How to gather evidence to challenge beliefs which drive procrastination

In my last article, I discussed how you can address procrastination by changing the beliefs which lead you to procrastinate. I indicated that this entailed identifying the beliefs driving each of four types of procrastination and changing these to beliefs which help each type to overcome procrastination. The four types, as described in A teen’s guide to getting stuff done by Jennifer Shannon, were referred to as the perfectionist, the warrior, the pleaser and the rebel.

As I concluded in my last article, changing beliefs entails gathering evidence which challenges the beliefs driving each type of procrastination when these beliefs are activated. Gathering evidence to challenge beliefs which drive procrastination entails a set of steps. I will focus on this topic in the following sections.

How to gather evidence to challenge beliefs which drive procrastination

Gathering evidence to challenge beliefs which drive procrastination is done by conducting behavioural experiments. This entails behaving in a manner which allows you to test those beliefs.

To test beliefs which drive procrastination, behavioural experiments entail acting opposite to one’s default behaviour of procrastination. By performing a task or activity, you can gather evidence to determine whether the beliefs which drive your type of procrastination are valid.

Behavioural experiments to test the beliefs driving each of the four types of procrastination would occur as follows:

(1) When the perfectionist acts rather than procrastinates, they gather evidence to test the belief ‘I must not make mistakes’.

(2) When the warrior acts rather than procrastinates, they gather evidence to test the belief ‘I must feel motivated’ to act.

(3) When the pleaser acts rather than procrastinates, they gather evidence to test the belief ‘I must not displease others’.

(4) When the rebel acts rather than procrastinates, they gather evidence to test the belief ‘I must not give in to others’.

How the evidence gathered challenges beliefs which drive procrastination

Conducting these behavioural experiments typically results in gathering evidence to challenge the beliefs which drive procrastination as follows:

(1) The perfectionist gathers evidence demonstrating that they benefit from making mistakes as a fundamental way to improve on a task or activity. This facilitates replacing their belief that “I must not make mistakes’ with ‘I am willing to make mistakes’.

(2) The warrior gathers evidence demonstrating that they can act when their motivation is low. This facilitates replacing their belief, “I must feel motivated’ with ‘I don’t need to feel motivated’.

(3) The pleaser gathers evidence demonstrating that their fears of displeasing others by focusing on their own important tasks and activities does not typically jeopardize their relationships. In fact, the respect they gain for themselves and from others usually improves their relationships. This facilitates replacing their belief ‘I must not displease others’ with ‘I am willing to displease others’.

(4) The rebel gathers evidence demonstrating that cooperating with others to perform assigned tasks, even ones they may not enjoy, brings them benefits. This facilitates replacing their belief ‘I must not give into others’ with ‘I am willing to cooperate with others’.

Challenges which occur when conducting experiments to gather evidence

There are several challenges which often occur when conducting experiments to gather evidence challenging beliefs which drive procrastination. Among the challenges are managing difficult emotions and dealing with distractions. I will discuss how to overcome these challenges in my next article.

May you gather evidence to challenge beliefs which drive your procrastination,

-Dr. Pat