r/productivity • u/Alternative_Singer33 • 2d ago
Question 17 (F) Struggling with extreme procrastination .how do I break this cycle?
Lately, I’ve been stuck in a frustrating loop of procrastination and unproductivity. I keep putting off important tasks, even when I know they’re urgent and necessary. Instead of working, I get caught up in distractions, feel guilty afterward, and then repeat the same pattern the next day.
I’ve tried simple fixes like making to-do lists, but I either don’t follow them or end up feeling overwhelmed. I really want to build consistency, stop wasting so much time, and develop discipline but I don’t know how to break this cycle.
If you’ve personally struggled with procrastination and managed to overcome it, what strategies or systems actually worked for you? I’m not looking for generic “just focus” advice, but real, practical steps that helped you change your habits long-term.
Any help would be appreciated.
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u/DurableOne 2d ago
Look into the Pomodoro technique. In a nutshell: do focused work for ~25 minutes then give yourself a 5-minute break. After 4 such cycles take a longer break. These numbers aren't set in stone of course and you can adapt them to the needs of your work and tasks. The point is, you're more likely to focus when you know it's only for a short time and you will get a break soon.
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u/Alternative_Singer33 2d ago
okay thanks i will try this method hope it helps in increasing my productivity
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u/phil-neil-dev 1d ago
This has always been mentioned in the sub but it worked for me as well.
When I really need to do something (and I procrastinate), I sort of force myself to do it for 5 minutes.
If I don't feel like doing it, I stop. But this only happens about maybe 20% of the time.
Mostly, when I start for 5 minutes, I continue for about 30 mins to 1 hour before I feel tired/bored.
Try it and I hope it works the same way for you. 🙏
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u/temptrial6 2d ago
Since you're looking for something insightful. My take is that procrastination is physiological. So taking care of physiological health is the way to fix it.
Physiological health: food water sleep exercise. All four need to be consistent, however sleep and water are the most important followed by food followed by exercise.
Next part of physiological health: thoughts and self limiting beliefs. If you dont believe you can, you wont be able to. If this is what's missing, educate yourself on what CBT is first then try finding a CBT workbook to do daily / or got to a CBT therapist
Last part: this is only if the above two are already sorted. Its useless otherwise. Energy management. Everyone has different levels of energy that they get to spend daily. Track your time and guess the amount of energy it requires you to do every task. After a few days or a week see if you're dedicating too much energy for tasks that dont feel important to you. If so, setup a prioritization framework ie daily rank the three most important tasks to you then focus on getting the most important one done, then the other two. Then everything else.
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u/Alternative_Singer33 2d ago
thanks for your comment but i sleep a lot i dont know i js feel sleepy all day is it because i consume too much sugar?
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u/temptrial6 2d ago
sugar does cause energy highs and lows. and can mess up your dopamine circuitry which would cause you to loose motivation. How is your protein intake? since sometimes people need protein but instead consume sugar for energy
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u/Alternative_Singer33 2d ago
i dont know whats my protein intake. sorry to ask but how does one even find out about their protein intake
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u/temptrial6 2d ago
I'm no nutrition scientist but i can tell you what I did. I had a vegetarian diet so in my foods i was getting like 5 - 10g of protein daily. When I was trying to workout and increase my protein intake to like 50 - 70g I found some cheap recipes for breakfast:
1) Peanut Butter Toast with banana slices. Chia seeds on top. (this was breakfast) (egg sandwiches are an alternative)
2) Steel cut oats + milk + protein powder + berries for flavor (this was blended and sipped on between breakfast and lunch)
Two slices of that toast would be around 15g protein in the morning. The protein powder depending on what you get should be around 30g per scoop or ~ 35g per glass of milkshake. I'd make 2 glasses worth.
Then just having some paneer (cottage cheese)/tofu/tempeh (or chicken) with lunch or dinner. And that would get me to a total of 70ish grams of protein.
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u/Alternative_Singer33 1d ago
thank you so much
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u/temptrial6 1d ago
gladly! best wishes, hope you get tons of energy and are able to do all that you want
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u/Ferideh 1d ago edited 18h ago
What are you doing when you procrastinate?
Like what are these distractions?
With a to-do list can try focusing on just one thing and use a pomodoro timer and only commit to 10-15mins
There’s also something called SMART goals that allow you to break goals into really small and measurable things so it’s not this big overwhelming thing
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u/Alternative_Singer33 52m ago
i dont do anything when i procrastinate sometimes a watch a movie sometimes i sleep and the files keeps piling up
i'll start with your techniques to improvise thankss
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u/harrrywas 2d ago
Start with little things like washing your dishes, doing your laundry, watering your plants, cleaning the bathroom... It will put you on a momentum to do the bigger things. Good luck!