Dr. Heidi Grant

3 Strategies to Stop Proscrastinating. No, Really – These Work.

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Did you ever find yourself facing an important assignment, but somehow you just couldn’t get yourself motivated to start working on it? Time goes by, days turn into weeks, but you don’t seem to be any closer to getting the job done? You are hardly alone. We all know what it’s like to procrastinate – and for some of us, it’s become something of a way of life.

But procrastination comes at a great cost: it leads to poor performance, inefficiency, anxiety, and regret. So if you find yourself having trouble getting started, try using these scientifically-proven strategies to give yourself a much-needed kick in the pants.

Stop Relying On Willpower


Too often, we try to tackle the problem of procrastinating through sheer will: Next time, I will make myself start working on this sooner. Of course, if we actually had the willpower to do that, we would never have procrastinated in the first place. Studies show that people routinely overestimate their capacity for self-control, and rely on it too often to keep them out of hot water.

Make peace with the fact that your willpower is limited, and that it may not always be up to the challenge of getting you to do things you find difficult, tedious, or anxiety-provoking. Instead, use if-then planning to get the job done.

Making an if-then plan is more than just deciding what specific steps you need to take to complete a project – it’s also deciding where and when you will take them.

If I have not heard back from HR by the end of the day, then I will call them at 9am tomorrow morning.


If it is 2pm, then I will stop what I’m doing and start work on the report Bob asked for.


If my boss doesn’t mention my request for a raise at our meeting, then I will bring it up again before the meeting ends.

By deciding in advance exactly what you’re going to do, and when and where you’re going to do it, using these plans dramatically reduces the demands placed on your willpower. If-then planning has been shown in over 100 studies to be uniquely useful when it comes to resisting temptation and building good habits, increasing rates of goal attainment by 200%-300% on average.

Scare Your Pants Off


There is more than one way to look at the same goal. For some people, doing their jobs well is about achievement and accomplishment – they have what psychologists call a promotion focus. In the language of economics, promotion focus is about maximizing gains and avoiding missed opportunities.

For others, doing a job well is about security, about not losing the positions they have worked so hard for. This prevention focus places the emphasis on avoiding danger, fulfilling responsibilities, and doing what you feel you ought to do. In economic terms, it’s about minimizing losses, trying to hang on to what you’ve got.

It turns out, another great way to avoid procrastination is to adopt a prevention focus about the project you are working on. Studies show that prevention-minded people almost never procrastinate – it keeps them awake at night, terrified of the consequences of slacking off. When you are focused on avoiding loss, it becomes clear that the only way to get out of danger is to take immediate action.

I know this won’t sound like a lot of fun, particularly if you are usually more the promotion-minded type, but there is probably no better way to stop dawdling than to give some serious thought to all the dire consequences of potential failure. If procrastination is your problem, try thinking about everything you will lose if you don’t succeed. I realize that’s an unpleasant thing to do, but great achievement does come with a price.

Don’t Label Yourself “Procrastinator”


Never underestimate the power of labeling. Countless studies have shown that once a person is given a trait label like “generous,” “shy” or “creative,” they begin behaving in a manner consistent with that label – even if they have rarely done so in the past. Tell a typically reserved person that a test has scored them high on “extroversion,” and just watch them start talking up a storm, without even realizing that their behavior has changed. When we are given a label, we tend to believe it.

So once you’ve decided you are “a procrastinator,” your brain, on an unconscious level, will believe you. And unconsciously, you will act accordingly. Like any other self-fulfilling prophecy, you will keep on procrastinating to conform to the identity you’ve given yourself.

So stop buying into the idea that you are “a procrastinator,” and there’s nothing you can do about it. Procrastinating is something you do, not something you are. Rejecting the label is the first step to ridding yourself of the behavior once and for all.

Many Heads Can Be Better Than One… If They Belong to Women

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In the modern workplace, almost all work of real consequence is carried about by small teams.   But even when very smart, very talented people are assigned to work together on a project, it’s clear that the resulting team can be a complete disaster.   Sometimes it seems like teamwork can turn otherwise competent people into childish morons.  Would we be better off relying less on teams, and more on individuals going at it alone?
Not necessarily.  Teams can be smarter and more effective than the individuals who make up the team – the whole can indeed be bigger and better than just the sum of its parts, but only under the right circumstances. 
A new study conducted by researchers at MIT, Carnegie Mellon, and Union College shows that the collective intelligence of a small group working together uniquely predicts their performance across a wide variety of tasks.  In the study, nearly 700 people were placed in groups of 2 to 5, and their ability to solve problems as a team was found to strongly predict their subsequent success on tasks as diverse as visual puzzles, games, negotiations, and logical analysis. 
The average intelligence of members (measured individually, rather than as a group) did not predict team performance at all, and that’s really important. In other words, simply having a couple of really smart people in the group didn’t necessarily make the group itself any smarter.
It turns out that the collective intelligence of the team will only meet or exceed its individual potential if the right kind of internal dynamics are in place.  The researchers found that what is needed for a group to be “smart” is effective coordination and communication, and that this is most likely to be the present in groups with members who were more socially sensitive. 
When groups contained people who were particularly skilled when it comes to perceiving and responding to others’ emotions, they demonstrated greater collective intelligence, and superior performance again and again.  Not surprisingly, groups where one person dominated in conversation and decision-making were collectively less intelligent, and less effective.
So, how can you ensure that your team will be socially sensitive?  The answer is simple: Add more women.  Teams in the study that contained more women were significantly more socially sensitive, and consequently more intelligent, than the male-dominated teams.
If you don’t have the power to change the gender makeup of your teams, fear not.  Their collective intelligence can still develop and improve – through better, more sensitive means of working together, or better collaboration tools.  Create opportunities for team members to express their feelings, and for others to respond to them.   Encourage face-time whenever possible (emotions are difficult to read on the phone, and nearly impossible over email).  Cultivating a work environment  where team members experiences are acknowledged and understood will create teams that are smarter, happier, and far more successful.

The Keys to Finding Work + Life Fit

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Like a lot of working parents, I find myself constantly juggling both professional and personal goals, trying to find time for everything that matters, and sometimes feeling like I’m screwing it up big time.  So for a little wisdom and practical advice, I turned to Cali Williams Yost, the CEO of the Flex+Strategy Group / Work+Life Fit, Inc., a flexibility strategy consulting firm. (Her new book is  Work+Life: Finding the Fit That’s Right for You).

Me:  Why is it a problem for us to think in terms of work-life “balance”?

Cali:  When your goal is work-life “balance,” it causes more problems than it solves.  In fact, here are what I call the 10 Tyrannies of Work/Life Balance:

1) Balance is always discussed in the negative—what you “don’t” have.

2) Balance keeps you focused on the problem, not the solution.

3) Balance assumes we’re all the same.

4) Balance infers that there is a “right” a answer.

5) Balance leads us to judge others (and ourselves), often unfairly.

6) Balance results in unproductive guilt.

7) Balance suggests that the goal is an impossible 50-50 split between work and the other parts of your life.

8) Balance leaves no room for periods where there’s more work and less life, and vice versa.

9) Balance ignores the fact that work and life are constantly changing, and

10) Balance will never be taken seriously by corporate leaders, who only hear “work less” when you say “balance.”

Plus, have you ever noticed that when the term “work-life balance” is written out, there’s either a “-“ or a “/” between work and life?  The truth is that work and life are one and the same today.  Not separate.  You may want them to ultimately be as separate as possible, but you need to start from the premise that it’s all one big ball of time and energy that you need to deliberately and consciously manage.

Me: What is “work+life fit” How will I know when I have it?

Cali: Work+life fit is the way work “fits” into your life, day-to-day and at major life and career transitions.  It’s like snowflakes.  Everyone has a different work+life fit reality.  No two are the same.   Thinking about the goal as work+life “fit,” frees you from the ten tyrannies of balance above because you:

1) Talk about what you could have.

2) See solutions.

3) Know we’re all different.

4) Realize there’s no right answer.

5) Stop judging yourself and others, harshly.

6) Lose the guilt.

7) Embrace and plan for the ebb and flow of work and life, and

8) Increase the likelihood that corporate leaders will support the need to flexibly manage work and life better and smarter.

How will you know you “have it?”  I love that question because it points out another mindset shift we need to make.  Again, balance does infer that ultimately if you work hard enough there is an answer.  But there is no right way.  Managing your work+life fit is an ongoing practice.  You never “have it.” You can only optimize it for a particular set of work and personal circumstances at a point in time.  Then realities will change (they always do), and so will your fit.  Once you realize that there is no right way, it relieves the pressure and allows you to experiment more freely with what works best for you.

Me: What are 3 tips you have found helpful for increasing your work+life fit?

Cali: The Three Steps to a Better Work+Life Fit® are outlined in my book, Work+Life: Finding the Fit That’s Right for You (Riverhead, 2004), but here are a few highlights to get you started:

1) Regularly spend time asking yourself “What do I want my work+life fit to look like?  What’s working?  What’s missing?” and begin the process of connecting with what that ever-changing vision looks like for you.  My experience from doing this work for over a decade is that most of us can easily rattle off what we don’t want, but very few of us have any idea about what we do want.  I outline in the book steps to begin to create your work+life fit vision, but it can be as simple as sitting down in a quiet place a few times a week and simply asking the questions and listening to what you hear.  It’s truly amazing how we all know what we want.

2) Consciously examine your definition of success to make sure it’s supporting the work+life fit you want, and not undermining it. In other words, make sure you aren’t your own worst enemy.  This is tricky territory for high achievers because “success” is very clearly defined especially related to prestige, money, advancement and care giving.  Maybe right now the work+life fit you want requires you to give up a part of your job or perhaps not take a promotion.  How do you feel about that?  Or maybe you aren’t able to be at every one of your child’s soccer games.  Are you consumed with guilt?   Our personal definition of success needs to be as flexible as the way we manage our work+life fit.

3) Create a plan for making your work+life fit vision a reality that’s a win for you and your job. The biggest mistake I see people make is if they want to work from home one or two days a week, shift their hours or reduce their schedule, they expect their manager to figure it out.  No!  You need to come to the table with an initial plan that outlines: What type of flexibility you want to manage your work+life fit, how the work will get done, how you will communicate with your manager, team and customers and when the plan will be reviewed.  In my book, I outline step-by-step process of what you need to think about when creating a solid plan.  Taking the lead will greatly increase your chances for support and success.

Cali Williams Yost is the CEO of the Flex+Strategy Group / Work+Life Fit, Inc., a flexibility strategy consulting firm.  In addition to her book, Work+Life: Finding the Fit That’s Right for You (Riverhead/Penguin Group, 2005), Yost created the award-winning Work+Life Fit blog, and is an expert blogger for FastCompany.com.  You  can follow her on Twitter @caliyost.