Why You Procrastinate and How to Stop It | 1-Minute Psychology

Discover the real psychological reasons behind procrastination and get 3 simple, actionable mind hacks to finally beat it.

Hey there, fellow brain-owners! Dr. Sam Rivers here, and I’m coming to you today with a confession.

I’m a procrastinator. A world-class, gold-medal-winning procrastinator. Right before I started writing this newsletter for you, I found myself suddenly “needing” to organize my spice rack by alphabetical order. Seriously. It was a masterpiece of organizational failure.

I’m telling you this because I want to talk about something that plagues nearly every single one of us: procrastination. We’ve all been there—that thing you need to do, the one that sits on your to-do list, staring back at you like a judgment-filled owl. We tell ourselves we’ll do it later, only to find ourselves deep in a YouTube rabbit hole of videos about baby goats. [relatable sigh]

I was blown away when I discovered that procrastination isn’t really about being lazy. It’s about our emotions. It’s an emotional coping mechanism. Yep, you heard that right. We procrastinate to avoid negative feelings associated with a task—like anxiety, boredom, or self-doubt.

Think about that for a second. We’re not lazy; we’re just… emotionally overwhelmed. So what do we do? We seek a temporary emotional reprieve by doing something else. Anything else.

The Psychology They Don’t Teach in School

Let’s dive into the fascinating truth. The human brain is hardwired for immediate rewards. The limbic system, our ancient emotional center, is all about now. The prefrontal cortex, the part that handles planning and logic, is the adult in the room. When we’re faced with a tough task, the limbic system screams, “Danger! Avoid this and feel good now!” while the prefrontal cortex weakly whispers, “You know this needs to get done.”

Guess who usually wins? The loud, ancient brain.

This is what psychologists call a “temporal discounting” error. We literally undervalue future rewards (the relief of finishing the project, the good grade, the clean house) in favor of instant, tiny bursts of dopamine from things like scrolling through Instagram. It’s a battle between your future self and your present self, and your present self is a total hedonist.

“Procrastination isn’t about being lazy; it’s a battle between your present emotional comfort and your future success.”

Mind Hack Any Day

So, how do we get our prefrontal cortex to win a few rounds? Here’s a mind hack that a 2017 study from the University of Cologne called “temptation bundling.” It’s so brilliant it makes me want to high-five the researchers.

The idea is simple: You bundle a task you dread with a task you love.

• Hate doing laundry? Only let yourself listen to your favorite podcast while you’re folding clothes.
• Don’t want to hit the gym? Tell yourself you can only watch that guilty-pleasure reality show while you’re on the elliptical.
• Dreading that email inbox? Promise yourself you’ll only do it while sipping on your favorite fancy coffee.

By linking the dreaded task to an immediate reward, you’re essentially tricking your limbic system. It stops seeing the task as a threat and starts seeing it as a gateway to something pleasurable. It’s a psychological jujitsu move.

💡 TIP: Don’t just think about it, write it down! “I will listen to my favorite true-crime podcast while I clean the bathroom.” It makes it an official rule.

Behavior Breakdown: The “5-Minute Rule”

What if the task is too big for temptation bundling to work? That’s when we turn to the 5-Minute Rule. This one is my personal favorite, and it has rescued me from many a spice-rack-organizing session.

The concept is simple: tell yourself you will only work on the task for five minutes. That’s it. Just five minutes.

The psychological genius of this is that it completely lowers the barrier to entry. The massive, intimidating task that filled you with dread is now just a tiny, manageable blip on your radar.

Here’s the thing: once you start, you’ve already won half the battle. Momentum is a real force. More often than not, once those five minutes are up, you’ll realize you’ve already built up a little steam and you’ll keep going. If not, guess what? You did five minutes of a task you were avoiding completely, and that’s a win. You can stop and try again later.

[throws down friendly gauntlet] I bet you won’t try this tomorrow.

“Small actions create big momentum. The first step is the hardest, but it’s also the most powerful.”

Your Turn: A Playful Challenge

Here’s a little experiment for you. I call it the “Accountability Buddy” challenge.

Find a friend, partner, or colleague who also struggles with procrastination. For the next week, each morning, send them one task you are dreading. At the end of the day, text them a quick update on whether you did it. No judgment, just a simple “done!” or “not today.”

A 2015 study in the Journal of Consumer Research found that making a public commitment to a goal—even a small one—significantly increases the likelihood of you following through. Why? Because we hate the idea of looking bad in front of others. It’s social pressure, but in a good way.

[pauses to imagine you all doing this and smiling]

I hope this gives you a little grace with yourself. You’re not lazy. You’re human. Your brain is just trying to protect you from discomfort, but with a little psychological know-how, you can teach it that the greatest comfort of all is the sweet relief of a task completed.

Until next time, may your to-do list be short and your brain hacks be strong.

— Dr. Sam Rivers

P.S. I’m currently temptation-bundling my taxes with a whole season of “The Office.” Wish me luck.