In the previous blog post, we reviewed the meaning of Instant Gratification.
The fact is that our Instant Gratification Monkey has access to many Bananas. It is always getting answered. Watch your urges and how everything is accessible:
Did you ever get that itchy feeling to pull out your phone and check for new messages? Bored? There are mindless social media applications to keep you occupied.
Thinking of eating something not so healthy? The only thing you need to do is to open your door and get your food delivered.
Or do you need to study for that test? Maybe it is better to do that after one or two episodes on Netflix. All you need to do is to click a few buttons and you’ve got all eight seasons of The game of Thrones.
Welcome to the 21st century. That’s how our life looks every day, where if we want something, we can get it instantaneously.
All these procrastination tools defeat the rational decision-maker.
Here, we have for you two practical solutions to help you defeat it:
1- Activate your Grit:
As I was searching for the best solutions to help us, adults, fight immediate gratification, I came across an amazing TEDTalk called Grit: The power of passion and perseverance delivered by Angela Lee Duckworth.
To provide you with some insights into her speech, she explained that the key to success isn’t necessarily IQ, or how intelligent you are in general, but there is actually grit that we overlook when it comes to measuring what factors actually contribute to one’s success. The grittier you are, the more successful you will become.
Angela and her team defined grit as passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. It is the ability not to stop (not giving in to the Monkey’s never-ending demands) when things get hard, but to push through and keep going.
Angela puts it perfectly when she says grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint. But when we want something right now, it goes against grit. Instant gratification sets us up for failure. Someone caught in this destructive habit will avoid any action that causes short-term pain and focus on all the actions that create short-term happiness. That’s why instant gratification manifests as procrastination.
What is the main cause of procrastination?
2- Define your fears:
When it comes to starting a new project, we tend to second-guess ourselves, especially when the tasks require focus, dedication, and hard work. We would ask questions such as: Do I have enough skills? What if I mess up? Will I embarrass myself by doing this? Will I end up becoming homeless?
If you think professionals do not get nervous before starting new projects, you might need to watch the brilliant inspirational speech of Jake Weidmann here:
He believes “we can turn our fear into focus and put it to that work that we are procrastinating about, and leave our own legacy, in a world of instant gratification.”
At its root, procrastination is almost always based on some kind of fear. If the fears remain unabated, they will continue to act on us through different situations. But the result stays the same: They make us want to procrastinate.
That’s why the main recommendation here is for you to “define” your fears.
In the following TEDTalk, delivered by Tim Ferriss, what we most fear doing, asking, saying — are very often exactly what we need to do.
Written by and Published by: Shirin Kalantar
Edited by: Asal Ghamari
