Chapter 16. The Problem with Procrastination for Developers

After going through this cycle of procrastination for years I finally did recognize the pattern. And Pressfield was right, procrastinating on tasks has the same root cause as being an alcoholic. Alcoholics are willing to trade long-term joy for short-term happiness. By this I mean that an alcoholic will risk their health, career, and family, all for the sake of the feeling that a drink will give them at that moment.

This pattern is played out in the mind of all of us when we procrastinate. When we continually put off tasks for tomorrow, we are trading long-term success for short-term convenience.

I've already presented my system for hacking procrastination. However, I don't want to describe a problem without giving a solution. Therefore, I will conclude by saying that the best way I've discovered to fight procrastination is by taking baby steps.

In his book Mini Habits, Stephen Guise made the concept of performing one push up a day famous. Guise was a self-proclaimed procrastinator who despised going to the gym or working out. However, one day he decided he was going to create the mini goal for himself to perform a single push up every single day. By following this approach, he realized that the idea of working out was no longer a scary concept. And therefore wasn't something to procrastinate.

Of course, doing one push up a day would have limited health benefits. But what Guise discovered was that after performing the push up he was usually in the mood for doing more pushups. And eventually, his daily habit morphed into a full daily fitness regime.