Oliver’s GTD Experience Part II: why do we procrastinate?
May 12th, 2008 Oliver StarrCategories | Contributors | Features | Getting Started | Getting Things Done | Health | Implementation
As those of you that read this site regularly may know, I am relatively new to GTD having just begun following David Allen’s principles immediately prior to taking on the editorial role here at GTDtimes. When I started I determined that it might be of value to others to read a little bit about my own experiences as I’ve been applying myself to utilizing GTD.
My first post on this topic mainly related to my realization that my prior reluctance towards implementing GTD in my own life in spite of recognizing how beneficial it was in other people’s lives related to arrogance and perhaps a little fear. This second post is more of a factual accounting regarding my actual experience in using GTD.
Getting started with GTD is both easier and more difficult than you imagine. For me, it was actually pretty easy to set up the key components of my own GTD program and I found that I really didn’t need any help with the moving parts - for example, I found that once I was clear on what mattered and why I had no trouble at all setting up my Entourage folders in such a way that I could effectively deal with each incoming piece of email as soon as I looked at it.
This, for me, was a major achievement and the cause for considerable relief as for the first time in a decade I could see all the messages in my Inbox on a single page. I can’t tell you how good that feels - for once your inbox becomes the source of relief rather than anxiety. At times I used to have as many as 5000 messages in my inbox, some of them deletable, some actionable, some undetermined and none organized. Now if it’s in my inbox I haven’t read it. It’s as simple as that.
Similarly, I was surprised to find that a project/next action list was fairly easy for me to choose and equally easy to implement. I chose to start with Things after reviewing it for GTDtimes. While it isn’t perfect it is easy to set up and use and doesn’t require a lot of maintenance. It doesn’t sync with iCal, however which means that I have to enter due dates that require pop up reminders twice which is a bit inconvenient. It would also be nice if there was an easy way to get tasks into Things while you’re on the go (something they’ve promised with an iPhone version of Things supposedly due in June). Since I edit this site and thus look at lots of software there is a constant temptation to try something else but I’ve been sort of doggedly sticking with Things mainly because I’ve been warned about falling into the trap of spending more time tweaking one’s GTD implementation - especially via software and gadgets - than actually Getting Things Done and knowing my own tendencies in this regard I’m trying to stay out of trouble.
That was the easy part…
I had a lot more trouble with purging all my excess material and getting what was left after the major purge into a good, simple system. In truth, this is still an ongoing process. I love to read and I have literally thousands of pieces of reading material; books, magazines, brochures, you name it - plus on top of this mail, newspapers, documents, research I’ve printed out, etc. I’m not quite a pack rat living amongst piles of newspapers inches from the ceiling but it wouldn’t be honest to say I live a paperless life either by any means.
While tossing much of the stuff I’d accumulated was a liberating feeling there were certain things that provoked anxiety. Funny stuff too - for example programs from conferences I’d attended that had lists of every vendor along with contact information. I don’t know why I felt weird about tossing these items in particular - it’s not as if I can’t find that information again if I ever need it. I can only conclude that some habits are harder to break than others.
As a result the complete purging process has taken me a lot longer than I would have expected and it has been more difficult for me than other parts of my GTD implementation.
One thing that hit home with me was when David talks about the mess that lives inside most people’s center desk drawer - you know the one with paper clips and rubber bands and broken pens and cell phone batteries and add to that the odd tool, some bills that belong in an in-basket and myriad and sundry other items that seem to have migrated there without ever having been invited?
Yeah, I had one of those - possible one of the most egregious examples ever. In fact, it was so bad it took an act of God or someone coming over to visit to actually get me to shove the thing shut.
It was a wondrous moment in my GTD set-up that I was able to completely clear this drawer of all but the most essential items and keep it - while not exactly immaculately tidy, at least devoid of non-essentials and easily shut at any time. Small wonders shall never cease!
This is a surprising benefit to me because the content of this drawer was a constant source of distraction for me whenever I was at my desk which is a lot of the time. There’s definitely something to be said for keeping the toys out of the office (or at least out of convenient reach) as I’ve found that as soon as I’m feeling stuck or tired or simply want to do something different the toys that are in easy reach - whether it’s the latest Nokia phone, a laser pointer or some other equally distracting item, suddenly become a lot more interesting and a lot less productive work gets done.
Speaking of productive work brings me to the most interesting or personally profound realizations I’ve had along my GTD progression to date. Just what is it about certain tasks that causes us to procrastinate? I know that Kelly Forrister says that one reason for this is when you’re not exactly sure what it is you’re supposed to do that makes it easy to procrastinate, but what if you’re perfectly clear on the job at hand and you still seem to find fifty other things that require your attention even when you know that you’re running out of time or even behind schedule?
David suggests that this may be because you aren’t really dealing with a project made of individual tasks but rather tasks that are themselves composed of tasks - in other words you haven’t broken down and defined your next actions sufficiently well and as a result each individual task making up a project appears too big and becomes daunting. A friend of mind used to call this “staring up the steps when you should be stepping up the stairs”.
But what if that’s not the problem either? What if you have a solid understanding of what you need to do? And what if you’ve defined each individual task correctly and have the requisite skill and time to perform these tasks but you still put them off?
I ask because I realized that there are some things that are on my list that get exactly this sort of treatment. Ultimately these are the things that either get me in trouble or which I end up doing at warp nine at the last minute with my hands shaking. Anyone else fall into this less than desirable group? Why do you think you do this?
I asked myself this question and realized it related to another area in my life where I realize that I have a problem; arriving places on time. I asked myself a similar question; why do I end up being late when I have no reason to be late?
Some people would suggest that this is a passive/aggressive behavior that relates to taking control of a situation by putting everyone on your schedule and for some people I imagine that this is true. For me, however, I realized that this isn’t the case and that both my chronic lateness and tendency to procrastinate on certain projects or tasks actually relates to another issue entirely. Risk taking behavior.
Dr. Marvin Zuckerman, who is the acknowledged authority on sensation seeking or risk taking behavior, also known as TAS (short for Thrill and Adventure Seeking) has developed a test to determine your TAS score. As you can imagine, extreme skiers, moto-crossers, free climbers, and other “adrenaline junkies” all have high TAS scores. But what you probably aren’t aware of is that so are a lot of chronic gamblers, people who frequently drive under the influence and even people who engage in unprotected sex despite knowing the risks of such an activity.
Thrill and adventure seeking manifests itself in countless ways. There’s even a form of TAS that expresses itself in the odd behavior of opening up a stranger’s medicine cabinet and taking whatever prescription medications are there just to see what happens. (Sadly, this form of TAS has a very high mortality rate as you might expect).
A few years back I wrote an article for Surfer Magazine about this very topic. In the course of my research for this work I contacted Dr Zuckerman and after reading his book scheduled an interview. To better prepare for this interview the Dr suggested that I take his TAS examination so that as part of our discussion I could see how my score translated to my own behavior. More on this in a moment.
One of the things that I found most interesting was that Dr Zuckerman found that there’s a very strong association with extremely high TAS scores and certain brain chemistry anomalies. Basically, it turns out that people that frequently engage in high risk activities tend to have a lower than normal production of certain neurotransmitters and this is one possible explanation for the behavior abnormality. From my Surfer article:
Neurobiologists now believe that chronically low levels of a critical neurotransmitter called dopamine exist in the brains of high sensation seekers, particularly in a region of the brain called the nucleus accumbens. Interestingly, many drugs that elicit feelings of confidence, excitement, euphoria, and well-being also cause an increase in dopamine levels in this part of the brain.
The problem, of course, is that in much the same way that a junkie needs more and more of a drug to get the desired effect, a sensation seeker needs more and more risk to get the desired rush. The end result is not tough to imagine.
Fortunately, this “problem” doesn’t result in exceptionally high mortality except in one group. According to Dr. Zuckman’s research children that score above a certain number on his TAS examination have a much higher than average tendency to have fatal accidents prior to reaching twenty-one years of age. High enough, in fact, that when Dr. Zuckerman reviewed my responses to his test he was actually quite surprised that we were even having the conversation.
Apparently I score so high on his test that my odds of making it as far as I have are incredibly poor. This is not a surprise to people who know me well and have witnessed me jump off roofs, jump off cliffs skiing, race bikes, mountain bikes, skies, fly in a stunt plane, and do other even more ridiculous things that I don’t have the desire to mention here.
So how does this relate to procrastination you ask? How indeed.
Having retired from my career as a professional cyclist, and having been too busy working to surf as much or surf waves as big as those as I like most, I realized that as a fear-junkie, I wasn’t doing anything to get my fix. Or so I thought. Having put my principal risk taking activities on hold my brain had found a deceptive way to get what it wanted. It made me late.
Of course once I was late I had to rush and rushing is fraught with risk. Driving one hundred miles per hour to get somewhere is risky. Being scared that you’re going to get a ticket is risky. Being scared that you’re going to be in trouble is risky. You see where I am going with this?
Brain chemistry is a curious thing. It seems that at the most basic level the chemistry that makes me, me can cause my behavior to be less than desirable in order that certain chemical conditions that my brain recognizes as normal be met regardless of my desire to the contrary. And I’ll bet I’m not alone either.
The question is, now that I’m aware of this particular issue will I be able to act differently? If so, and as a result I don’t get my chemical imbalance corrected through reckless driving and the fear of the consequences of being late, how will my brain get what it wants? What new means of generating adrenaline and the associated dopamine cascade will my brain come up with if I refuse to allow it to have its way with my task list?
This is something I don’t yet know and may not know for some time. What will be interesting to see is if now that I am aware of the underlying reasons for my own procrastination I will be able to better manage that behavior as a result of the knowledge. In short, will the self awareness gained as a result of implementing GTD allow me to overcome my biology?
What about you? Does anyone reading this have a similar experience to share? If so, how did you figure out the reason for your behavior? Were you able to overcome it? Did you begin to do something else to compensate for taking control of the original undesirable behavior?
There are a lot of questions about this that I’ve yet to ask let alone answer but I do find it quite interesting that it was through the lens of GTD that I was able, after years of not knowing why I was acting a certain way, to finally see through my actions to their underlying cause. I only wish that when I showed up thirty minutes late for a meeting it would fly when I said, don’t blame me, I have a disorder in brain chemistry that makes me late. Sadly I don’t think that will wash nor do I think that they’ll give me a special driver’s license that exempts me from speeding tickets as a result of this problem. Oh well, that’s probably a good thing. Can you imagine how I’d replace the fear of getting a speeding ticket? No? Neither can I.
Very cool post, Oliver. Stress causes the release of hormones that become addictive. We’re stress addicts. GTD reduces stress. We resist GTD, and procrastinate, because we like the substances we’re addicted to better than stress-free productivity, at least until we’ve relaxed out of the email and TV world for awhile.
I can relate. I’m always looking for something more exciting than my to-do list. I think I fall into the same boat, when I’m alone at work I’m always looking for something that will give me some kind of thrill that I don’t typically get from working on my term paper.
I seem however to work very well when I have other people around. I think it keeps me in a good mood and am much more productive.
So when I’m alone working on my projects and keep getting distracted, I go outside take a short walk and convince myself of why I’m doing a given project. I visualize myself successfully doing what I want to do and this helps me get moving.
That’s my story.
Oliver - Great to get a bit of an insight into your interests and background.
I recently realized that my porcrastination does often come from not being “on” the next action. During a GTD seminar I was facilitating last week I was showing some of my lists and realized that my next action to “complete and send form for will” was not really the next action for my “Will updated” project. The next action is to have a discussion with my wife Lisa - one that we had not so successfully already - about who would be named to have custody of our children should we both move onto a place not of this world.
Hmmmm, now I see why the form remains in my action support folder. I have now captured a next action to talk with Lisa. Contemplating one’s demise is not a particularly uplifting conversation for me. This said, it may sit on my list for a bit, but I no longer feel I am procrastinating; I just choose not to do it.
I have found that GTD creates a tremendous awareness of my environment/life for me, thus making it easier to focus on what has my attention and to grow in areas in which I want to grow.
Great article! Good level of selfreflection.
Also nice punch line at the end
I would suggest to see if you can find some other risktaking activity that can give you your dopamine needs, that way you can reduce yourself from being late without your brain seeking alternatives subconsiously - because you already provided an alternative.
What alternatives? Well, maybe a fighting sport of sorts?… Anyway, at least you can take control of it and make a selection yourself.
One example of perfectly clear tasks and still procastinating for me is that I am simply frustrated at the task (didn’t feel like it before, so don’t suppose I feel like it now) and it just frustrates me more.
Just now in the process of realizing that the only way to effectivly deal with the frustration is to deal with whatever is frustrating me. I.E. DO THE TASK. As obvious as it may seem
Good luck with your quest for dopamines.
Great post!
I just read a great book called “Spark” by Dr. John Ratey, M.D.
It explores the connection between exercise and the brain - especially neurochemicals in the brain.
You might find a really clear picture of yourself in the book. Especially as a former pro athlete who may not be getting as much exercise as he used to.
It’s really helped me come to address the symptoms of ADD and depression (including procrastination - as my husband says, I put the “pro” in procrastination) and be more functional at work - just by making sure I’m exercising regularly.
I have ADHD and am definitely TAS. Medication helps a lot (Adderall. I also take Cymbalta for dysthymia, which seems related/comorbid with the ADHD). Procrastination has always been a problem except for something I’m really, really interested in, or that really, really, needs to get done Right Now, or something where I definitely will get a highly desired reward upon completion of the task. Anticipation of a reward is supposed to cause a release of dopamine. A person with ADHD has fewer dopaminergic cells, thus needs more stimulus to feel the same (or a dopamine agonist drug). The key to rewarding yourself is to actually do it, versus putting a carrot on a stick and not following through with a reward. There’s a theory that at least some ADHD people are the result of childhood environments which were so chaotic or otherwise that the reward was unlikely to be realized.
- David
I suggest some good dark chocolate or perhaps something of a more prescriptive nature depending on one’s individuals requirements.
Thrill-seeking, dopamine, neurotransmitters. I never thought of chronic lateness or speeding tendencies as such but it does make quite a bit of sense. I do suggest we get an MSDS for this, but I doubt it will give any exclusions in the ‘real world.’ Somehow we still have to live in those confines.
I like the first comment regarding stress-filled lives and resistance due to this vicious circle. Makes a lot of sense.
Quite odd to think all our actions are determined by a few neurotransmitters and chemicals in our brains, but I suppose that’s what it all comes down to… Very interesting in deed. Thanks for the great read Oliver!
Actually, Oliver, studies have shown there are 6 styles of procrastination. As a business/executive coach, I routinely deal with clients who exhibit procrastinating behaviors that limit their effectiveness. Using assessments to help them identify the reasons and styles for their procrastination, we are able to work together to overcome these limiting behaviors. I have been amazed at the transformations once the styles are identified and a path to change has been developed.
Oh man, this sounds familiar. The thought of throwing something out or doing the first task creates anxiety and the compulsion is to avoid starting as a way to relieve the anxiety. But it’s a vicious cycle. The more I avoid, the scarier the task feels. I’ll know I need to leave at 7:20, but it doesn’t feel “just right” to leave then and the anxiety of stepping out the door is noxious. I’ll know my first task is do-able in my rational adult mind, but my OCD mind is terrified.
Exposure and Response Prevention therapy is helping me with this–I make a hierarchy of least to most scary tasks and then do one, full well knowing I’ll feel anxious and it will suck, but that my ncrvous system will habituate to the fear if I allow myself to feel it. Response prevention means after I expose myself to the fear, I don’t reassure myself, and just live with the fear that I’ll feel anxious forever or whatever my feared consequence is.
So actually, those daily work tasks are more terrifying than skydiving, at least according to your nervous system–but you can modify it. The rule of thumb is, if you don’t want to do a task, then it is a good candidate for exposure. Jonathan Grayson’s book on Freedom from OCD is good, as is the OC Foundation’s website. ocfoundation.org
Hi,
It sounds a lot like ADD or ADHD.
I am echoing an earlier discussion.
I have adult attention deficit disorder and the GTD tools have been very helpful. People with ADD or ADHD are not great at executive functioning, especially at remebering things. I have found the GTD system and getting things out of your head just the answer. It doesn’t work for all they symptoms such as hyperfocusing but it sure helps with getting actions done and executive functioning.
Oliver: Excellent and frank discussion of problems that many people encounter. I think that exposing some of your fears and personal issues was a brave thing to do and probably encouraged other people who are busy holding together some sort of public “image” to unburden themselves and look frankly at a problem that is likely more common than we would suppose.
(Forgot to mention in earlier post…)
I learned of my ADHD from a psychiatrist (who had been involved in the fMRI studies of ADHD brains). I didn’t want to accept the diagnosis. Fortunately, my wife (who I met after the original diagnosis) knows something about ADHD from her pediatrician father. I hadn’t told her I’d been diagnosed with it, but she noticed the signs (as when we kept needing to rewind the VCR because I lost concentration).
I also wanted to mention that I need to set a timer when I know I might begin “hyperfocusing”.
Lastly, the best research I’ve read thus far on the evolutionary adaptational role for ADHD (or at least one subtype) is given below. In essence, ADHD individuals within a group were more likely to take risks as part of exploratory behavior, and shared information gained (during exploration) with the group, thereby benefitting the group.
The evolution of hyperactivity, impulsivity and cognitive diversity.
Author Williams, Jonathan; Taylor, Eric
Affiliation Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London Department of Child Psychiatry de Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF, UK.
Source Journal of the Royal Society, Interface / the Royal Society, 2006 Jun 22, 3(8):399-413
ISSN 1742-5689
Abstract The evolutionary status of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is central to assessments of whether modern society has created it, either physically or socially; and is potentially useful in understanding its neurobiological basis and treatment. The high prevalence of ADHD (5-10%) and its association with the seven-repeat allele of DRD4, which is positively selected in evolution, raise the possibility that ADHD increases the reproductive fitness of the individual, and/or the group. However, previous suggestions of evolutionary roles for ADHD have not accounted for its confinement to a substantial minority. Because one of the key features of ADHD is its diversity, and many benefits of population diversity are well recognized (as in immunity), we study the impact of groups’ behavioural diversity on their fitness. Diversity occurs along many dimensions, and for simplicity we choose unpredictability (or variability), excess of which is a well-established characteristic of ADHD.Simulations of the Changing Food group task show that unpredictable behaviour by a minority optimizes results for the group. Characteristics of such group exploration tasks are risk-taking, in which costs are borne mainly by the individual; and information-sharing, in which benefits accrue to the entire group. Hence, this work is closely linked to previous studies of evolved altruism.We conclude that even individually impairing combinations of genes, such as ADHD, can carry specific benefits for society, which can be selected for at that level, rather than being merely genetic coincidences with effects confined to the individual. The social benefits conferred by diversity occur both inside and outside the ‘normal’ range, and these may be distinct. This view has the additional merit of offering explanations for the prevalence, sex and age distribution, severity distribution and heterogeneity of ADHD.
Oliver -
I can relate to so much of what you wrote about procrastination as a method of getting a thrill - and, want to expand our thinking on the subject to people who have had traumatic experiences in their lives. For instance, a child with an alcoholic parent (or some other unpredictable homelife) becomes accustomed to the risk of not knowing what’s going to happen next…and might, as an otherwise well adjusted adult, unwittingly seek this sort of “excitement” by procrastination or being late, just as they might by continuously choosing alcoholic partners, etc. After reading your article, I have an awareness that my own procrastination and lateness is probably due to this type of psychological holdover - even though I’m not a “thrill seeker” in any other sense of the word! I’m excited to have discovered this new GTD resource (GTD Times) and look forward to reading more from you and the others.
Hey!…Man i love reading your blog, interesting posts ! it was a great Friday .
The other day I had to catch a high speed train in Madrid at 3.00pm. I was at home, waiting, with everything prepared, waiting, thinking that I was missing something, waiting. 2.40pm Race starts. Suddenly I said “Go” I grabbed everything and started running to the subway. Every stop to the main rail station I was segregating adrenalin. My heart at 120bpm, fast breathing. 2.53pm only two stations to arrive, one more than I espected, ok, I can do it. More adrenalin, more anxious. 2.56pm arrive at main station, I¬¥m Carl Lewis, arrive at bagage control, ok passed. Yeah, 2.58pm, I did it again, still 2 minutes left. Breath long. Go to the access control.
“Sorry, access is closed 2 min. before time”
Then I realized one of my procrastination reasons. Living at limit.
A few days later I had to catch the same train. I arrived just 2 minutes before access closed. I think I learned the lesson
I was diagnosticated with neuro transmisor deficiency long time ago -Colinesterasa plasmatica (spanish name)-50upm instead of 500upm. I was under anesthesia and didn’t wake up because of this deficiency. Finally I was lucky. Living at limit again.
I don´t know if it is related to dopamine, but I think its affecting my behavior. Maybe someone knows about.
quikeh
ADHD screening
If you’re wondering how ADHD is diagnosed, here is a link to an assessment I’ve used with clients in my psychologist internship, to *supplement* diagnosis, NOT diagnose:
http://www.med.nyu.edu/psych/assets/adhdscreen18.pdf
The actual diagnosis process requires a careful interview. So, this assessment is provided here only to help you with deciding whether or not to contact a psychiatrist or psychologist. I used it with meth addicts (many of whom have ADHD and were self-medicating) and passed it along to other interns at the same site who also found it very helpful in screening for ADHD.
- David
The devil made me do it. Great defense. But it can also be a mask that people use to hide behind their problems. Now for years I have always thought that my problem was that I didn’t a system of organization in my life, and that’s what prevented me from success. But my big GTD moment was when I realized that I already had a system. And that system was forcing me to procrastinate. I was so concerned with details (the devil is there ya know) that starting something was more work that doing it. Even today I spend more time on my task list adding small thing that take little or no time, that if I would just hunker down and do them. But just like any other behavior problem seeing it is half the battle. Thanks Oliver
Limits of medication:
This quote from a leading ADHD researcher point out the limits of medication and need for tools (like GTD):
(excerpt from http://www.medscape.com Neurobiology and Genetics of ADHD: An Expert Interview With Stephen V. Faraone, PhD
Medscape Psychiatry & Mental Health. 2007; ©2007 Medscape
Posted 06/08/2007)
“…
Dr. Surman: One study in the APA meeting this year looked at the effect of atomoxetine on executive function as reported on a rating scale and found that treatment with this agent certainly resulted in organizational function improvement.[15] It seems that it’s one of holy grails of ADHD research, that many of our patients can focus and stick with things, but if you ask them to plan and organize, they fall apart.
Dr. Faraone: It’s absolutely a challenge. Probably the main unmet need in ADHD treatment is, how do we deal with these executive function deficits, how do we deal with learning disabilities? Frankly, the medications don’t do a good enough job. They provide some efficacy. If you look at stimulant studies, atomoxetine studies, some modafinil studies, these medications do reduce executive function deficit to an extent. But when you look at the magnitude of the improvement in each of these studies it’s relatively small. It’s nothing like the effect of stimulants on behavior, hyperactivity, impulsivity, inattention. Executive function effects are small by comparison.
So at this point in time, if you have a patient with executive function deficits, the medications are probably not going to get them all the way along. If they need help organizing, particularly for adults, cognitive therapies are being developed. Some preliminary studies have looked at behavioral techniques that help adults keep themselves organized and function better in their real world.
…”
- David
I wish David and team could specifically address how to implement GTD under the dual challenges of perfectionism and procrastination. I have been stymied in implementing the system due to these two albatrosses, despite having bought and read both of David’s books, and attending a Road Map workshop.
1) To begin with, collecting everything that needs to be done (or that could ever be done) is a monumental/overwhelming task.
2) Nor have I been able to decide on:
a) what kind of system to keep the placeholders/reminders/loose ends in, or
b) a functional, yet uncomplicated filling system for reference material.
3) And, three, even with the lists I am currently using for my daily functioning, all the lists and organization in the world can’t force me to perform a task I find distasteful or boring or anxiety-inducing, which many of mine turn out to be.
If I could afford to have David’s team come and personally help me implement the system, I would, but that might still not solve the core complaint of procrastination.