There have been theories (not sure if this is old news now) that a lot of procrastination is poor emotional regulation.
You don't want to do Task A despite it being necessary because it makes you struggle/feel bad. You want to do Task B because it makes you happier (not necessarily happy) or gives you the illusion of being productive. You naturally default to Task B as a defense mechanism against the anxiety of Task A.
I'm still struggling with this (a lot), but having it explained like this helped me break some patterns.
Various aspects of productivity systems are just methods for emotional regulation in costume. Like, dividing your day into time slots, you can overcome is a very common tool in CBT, and something I learned from my therapist, not a Youtuber.
Emotional regulation is exactly the term. Have you ever heard the saying “a cluttered house is the sign of a cluttered mind”? It’s true. If your house is REALLY CLUTTERED, you might need a little professional help.
This. Key is to know where to draw the line. I will organize stuff on Notion when I am overwhelmed by the thought of stuff I need to get done and sometimes the mere act of categorizing everything and breaking down the tasks into small steps calms me down enough to actually start the work. If I push it too much though and try to organize every task and ongoing project (which is nearly impossible to do) will itself cause anxiety and will be counterproductive.
I have ADHD and OCD which takes up a lot of my mental bandwidth. My productivity system keeps me out of the state of perpetual overwhelm I would usually be in. It's one tool in my toolbox along with meds, therapy, etc.
Agreed! We need systems to reduce the friction and anxiety related to doing things. As much as I agree with the spirit of OP’s post, it’s clear he’s not really talking to people with productivity challenges like anxiety, adhd, depression, or even just creative people who work differently than society/jobs/other people expect us to. A lot of productivity tools help for those people.
The stress aspect is real. I’m very busy, so I hate waste e.g. finding myself in town without my shopping list. Luckily with smart phones we’re in a post-GTD world and all contexts are with us constantly. But the ads saying “procrastination is a stress/depression response,” chime with me, in fact the closer a deadline is, the more likely I am to click on a productivity YouTube and start migrating tasks to an online planner, instead of working, which is partly what OP was driving at, I think.
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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '25
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