A Week Without Procrastination: What Worked (and What Didn't)
The struggle is real for many of us when it comes to staying on task. After seven years of freelance life, the author found herself thumbing through screens, napping, and eating sugary snacks all day long. Desperate for a change, she decided to take on a challenge: no procrastination for one whole week.
The plan was simple: write a to-do list every morning, and plough through it without any distractions. She even enlisted the help of her husband to hide the remote control so she couldn't watch TV all day. To her surprise, the first few days were productive, with 24 tasks completed by day one. But as the week wore on, things started to fall apart.
Day two was similarly productive, but a brief lapse into LinkedIn scrolling left her feeling guilty and anxious. Day three brought a severe case of "I don't wannas," and she spent 20 minutes mindlessly scrolling through her phone. By day four, her journalistic integrity had failed her completely – she couldn't bring herself to work on an edit.
Procrastination expert Fuschia Sirois explained that this behavior was not about character flaws, but rather a way of managing emotions. "You have a task that you feel uncomfortable about and brings up unpleasant emotions," she said. "Basically, procrastination is a way of avoiding those emotions."
Sirois emphasized the importance of identifying and dealing with these emotions head-on. She introduced the Tempo toolkit, which stands for taming emotions to manage procrastination open-heartedly. The author tried out the techniques, ranking her emotions in intensity and remembering the value of each task.
However, even with the best intentions, the old habits seemed to creep back in. By day five, she found herself struggling to focus on the edit, but ultimately completing it. She also discovered that breaks can be refreshing, but sometimes they become excuses to put off other tasks altogether.
In the end, the author realized that procrastination is an inherent part of being human. It's not about beating oneself up over it, but rather learning to accept and manage it. The experiment did teach her one thing: hard work to produce results, but no magic solution to eliminate procrastination forever.
The struggle is real for many of us when it comes to staying on task. After seven years of freelance life, the author found herself thumbing through screens, napping, and eating sugary snacks all day long. Desperate for a change, she decided to take on a challenge: no procrastination for one whole week.
The plan was simple: write a to-do list every morning, and plough through it without any distractions. She even enlisted the help of her husband to hide the remote control so she couldn't watch TV all day. To her surprise, the first few days were productive, with 24 tasks completed by day one. But as the week wore on, things started to fall apart.
Day two was similarly productive, but a brief lapse into LinkedIn scrolling left her feeling guilty and anxious. Day three brought a severe case of "I don't wannas," and she spent 20 minutes mindlessly scrolling through her phone. By day four, her journalistic integrity had failed her completely – she couldn't bring herself to work on an edit.
Procrastination expert Fuschia Sirois explained that this behavior was not about character flaws, but rather a way of managing emotions. "You have a task that you feel uncomfortable about and brings up unpleasant emotions," she said. "Basically, procrastination is a way of avoiding those emotions."
Sirois emphasized the importance of identifying and dealing with these emotions head-on. She introduced the Tempo toolkit, which stands for taming emotions to manage procrastination open-heartedly. The author tried out the techniques, ranking her emotions in intensity and remembering the value of each task.
However, even with the best intentions, the old habits seemed to creep back in. By day five, she found herself struggling to focus on the edit, but ultimately completing it. She also discovered that breaks can be refreshing, but sometimes they become excuses to put off other tasks altogether.
In the end, the author realized that procrastination is an inherent part of being human. It's not about beating oneself up over it, but rather learning to accept and manage it. The experiment did teach her one thing: hard work to produce results, but no magic solution to eliminate procrastination forever.
the whole tempo toolkit thing sounds kinda cool, but I dunno if it's realistic for most people. I MEAN, WE'VE ALL BEEN THERE, RIGHT? THUMBING THROUGH SCREENS AND NAPPING ALL DAY LONG... BUT THE KEY MIGHT BE NOT TRYING TO GET RID OF PROCRASINATION ENTIRELY, BUT RATHER FINDING A WAY TO WORK WITH IT!!! 
anyway i think the most important thing they mentioned was about managing emotions - it's not about being lazy or whatever, but about acknowledging why we procrastinate and dealing with those feelings head-on 
. Like if you're feeling overwhelmed, just take a deep breath and make a list of what needs to be done 
and don't forget to reward yourself for getting stuff done too 
. You're gonna have ups and downs, some days are gonna be better than others. The author was being super realistic about it, saying she couldn't eliminate procrastination completely, but just learned to manage it.
And yeah, breaks can be refreshing, but sometimes we just need to get back on track.
I feel like this article is all about how we can't just magically stop being human, you know? 
Like, we're gonna mess up and then what? 
The whole 'avoiding emotions' thing really resonates with me though, cuz I've been there too! 
Sometimes it feels like no matter how hard we try, our to-do lists just get pushed around by our feelings. 
But at the same time, I think the author's experiment was a good reminder that we shouldn't be too hard on ourselves when we slip up... 
.
. And let's be real, taking breaks can actually help us come back to our work refreshed and focused 
. I love what Fuschia Sirois said about taming emotions to manage procrastination – it's all about being kind to ourselves and accepting that we're going to slip up sometimes 
And what's the harm in taking breaks? It doesn't mean you're not working hard, it just means you're taking care of yourself.
. I've been wanting to try something like that out for my own productivity struggles. Maybe instead of beating ourselves up over procrastination, we should be kinder to ourselves and focus on finding healthy ways to manage our emotions? 
I mean, yeah she had some productive days, but like, who hasn't scrolled through LinkedIn out of boredom? And 20 minutes isn't even that long! 
. Like, yeah okay, that makes sense, but what if you're trying to avoid those emotions because you're actually scared or overwhelmed? 
.
. I mean, it sounds like some fancy productivity tool, but is it really that effective? And what if someone's emotions are way more intense than just "I don't wanna"? Like, what if you're dealing with anxiety or depression? Can a simple ranking system really help? 
. It's not about character flaws or emotional avoidance, it's just human nature, right? We need breaks, we need self-care, and sometimes we just need a nap 
. The Tempo toolkit sounds like something out of a productivity fantasy world 
. Newsflash: there's no magic bullet to eliminate procrastination forever. Just accept that you're gonna mess up, but try not to beat yourself up over it too much 