2 Harvard scientists reveal why we procrastinate (and how to avoid it)
The 5 keys to stop procrastinating
🏷️ Categories: Behavior, Procrastination, Habits.
Two Harvard professors, Todd Rogers and Max Bazerman, set out to understand a simple yet profound question: why do we procrastinate?
Why do we avoid doing things even when we know they would benefit us?
They designed an experiment around a familiar scenario: saving money. They asked a hundred people if they believed they should be saving more. 79% admitted they should. 8 out of 10 people said they should be saving more.
Then, they were asked if they’d be willing to enroll in a plan that automatically deposited 2% of their salary into a savings account.
77% agreed… when the plan started a year later.
But when the same plan started “as soon as possible,” only 30% agreed.
Same plan. Same benefits. The only difference was the timing.
This small adjustment revealed something big: we don’t make rational decisions for our future. Similar studies have been done with good habits like exercising. We procrastinate even when we know it hurts us.
Let’s see why this happens and what we can do to stop putting things off and start moving forward…
Your Present vs. Your Future
Procrastination is a behavioral issue.
Today, you want to watch Netflix. Eat ice cream. Spend that extra money.
Tomorrow, you want to have written a book. Be fit. Have savings.
The conflict arises because “today you” and “future you” are not aligned. This lack of consistency over time is due to overvaluing the present compared to the future. The present is concrete and easy to imagine, while the future is abstract and harder to visualize. That’s why we overvalue the present and its rewards.
It’s a battle between instant gratification (today) and long-term benefit (future).
Even if future benefits are greater, we prefer present ones simply because we can picture them more clearly. That’s what the marshmallow experiment is all about.
When you think about the future, you’re reasonable:
“Sure, I want to save more.”
“Obviously I should go to the gym.”
“Yes, I need to write every day.”
But when it’s time to act, something changes. Immediate pleasure outweighs future gain. Today, you don’t feel like it. Today, you’re tired. Today, it’s just a no. That weakness of will is what the Greek philosophers called akrasia.
It’s the eternal battle: your present self stealing opportunities from your future self.
So… how do we resolve this conflict?
If you want to stop procrastinating, you need to make your “present self” care more about what happens to your “future self.” You need to stop underestimating the enormous potential of the future.
And here are 5 ways to do that:
1. Make future benefits feel present
If you’re saving money, visualize how it will feel to buy that plane ticket for your dream trip, have your emergency fund, sleep peacefully without debt.
If you’re going to the gym, look in the mirror and celebrate consistency more than physical results. Give yourself a treat every month you go without skipping a day.
If you’re writing, reward yourself every day you hit your writing goal: a special coffee, a walk, an afternoon off.
The key is to bring distant benefits closer in time.
2. Make the costs of procrastination feel present
When we procrastinate, there’s usually no immediate punishment—and that’s the worst part.
With no present consequences and underestimating future ones because they’re hard to visualize, we fall into the trap of marginal cost and procrastinate over and over—until the consequences suddenly hit and they really hurt.
Get out of that trap. Make procrastination hurt today, not tomorrow.
Want to work out? Pay six months of gym fees upfront and schedule workouts with a friend. If you skip, you lose health, money, and your reputation.
Want to write daily? Publicly promise to publish your next piece by next Monday without fail. If you miss it, the failure will be public.
Want to save money? Give your best friend €50 and say, “Don’t give it back until I’ve saved X euros this month.”
Just like we used to study only when exams were near, you need to create those “exams” in your daily routine. You need to build an environment that forces you to act.
3. Remove procrastination triggers
Your environment has a huge influence on your behavior. Create a favorable one.
If the TV is on, you’ll watch “just one more episode.”
If your phone is on your desk, you’ll check it.
If there are snacks in the pantry, you’ll eat them.
The solution isn’t resistance—it’s redesigning your environment so you don’t need to resist.
To stop wasting time on social media, uninstall the apps you lose time on and leave your phone in another room when you need to focus. One less temptation to fight.
If you want to eat healthy, make your grocery list at home with only healthy items, and don’t buy anything not on the list. Junk food is often an impulse triggered by seeing it, not a planned choice. Think those sweets are by the checkout line by accident? No—they’re placed to exploit your impulses.
Do the same with your workouts. Your finances. Whatever you’ve been putting off.
Change your environment so procrastinating on your goals becomes much harder.
4. Practice indirect procrastination
There are days when you simply can’t. And that’s okay. But there’s a way to procrastinate without wasting the day entirely. Practice indirect procrastination.
When you don’t have the energy to do what you should do, do something that requires less energy or commitment but still helps you move forward. What you can’t afford is to go backward.
Can’t write today? Reread your previous work and edit. Read and get inspired.
Can’t go to the gym? Take a walk, do some exercise at home.
Can’t save this month? Review your finances and see what can be improved.
If you love what you do, there will always be something you can do, even on tough days.
5. Build the habit
And now, the key: repetition.
Procrastination decreases when action becomes habit. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld knew this well. Every day he wrote a joke, he’d mark an X on his calendar. Over time, he built a chain of Xs.
His only rule: don’t break the chain.
This method works because it gives you a visual reason to keep going. It rewards you instantly because seeing your progress generates motivation. It helps you value your daily effort more than the fleeting gratification of skipping the habit.
Do the same.
Put a calendar where you can see it. Make it so simple you can’t fail. Don’t start by writing a thousand words. Write a hundred. But do it every day.
Once the habit is solid, procrastination becomes harder and harder.
Your Two Daily Choices
Each new day brings two options:
Do what feels good today.
Do what will benefit you tomorrow.
And though it may seem insignificant, these small decisions shape your life.
What you eat today.
What you save today.
What you write today.
You don’t have to change your life overnight. You just have to win today with these tiny decisions. Then repeat. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Let time pass, let the future become the present, and let the big results come.
We are not what we say we’ll do someday.
We are what we do every day.
✍️ Your turn: What strategies do you use to avoid procrastination?
💭 Quote of the day: "Freedom doesn't begin with doing what you want, but with doing what you must." — Elisabeth Elliot
See you soon! 👋
References 📚
Rogers, T., & Bazerman, M. H. (2008). Future lock-in: Future implementation increases selection of ‘should’ choices. Organizational Behavior And Human Decision Processes, 106(1), 1-20. URL
Excellent. But I should be writing not reading!🤣