Quick & Lasting Fixes for a Better New Year
Maybe you’ve been thinking, “Resolutions are a bad idea and a big waste.” But keep reading. What if you could ‘update’ yourself for 2023 and reduce the typical post-holiday procrastination? Want to make it a “blessed” new year? You’re about to learn how to do it.
The Research
Have you been a bit hesitant to start up your resolutions? Maybe you would be willing to reframe “resolutions” to “gaining committed habits.” The funny thing is that unless your change idea contributes to you feeling rewarded, is simple and easy to do, and has “locked-in” prompts, your chances for success are slim. That’s how your brain works. Either you set up a system to implement habitual change, or you don’t. Habits really can work for you (Robbins & Costa, 2017).
Doing less or doing it later (vs. doing more right now) is often an attractive brain decision. Conserve energy. Live another day. Resolutions fall by the wayside. But is that your identity? Are you a quitter?
Here we focus on the most common challenges you face when it comes to sticking to your new habit or resolution. Let’s pretend you made a common resolution to get more physically active in 2023.
First, let me say that there is an important distinction between delays and postponements that are sensible and rational (e.g., “I canceled my workout today because my kid’s health took a downturn, and we had to race to the hospital.”). But outside of a true emergency, personal, social, cultural, organizational, and contextual cues may facilitate procrastination (Svartdal, Dahl, Gamst-Klaussen, Koppenborg, & Klingsieck, 2020).
We could all come up with countless “reasons” to procrastinate. When we look at procrastination, let’s focus on the fewest things that matter the most. You already know what you have to do vs. want to do; that’s not the issue (Grunschel, Patrzek, Klingsieck & Fries, 2018). Here’s how to reduce potential obstacles or minor stumbles.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS
1. Obstacle: TIME – never enough of it. The reality is we all juggle our priorities daily. But your brain often wants you to play, take a nap, put your feet up, or relax with a beverage. After all, doing nothing helps you conserve energy for another day. With kids, career, friends, house, and other responsibilities, it seems there is never enough time in the day. Yes, you’ll want to re-train your brain. But how?
Potential Solution: Use an ‘Implementation’ intention. This is simply using a what, where, when, and why for specificity. (“I promise to work out at (time) in (location) on (days of the week) so that (benefit) (ex. I’ll feel healthier, avoid sickness, enjoy life more.”). Write your implementation intention out on a Post-It® and put it in an obvious place where you’ll see it every day. This simple prompt often works because it’s clear and specific. It helps you lock in on what matters so you can stick to your commitment.
2. Obstacle: TASK issues. Aversion, irrelevance, or uncertainty arise when you are unsure of “What’s in it for me?” You may hesitate to engage. Difficulty or struggle in doing the task may evoke negative feelings. Pause and ask yourself, “Why am I really doing this?” Reaffirm your “why” or stop doing the task.
Another possibility may be there is no reliable information for self-assessment (“If I can’t tell how I am doing, it is easy to quit.”). Those with the most procrastination difficulty are typically more ‘present-oriented’ without a long-term goal. Their mantra is, “Live in the now.” (Hunter, et al. 2018). But the future may haunt them.
Potential Solution: Re-check your priorities and consider putting this new habit near the top. You could create an immediate, nearly instant reward. Why? Procrastination is more likely to occur if the outcome of an activity offers rewards in the distant future (vs. right now). Every time you start and finish your resolution, give yourself a fist pump, affirmation (“Oh yeah!”), or maybe a quick treat (a small piece of chocolate). We may not want to admit it, but rewards can work. Here’s the cool part, once the habit’s in place, you can reward just sporadically.
3. Obstacle: MISTAKES or forgetting. You may forget to do the new habit, or you do it ineffectively. Sometimes the mistake is caused by too much stress; it’s all just one more decision to make. Sometimes after a short break, your head clears. Your renewed mental state allows you to regroup and reassess. Successful ‘changers’ know when to pause, breathe, and rethink their priorities.
Potential Solution: Use a personal ‘rule.’ Maybe you tell yourself, “I will give myself one day off per week. Then I get right back at my habits. That’s who I am.” Or, you say, “My rule is that if I make a promise to do something I will do it (or renegotiate to do it later). I never quit.” Then, give yourself a quick temporary reward. If it’s not yet a habit, you must remember the cue. After all, the issue may be that you simply FORGOT that you intended to do something (Zuber, et al. 2021). Forgetting accounts for three-quarters of all procrastinations (Steel, Svartdal, Thundiyil & Brothen, 2018).
4. Obstacle: STUCK for lack of clarity. You may not know how to influence your external environment, social forces, or wandering brain. As a result, you end up ‘defaulting’ to the environment, what others are doing, or simply relaxing. Do what you can do now, do the rest later. One study found that when both “superordinate” (goals and intentions) and “subordinate” goals (micro brief actions and habits) were used, subjects were far more successful in new habit formation (Höchli, Brügger & Messner, 2020).
Potential Solution: Use social help. Ask a friend or colleague either in-person or online to help you get back on track. Those who ask for help will move their lives forward. If you’re stuck, you lose ground. Remember the big, gutsy goal, and then do one small, micro thing which you can get done in 3 minutes or less.
5. Obstacle: OVER-PLANNING. Maybe you plan too much. You overcomplicate the desired change process. You may plan too far into the future or too broadly; both are areas highly subject to speculation and error.
Potential Solution: Reconnect with your why and add urgency. Make a personal rule. Successful ‘changers’ create a strong WHY, add the skeleton structure, and then get started. Everything else gets added over time. Just. Get. Going. If you find yourself procrastinating more than you’d like, it’s usually happening in between the intention and the planned action. In short, the intention is rarely the problem. Build the steps; create behavioral cues, erase obstacles, and embrace automaticity to make it a habit.
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