All language subtitles for 15. Tip from Angela - How to Deal with Procrastination

Hey.
1

Well done for completing yet another module. These modules are getting longer and longer and more and more
2

hard, and harder and harder.
3

So by getting here you've really shown what you're made of.
4

Not everybody makes it this far.
5

Now, while you're here, I want to share with you something that I've noticed about how I procrastinate.
6

I'm sure everybody procrastinates,
7

but one of the things that really struck me is, when I used to have to revise or study for med school,
8

one of the things I always did is, before I sat down to actually do the work, I wanted to prepare the
9

scene, I wanted to tidy my desk,
10

I wanted to sharpen my pencils, to make myself a cup of tea, maybe have like a little snack ready. And
11

what I realized is that I was just basically delaying like the actual work.
12

And it was just another form of procrastination.
13

And once I realized that, it also made me think that, you know, by doing all of these little things, like
14

feeding into your perfectionism or your OCD or getting yourself a snack beforehand or just like all
15

of this prep before doing the actual work, it was always like I was rewarding myself for procrastinating
16

and procrastination.
17

There's a lot of studies have been done on it and it shows like it's almost like addiction.
18

It's a.
19

It works so similarly in the human brain to an addiction, in the sense that like, you know, the more you
20

feed it the stronger it gets, the more dependent you become on procrastinating.
21

So one of the best ways is to just not feed it.
22

Imagine it as this sort of monster that you have to really break away from.
23

So ever since I realized that, what I did, instead of sort of doing all of these little things beforehand,
24

is I just got started.
25

And once I was done, once I did the work that I wanted to do, be it revising for an hour or studying something
26

for an hour,
27

it’s at that point that I reward myself, that I get myself a snack or I find something
28

fun to do for like five minutes.
29

And this really helped me like beat procrastination. And one of the ways that you can try is something
30

called the Pomodoro Technique.
31

So you set the timer for twenty five minutes.
32

You do the tasks that you're meant to do and then after that time when the timer rings you have a five
33

minute break.
34

And in that five minutes you can do whatever it is you want,
35

right, like you can, you know, like go for a walk, go for a snack, look outside the window, go on like your
36

computer, search for something.
37

And the point is that you're delaying all of these fiddly things or all of these little itty bitty things
38

for that five minutes.
39

So while you're working you're fully focused on working and while you're having a break you're fully
40

focused on having a really relaxing break.
41

So have a go of that.
42

If you've never tried the Pomodoro Technique, it's pretty pretty big for me anyways.
43

And I'm really curious how it works out for you.
44

So either let me know in the Q & As, or let me know on Twitter, @yu_angela, how it's
45

going for you and what are some of your tricks as well.
46

I'm curious to know.
47

So keep going in the course and I will be silently cheering for you here.