally nothing. There've been many times when I basically just stared into space for an hour instead of doing anything, Productive or not.
Disassociation comes to mind. Being alone lots as a child made me have to amuse and entertain myself.
"I understand there's a guy inside me who wants to lay in bed, smoke weed all day, and watch cartoons and old movies. My whole life is a series of stratagems to avoid, and outwit, that guy." --Anthony Bourdain.
RIP
As a serial procrastinator, THIS IS THE BEST VIDEO EVER! Ik this works because I dabbled around and found all (except the last one) techniques to beat it on my own.
The last one is absolutely GOD SEND because I couldn't figure out HOW to reduce my tiredness from keeping up with my tasks everyday. Thank youu!
This video has been in my 2nd "Watch Later" playlist (the original is already full) and open in a background tab for 2 months now. I'm finally getting around to watching it.
Me: I will try to stop procrastinating.
Also Me: puts this video in the watch later playlist.
I'll get around to watching this video tomorrow, honest!
Same lol
I made sure to wait to watch this video until I was really procrastinating on something.
813 videoa and still growing 😤
I feel like my brain manages to get around every technique I have ever tried to get things done. I have to constantly change tactics because it's like an arms race 😔
That’s exactly how I feel! Not the first time I’m hearing these ideas but they stop working at some point
"I understand there's a guy inside me who wants to lay in bed, smoke weed all day, and watch cartoons and old movies. My whole life is a series of stratagems to avoid, and outwit, that guy." --Anthony Bourdain.
This is my problem, when I'm the one setting the rules my brain knows its just an arbitrary constraint I've set and that I can just change the rules whenever I want. I feel like I need something small I have to do every day that is forced with external consequences so that I have to get up and get started and then it's a lot easier to get other stuff done. I was the most productive I've ever been in my life when I was working half days during the pandemic, I had to actually get out of bed in the morning and go but then I could get home at a reasonable hour already in a productive mood and not too tired to do anything else like I am when I am working full time.
I am the same!! Every time I find a trick that works for me, my brain finds a way to avoid applying the trick..
I feel so seen 😭😭 this is exactly my problem, and the pandemic just made it worse tbh
pretty cool video
I am myself a pro procrastinator aswell ... dunno sometimes I can overcome it, sometimes I can't.
But the tips with the "tiny frogs" really made me realize, that I did exactly this "tiny frog"-thing you mentioned accidently sometimes.
when I didn't procrastinate, I always started with smaller tasks ("accidently") and it often worked, so I could get my stuff done way ahead of the deadline.
What I've found is that it's usually because a task isn't defined or broken down enough. It's the stress of having to start but not knowing where to start (or what to do next or how to do it). What can also happen a lot is when you make a need that can't be fulfilled (i.e. I want to watch just one more youtube video so that I feel less stressed, etc. But this only ends up increasing stress, so there's no way simple way to break out of it), like an itch or how your breathing is now manual: you can't change it by focusing on your lungs, so focus on something that'll actually fulfill the need (scratch the itch, sometimes it just getting some fresh air and water or planning your next step) or try to gain momentum by just working.
Taha, so much of this is classic ADHD, from the difficulty getting started doing tasks to how helpful it is to build momentum or do work with other people around (body doubling). It'd be so interesting to see you follow up on this, as I'm sure thousands of people are going through the same thing
The thing I'm asking myself since a dozen videos is: Have they ADHD?
I know that I don't have the right to demand this answer. I'm just curious or uneasy because this question keeps popping up in my head.
This is exactly what I was thinking. Procrastination is a normal human thing. Procrastinating as much as Taha describes might be a good reason to go make an appointment for an evaluation for ADHD.
@@sadikaeleer I'm currently in the process of getting diagnosed. I am so unsure of myself with it. I keep telling myself that maybe I am just a lazy ass, maybe im just bipolar etc. etc. This comment gave me a lot more confidence because this is how much I procrastinate. I am a professional procrastinator. I can procrastinate procrastination lmaooooo.
More correctly, this is a result of anxiety - which often accompanies neuro-atypical traits like ADHD.
@@qllams although anxiety can produce similar results, I am talking specifically about executive function problems with initiating, sustaining and completing tasks, which are typical traits of ADHD and have a much larger impact than typical procrastination
I have ADHD and I've never related to a video more in my entire life. Everything discussed here is a huge hallmark of adults with ADHD!
Same!!!! Also nice pfp!
Not only adults, teenagers too
I put this on my watch later playlist a year ago.
Finally got around to it! It was amazing and relatable, and I do plan to incorporate the tips into my daily life. I’d ask, “why did I wait so long to watch this?” But we allllllll know the answer. Thanks for posting!
Thank you for this amazing video that helped me procrastinate, and feel a little better about it because I learned something.
This feels a lot like adhd struggles, way more than "just procrastination". And thoses are strategies than can absolutely help everyone but that the ADHD community talked about for a long time (especially body double!).
ADHD friendly is everyone friendly after all! (Thanks 'how to ADHD'!)
just commented on the top comment about some ADHD strats that kind of help me. I also haven't watched the vid yet but just now scrolled through the timestamp names. Yup, those are all ADHD strats I'm familiar with. It's really helpful when a bigger RUclipsr gives methods like these some attention. Makes it easier to use them when you don't have to explain your ways in the context of ADHD and the stigma around it.
at this point ppl shld care less abt whether they have adhd or not and more abt knowing how their mind works so they can work with it
@@fzxfzxfzx but knowing whether you do have it or not is literally getting to know how your brain works???
@@theprideling Idk in what sense OP meant it but I see lots of "You may have ADHD if XYZ, and you can manage it by doing ABC," content and then people responding "Oh my God do I have ADHD?" So I assumed OP was more saying that knowing if you have ADHD is useful, but regardless of whether or not you do, if the strategies are helpful for you, then that's the end goal and the important thing to learn about yourself. Not that you shouldn't care if you have ADHD
If you're struggeling to this extent then its possible you might have ADHD or ADD. Everything you're describing in the video are very common struggles and a lot of the tools you're using (like 'body doubleing', where you have someone else work next to you) are very often helpful to those with ADHD/ADD
so true, thought my adhd was just me being a professional procrastinator until i actually took the time to look at the other symptoms and now im planning to get diagnosed soon
@@josephtagalog5916 i used to think the same until i got diagnosed last year, wishing you the best of luck!
Solution: Adderal or Ritalin + 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups, after cleaning the whole house for 3 hours and after that; organizing your calendar you are good to go.
I‘ve procrastinated watching this video for like 5-6 months now… even had it in my „watching later“ list so it plopped up again and again and finally I watched it. aaaand it was soo nice, thanks so much. this video is not like other motivational advice, it puts no pressure on you to do crazy amount of things.
soo my learning ist that - again - most of the times something is not as bad as you think before you‘re doing it. sorry for my long rant just wanted to say thank you!
Yeah, this!
Just started notion to help organize my thoughts for a 3d short film I'm working on and it makes it so much easier having all the complex steps in one place. I've mostly used tutorials for organizing my steps, but when you go specific enough, there's not tutorials anymore and notion is helping me get that organization still
i liked the change in scenery (room/library/nature + transitions) and the projected stuff on the wall. i liked it so much that i'm writing about it in the comments. you did a good job
As a power procrastinator, the time I actually beat procrastinating was when I had a definite schedule I could stick to. Basically, if you can beat yourself to stick to a schedule for more then 3 days, then a week, then two weeks, then a month, you just keep going. The key is to think about adjusting to the differing schedule afterwards, since it allso takes time sticking to the next schedule.
After watching this I decided to go and finish all my missing assignments and man did that take so much stress away, all I needed was something to get me started and then it was easy after that
The title is what got me over here because that is exactly what I was doing but I'm glad I clicked. I've read books ( some I've only started, been procrastinating on finishing ) but this video actually proposed something I've been seeking - solutions for a professional procrastinator. I'll try and see how it goes.
I think that “easy first” thing applies to exercise too. When I first started I told myself I didn’t need to do anything more than 5/10 minutes. That’s basically nothing but I started. Normally I would do more but if I didn’t feel like it I didn’t HAVE to. Now I’m up to being able to do an hour of exercise without freaking out.
sometimes the hardest part of exercising is just getting into the right clothes, but once I'm dressed the momentum keeps me going through more of a workout than I initially felt up for
Definitely this. Although I’d argue 10 minutes of exercise is significantly better than nothing
If you do it correctly ten minutes every day can make a huge difference and can be challenging, but that requires a training regimen.
painfully relatable and actually helpful, thank you!
Whether or not you're diagnosed, the way you describe the feelings you have when procrastinating sounds VERY MUCH like the way those with ADHD/EDD (myself included) describe trying to get themselves to do something.
Relatable-est relatable thing ever.
The "more time sitting at the desk (no matter what you're actually doing)" metric is a critical one to think about because there's another cost to procrastinating whether it's to a deadline or not. Present Me is pushing off work or what have you onto Future Me, but Present Me isn't enjoying themselves, either! Procrastinating sucks the enjoyment out of whatever theoretically pleasant thing you're doing AND prevents you from doing something you might find, er, pleasanter because you should be doing something specific. It makes both working and relaxing more difficult.
was scared this would turn into another Self-Help book situation, but I honestly feel like this video did something smart!
This was so relatable! My procratination got so bad that I finally seeked professional help this year and got diagnosed with ADHD. Unfortunately so far none of the meds are working for me, so I still procrastinate...
Well, meds alone aren't the answer, unfortunately but sorry they aren't working for you. You've gotta get on them strategies and therapy and self-reflection and healthy-ish diet and exercise too and it might never get easy not to procrastinate. I got diagnosed with ADHD a couple years back and I'd spent all my life trying to figure out how my brain worked, so had gotten good-ish at not procrastinating and was pretty good at getting chores done (through lots of anxiety and swapping randomly between them mostly). Meds didn't affect procrastination directly for me, they just made me feel a bit less frustrated/overwhelmed. I'd find myself getting frustrated/overwhelmed on the regular when my thoughts cut *each other* off. But that had such a knock-on effect for my mental health and energy levels and it just made life a bit easier? Idk. Good luck :)
Give it time, behavior usually doesn’t change in just a few months
Everyone's body takes meds differently. It's why they say give it a ~month to see if meds help.
And for some people, meds aren't the full solution. Therapy/coaching, exercising, mindfullness tactics, diet, increasing med dosages, vitamins, and so on and on also can help regulate adhd (and other mental health issues). You just gotta find the combo that works for you. For better or worse, it's always going to be a journey of sorts.
Good luck hon; you got this! 💛
I just finished a big project, and to help me focus I threw RUclips and all social media apps off my phone. That helped a lot, I can only recommend. You can still use the browser versions off those apps, but it sets the barrier that one bit higher. Often times, that's enough.
The way I procrastinated watching this video because the idea of confronting the problem scared me too much.
This was brilliantly made!
Im bouta tear up at how much this man's experience is identical to my own, and his frankness and honesty about it really helps sooth my deep sense of shame :')
i can’t help but be so impressed by the transitions at 0:28
im pretty sure he just changed the time zone on his phone then screenshotted it and swiped through the photos when his phone was slightly out of frame .. lol
From what I've learned from a Coursera Course named "Learning how to learn"- That I highly Recommend- Most of procrastination comes from "Fear or Anxiety" of how you see yourself performing the task that you are initially avoiding. Thinking that you won't be up to standards you may put it on the backburner until you have no choice but to do the thing.
But in this course, they state that If you actually see the task that you need to do as a process-based task rather than a product (or result based task) - You will remove a bit of the fear because you will remove the perspective that the task that you have to do is a "hit or miss" and you will think of it as something that is part of a set or systems of task. And that you simply have to do it, regardless of the outcome. Because you can deal with the outcome later. This in a way helps dissipate the fear that paralyses you and actually leaves you procrastinating
Thank you for this video, I've been putting off starting my RUclips channel for 2 years, and this video has helped me to finally get started!
"I need help doing the bare minimum."
Ooof , felt that one
I think the “intangible consequences” concept is very closely related to “opportunity cost” as it’s called in economics
6:34 this is the reason why u r my fav channel, ACTUALLY being real. no one has talked about procrastination like this before
3:33 was incredible, I've watched alot of videos about procrastination, habits, work and self help but this was a nice new perspective and the animation was amazing
I have exams going on and this helps a little. One thing that you forgot to mention is...what if the quality of the work is bad? And you know it's bad and that's you give up? I will give an example. I study the three sciences. However, my expertise and interests lie in biology. I put interest into it which in turn makes the work feel...less like a burden. But with something like chemistry, while I can force myself to get into the rythm, this rythm is oddly fragile. Meaning whenever, say, I get a question horrendously wrong, I will just be lost in cursing myself, thinking it's pointless to continue if I am going to fail.
for this i have a few solutions that i used while studying for college:
1. try to remember you cursing yourself is just making it harder, if a question is stumbling you, just move on to another one. your subconscious keeps working on that question and you may be able to solve it when you revisit it after a few other tasks. if not, you can always ask a teacher or whoever else.
2. if you cant do 1, just give yourself an easy win. go finish some other easy tasks like reading emails, taking the trash out etc. or solving some fun biology questions. this will get your mood up, make you feel accomplished again.
3. do the pomodoro. i also get very easily distracted when doing tasks that i dont like. i follow the pomodoro technique and keep the time periods very low (30/5/15 is the lowest for me) so i can have short periods of work and shorter periods of distractions in between to help breaking it up.
3.5. if you give yourself a small distraction, like drinking tea, or listening to some loud, fast paced music, or going to a place with lots of white noise. you get a sufficient amount of distractions to keep your mind entertained during a boring task, but not fun enough to completely distract you from your work. i havent seen this work for anyone else but me, but you can still give it a try...
Also look for methods to deal with perfectionism and/or fear of failure (is there a better term in English for this?, I've never heard anyone use the word "atychifobia"). In my experience there's some overlap between these problems and procrastination, that's also why there's no one proven method to get rid of it. Almost half of the participants in a "dealing with procrastination" seminar I took at uni were also enrolled for fear of failure seminars.
@@buzhichun oh. I will ask my school counsellor about this
@@lrizzard I already do 1 and 2 to some extent. As for pomodoro...I get very spotaneous bursts of motivation. Meaning a schedule or anything limiting is gonna harm my studying session because, at that point, I am forcing myself to start and stop and the quality of my work will be impacted negatively. But it is a good advice to anybody who it's applicable to :)
I found the strict times of Pomodoro frustrating, and prefer the Forest app - I can set a short time of 5 or 10 minutes to start focusing on a thing. If I get into a rhythm it just keeps the timer counting without forcing a break; if not I only have to push through that short period before moving on to something else. (Limiting break times and starting on a new task is still a challenge though 😥)
well, this one skewered me through the heart. Relatable to the nth degree.
I have ADD and none of the traditional productivity tips worked. I started to get things done in a more consistent last year after I read Deep Work by Cal Newport. He suggests planning your day to the minute, which sounds awful on its face but I found if I had a planned time to do a thing then I actually would.
It's like a to do list where things get done.
Did that for a while but structured it around my school schedule which changes by the semester, made it a bit chaotic restructuring it after, not sure I've recovered
i often get distracted by youtube so what i did today was put on a “work with me” video in the background while i was studying. the noise helped, and the fact that because i already had a youtube tab open, somehow i wasn’t tempted to open it up on another tab and click on a random video on my recommended. it worked for about 30 minutes until i got an instagram notification that led to an hour long rabbit hole
its literally the best video i have ever seen about how to avoid procastinating, and the most practical one too
Taha - I think this might be "your" best video so far. Strongly presented and very relatable. With all the procrastination you still managed to improve a lot. Kudos!
Damn, that sequence around 0:35 - 0:42 was so smooth, incredible work!
I wonder how many takes it took to nail the 9:01 timing. But the 11:27 transition is like magic to me.
The think it’s easier to switch the phone out of frame (when we don’t see his hand for a second) and adjust the lighting in post.
im pretty sure he just changed the time zone on his phone then screenshotted it .. lol
I read a book called "How to be an Imperfectionist" that introduced me to the idea that motivation was something that came After action and I've been salty about it ever since lol. How am I supposed to START working to get motivation if I have no motivation to start working???? Through many years of trial and error, some things that have been helpful for me getting work done are: 1) Break the to-do's into the smallest steps as possible (for me, sometimes this was just opening a damn word doc to start a paper). 2) Pomodoro method! This may not work for everyone depending on time available, but having scheduled breaks was nice yet I was still getting work done (also, you can adjust the time spent working, how many "pomodoros" you want before a long break, how long breaks are, etc. and you may find that if you're working naturally even when your work time is up, you can choose to keep that momentum going!). 3. See where you can cut corners. Can you listen to a book instead of trying to read it? Can you get away with reading one chapter instead of the two assigned? Find where you can lighten your load and make things not so hard.
Good luck out there 😂😘
This is great so far, im not done yet. Had to pause from laughing so hard on the "..and I brought some books, about 2 years ago.." cause I did the same thing.
Another extremely important intangible consequence for me is the excess stress and lack of sleep that procrastination in university caused me to have. Yes, those are common in university, but better time management really helps me not "live for the assignment", perse, putting my health and sleep aside for the "next" assignment constantly. And this goes for work too, not just school.
I've been struggling with procrastination for so long... I did a research project on procrastination my freshman year, and I saw some of the same resources you shared.... and I'm still working on not procrastinating. However, your last point on making a set time where I stop for the day was an eye opener for me that I'm going to try next, and I think might work. Thank you so much!
Hey man, nice video! This has been at the top of my Watch Later list for over half a year and I've finally gotten around to watching it, so I am definitely the target audience for these tips 🙃
I ain't gonna lie I saw this video and opened it in a new tab. It's been here for a week it's time for me to watch it.
I can't describe how good this video felt! I just came home from my first therapy session and was a little unsure how to feel and what to do, although I actually need to work right now (hah). Ironically, I procrastinated watching this video for a few days because I didn't find the right moment to enjoy it and right now was really the perfect timing for watching it!
As a few people have already mentioned, this is a common problem for people with ADHD/ADD, which I was diagnosed with one and a half years ago. I struggle a lot with working and also starting things I actually like doing.
The therapy session was quite emotional and starting to work now seemed impossible. But this video gave me a sense of understanding (especially when you revealed that the original "eat the frog" method is not working for you) and also some motivation to start using Notion again! I used it on and off since 2020 and felt like it really helped me while using it - but yeah, I kind of fail to keep on using it.
Anyway, I don't really know where I am going with this comment, but I wanted to thank you for making this video. Also this video is not only mentally but also aesthetically pleasing!
Sometimes an effective method to overcome procrastination with a frog too big for you is to dig up an even larger less desirable frog, the first one will start to look much more appealing.
repeat this to create a black hole frog that will destroy all of the other frogs and simply wait for hawking radiation to destroy it. you now have done lots of work by simply digging up frogs and waiting (sure it'll take a couple quadrillion years for the black hole to decay but you can wait!)
I really liked how Taha wrapped up this video essay with his first previous point: "rewards".
If the break and relaxing is the reward, then avoiding procrastination and getting work done, even if it's the bare minimum, can help us get the reward we want.
I've had this on my watch later for 2 months and it has came oop in my feed countless times
Similar to the two minute rule, Brandon Sanderson suggests stopping for the day when you are on a roll. It sounds counter intuitive, but if you stop when you're stuck, you don't want to start again in the morning. Similarly, by stopping while you know what you're going to do next, you can jump right into it, giving you momentum for the day.
I really enjoyed this video. Tangible vs. intangible consequences seem analogous to accounting vs. opportunity costs in microeconomics. The tangible consequences are whatever happens as a direct result of your procrastination (the accounting cost). The intangible consequences are whatever you forego, or what you /could have done/ if you weren't procrastinating (the opportunity cost).
"watch this if you're avoiding work"
me: *saves it to watch later*
At my last job I had hard deadlines and I would procrastinate and do it all at the end. I never had any issues getting everything done on time, and I even justified it by saying that it was easier to complete projects when I knew everything, whereas getting started earlier meant some information was still unknown. I always got things done on time, but it was stressful.
In my new position, I have soft deadlines. But the faster I complete my tasks the more time my coworkers down the line have to complete the project, and that is SO motivating. Nothing feels better than giving my coworkers a project and them being surprised about how much time they have to complete it. And I get to know it’s because I didn’t procrastinate AND worked extra hard to give them those precious extra days.
It’s so much easier to work hard when someone is depending on you. I wish someone was depending on my personal projects lol.
3:25 "Minecraft" lol
Dude, yhis has been one of the best procrastination videos I've ever watched. Seriously. Thanks!
Thank you for this. I actually tried to "eat the frog" this week and ended up staying up until 4am to complete my most difficult task Sunday night (in preparation for a Monday meeting). Well, my Monday meeting was cancelled and although my team was happy that I delivered such a big portion of the project, I have been exhausted this entire week and haven't been able to bring myself to eat the tiny, delicious frogs -- that are now piling up. It's now Thursday and I'm still not fully recovered. Love the quote you shared - I'll be taking that to heart and getting some rest!
I'll watch it later
The thing that has made an ENORMOUS difference for me is Focusmate-coworking with random people in 25- or 50-minute segments. I still procrastinate on scheduling and starting sessions, but once I get going it's so helpful, and it's like what Taha described about the library. There's another person sitting right there working, so I feel a positive influence to keep working also.
this is possibly THE most helpful video on procrastination i have ever used to procrastinate
Honestly, THANK YOU for tearing apart the strat of “eating the frog”
“tangible consequences” is a very similar idea to the “Urgent” quadrant in the Eisenhower Matrix, a task prioritization system
Just call them “hard consequences” and “soft consequences.” Kind of the same meaning as with “hard skills” and “soft skills.”
I've had this tab open for three day's now, been procrastinating watching it.
I'm so grateful for this video! Loads of things I new already but it's good to remind myself again. But lots of things are so relatable. Sometimes I feel like the only 'loser' who struggles with this. Am I too lazy? What age am I, I should be able to the things that should be done. You're explaining it in a way that I feel less lonely in this. Also when you're talking about the cycle of being tired constantly. So it's not beneficial at all to me, but I'm still doing it.
And I'm really happy that you also feel that 'eat the frog' doesn't work. And that you feel guilty about doing less inportant things. I have that too. At some point I decided I could do a todo 'snack' (i called it), a relatively small thing that still needs to be done to get me in work mode. It works a bit. And then it's really good to chop the frog into smaller segments. Do the 2 minute rule with 'just start' and sometimes it also helpes if there are bumps on the way that make me procrastinate or some things that are hard and some things I could start with to get going (with the frog I mean).
been using notion for several years now, for a variety of purposes, and immediately paused the video and downloaded your template and i'm liking it so far! i'll have to see if it suits my way of organising things down the line, but it's another tool to use, break apart, and put back together my own way again ^_^ thanks!
This was a fantastic video, the editing with the words against the blue wall was VERY aesthetically pleasing and the two minute strategy has definitely helped me!
This is the greatest channel I’ve found so SUB has been DONE
One of the big things that helped reduce the anxiety I felt around procrastinating was to stop labeling it as procrastinating and start calling it executive dysfunction... "Procrastination" for me has a really negative moral implication, like I could be doing this but I am bad. Executive dysfunction is something that I need help with, and it has been much easier to reach out for help when I need it.