Stage 3 · Lesson 6 of 7
Make hard tasks a little less unpleasant
If procrastination is about escaping bad feelings, then making a task feel better helps you start. Behavioural scientist Katherine Milkman studied temptation bundling: allowing yourself something you enjoy only while doing something you avoid, like listening to a favourite podcast only while doing chores or going to the gym.
For study, you might allow your favourite chai, a nice café or a playlist only for revision sessions. Small rewards after finishing also help, as long as they do not eat the rest of your evening. You can also make tasks more interesting: turn reading into a quiz for yourself or race a friend through practice questions.
Common trapbelieving hard work must feel miserable to count, and refusing to make it easier on yourself.
A question to check yourself and an AI practice session come when you add the roadmap to your account. Add it
Resources for this stage
Start with
- CourseFreeLearning How to Learn (Coursera)
Deep Teaching Solutions on Coursera · Beginner
Barbara Oakley explains procrastination and the Pomodoro Technique, free to audit
Practise
Also worth your time
Struggling right now? If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, contact local emergency services or a crisis line: Find a helpline (any country), Umang (Pakistan), Tele-MANAS, 14416 (India).