How to Set Intentions to Crush Procrastination

additudemag.com:

Contrary to rampant misperceptions, procrastination is not a time-management problem. Procrastination is an emotion-management problem.

Procrastinators use avoidance to cope with negative feelings around a task — and about themselves.In a way, we can think of procrastination as that petulant 6-year-old, alive and well in all of us, whose catchphrase is, “I don’t wanna!” Daily planners, timers, and similar tools, although necessary, are not sufficient to address the underlying emotional issues behind needless stalling and delaying.Setting intentions that specify where and when we’re going to do a task (also known as implementation intentions) is one overlooked but effective strategy to decrease procrastination.

Concrete intentions help mitigate frustration and overwhelm around an undesirable task, and they carve out a clearer path forward.To reduce procrastination, build your intentions around conditional statements like, “If/when I am in situation X, then I will do Y.” Putting the cue for action into the environment like this (in situation X) is very helpful for getting outside of our habits and even establishing new habits.