Alastair Wallace explains procrastination as your brain protecting you from pain, then teaches a 5-4-3-2-1 countdown that shifts you from overthinking to action. The technique, backed by Tony Robbins and Daniel Kahneman's research, bypasses excuses by switching your brain into instinctive mode.
Are you a procrastinator? Come on, you can tell me. Why do it now when you can put it off till later, eh? Particularly those ugly, big, difficult tasks. Procrastination's your brain's way of trying to shield you from the perceived pain of doing something unpleasant. But the result of delaying it often creates pain, anxiety, stress, and even bigger problems. So what's the answer, Wallace? I got loads of hacks for this because I've been very guilty of procrastination in the past, and a bit now still. I'll tell you in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. What? That's the hack. An out-loud countdown and then just get started. I know, I know, it sounds weird, but there's a very good scientific reason why it works. It's been popularised by entrepreneurs and communications experts like Tony and Mel Robbins, Daniel Kahneman in his book Thinking Fast and Slow. The physical act of counting down from 5 to 1 out loud engages the fast-thinking prefrontal cortex at the front of your brain. Which galvanises those immediate, instinctive System 1 actions, like if you were to save a child from drowning. When we use our rational, slower System 2 thinking style to ponder a task, we tend to overanalyse and we find excuses not to do something. Hello, procrastination! So, what are you waiting for? Get started in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go!
