Page 175 - End Procrastination Now Get it Done with a Proven Psychological Approach

Powerful Behavioral Techniques to Curb Procrastination 139

• Premack’s (1965) principle. Here’s the idea. If you follow
something that you normally prefer not to do with a preferred
behavioral activity, you are reinforcing the less preferred be-
havior with the preferred behavior. For example, follow each
1
/ 2-hour learning segment with something that you’d nor-
mally like to do. You may like viewing a five-minute Internet
video segment updating you on your favorite sports team.
You may prefer to stretch and run in place for five minutes,
throw a ball for your pet, catch up on the news, or call a
friend—anything you normally do that can reward a pressing
and important learning process that you’d normally put off.
• Intrinsic rewards. You can give yourself your own intrinsic
reward by verbally commenting “well done” for your learn-
ing and performance improvements.
• Contingency contracts. You write out a contract with yourself
in which you give yourself a desired reward, such as treating
yourself to a great meal at your favorite restaurant, for
completing short-term objectives that are part of a longer-
term goal. You penalize yourself for procrastinating by, say,
writing a letter of praise to a politician you dislike or denying
yourself your weekly night out at your favorite restaurant.
You can benefit by finishing what you start, and that can be
rewarding. You can gain a reward by avoiding a penalty
(negative reinforcement). You gain the reward that you set
for each phase of completion. However, the problem with
contingency contracts lies in the enforcement of the penalty
if you procrastinate on executing the contract.

Procrastination Exposure Training

Exposure training is the gold standard for overcoming fear. Pro-
crastination impulses may track in parallel with brain anxiety and
fear networks. This has yet to be assessed. Nevertheless, there is
a psychological parallel between procrastination and anxiety and