Want to Stop Putting Important Things Off? Use the 5-Minute Rule to Stop Procrastinating

You don’t have to finish, or even try to finish. You just have to start.

EXPERT OPINION BY JEFF HADEN @JEFF_HADEN

We all occasionally put things off. We all, at least occasionally, avoid doing things we need to do. We all procrastinate.

Even though Adam Grant feels procrastinating can sometimes be good for you, and putting something off may feel good in the moment, still: whatever you’re putting off may seem too hard, or too complicated, too something… procrastinating is almost always counterproductive.

And yet also really hard to overcome, if only because we’re wired to put some things off. Our limbic systems help control behavioral and emotional responses, but unfortunately the limbic system’s only focus is now. Hungry? Eat. Scared? Run away. Anxious? Step back. Need to do something hard, or anxiety-producing?

Procrastinate, even if your neocortex (the “more evolved” part of your brain that deals with higher-order brain functions, like making decisions that affect your future) has decided you need to do something difficult. Or has decided that doing something difficult would be really good for you.

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That’s at least partly why you might put off having an uncomfortable conversation with an employee. While while your neocortex realizes they’re dragging your team down, your limbic system seeks to avoid confrontation.

That’s at least partly why you might put off making cold calls. Or building your pitch deck. Or exercising. Or doing all sorts of things you know at a higher level will be good for you or will pay off down the road… but seem too hard, or daunting, or painful for your limbic system to allow.

Procrastinating doesn’t mean you’re lazy. Or lack willpower. You’ve surely proven to yourself that you can do all sorts of difficult things. Yet your limbic system and neocortex sometimes engage in a contest that your limbic system, since it’s a core and sometimes nearly automatic function, often wins.

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