Well in context it's slightly better, there are in fact two strategies they suggest:
- Forgive yourself for procrastinating b/c procrastination is linked to negative feelings
- recognize you don't have to be in a good mood to do a certain task, just ignore how you feel and get started
But I agree that is not very useful. However I think the answer lies in a section earlier in the article:
"Pychyl discusses the idea of the "monkey mind" — that our thoughts are constantly darting all over the place, preventing us from concentrating. And psychologists agree that the problem with procrastinators is that they are tempted to give in to instant gratification, which brings people the kind of instant relief psychologists call "hedonic pleasure," rather than staying focused on the long-term goal."
This is important! There are concrete methods that have been proven to rewire your brain to lengthen your focus and concentration. One is long distance running. The other is mindful meditation. If you suffer from procrastination, try them, it will make a difference in your ability to concentrate, and thereby allow you to make better long-term decisions.
While I haven't tried long-distance running, I've been meditating for the past 25+ years and I'm probably just as procrastinating now as then – if not more.
Just curious but are you able to maintain focus during the meditation period? Has your focus increased with time?
Not being condescending (intentionally at least) but I also meditate and some weeks it feels like I make no progress whatsoever with my mind all over the place and others a little bit of effort to still the mind before the meditation seems to really help in improving my meditations as a whole. More the former than the latter though, but I could easily see myself falling into a habit of meditating for years by rote without progressing or improving my focus.
Obviously meditation is not a static thing – some days I'm able to maintain focus, other days I'm not. My longest meditation in one sitting was more than 8 hours, but I aim at 2 × 30 minutes a day (or 45 minutes in a single sitting if I'm unable to do 2 sittings for some reason).
My general equanimity has definitely increased throughout the years, but I can't say meditation has decreased my procrastination (it has increased my general acceptance of procrastination, though).
>Instead of focusing on feelings, we have to think about what the next action is, Pychyl says. He counsels people to break down their tasks into very small steps that can actually be accomplished. So if it’s something like writing a letter of reference, the first step is just opening the letterhead and writing the date.
