{"id":113235,"date":"2023-09-19T10:39:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T14:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=113235"},"modified":"2023-09-22T14:47:31","modified_gmt":"2023-09-22T18:47:31","slug":"breaking-negative-thought-patterns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/breaking-negative-thought-patterns\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Break Negative Thought Patterns to Quit Procrastinating"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How do negative thoughts cause procrastination? How do you go about breaking negative thought patterns<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immediate Action<\/em> by Thibaut Meurisse says that to stop procrastination, you must recognize faulty patterns of thinking. These thoughts include: relying on motivation to act, accepting your feelings<\/a> as facts, and thinking your future self<\/a> will act for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s discuss each one as well as Meurisse’s advice for correcting each pattern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

We Think Motivation Enables Us to Act<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Breaking negative thought patterns<\/a> isn’t easy, but it’s possible if you recognize them. The first fundamental error in our thinking is that we assume that the level of motivation we feel determines whether we can apply ourselves to a task. But Meurisse writes that this is a misconception: We don\u2019t need to feel motivated to make meaningful progress toward our goals<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One way to counter this kind of thinking is to stop waiting for motivation<\/strong>. Meurisse writes that you need to cultivate the habit of sitting down and starting work, even if you don\u2019t feel like it. If you take that first step and start to make progress on your task, you\u2019ll start to feel more motivated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: None of us can feel motivated all the time. Many productivity experts agree with Meurisse\u2019s advice that you don\u2019t have to wait for motivation. Experts recommend several strategies for moving forward even when you don\u2019t feel like it<\/a>. One strategy is to pair a small reward<\/a> with the task\u2014like watching Netflix while you run on the treadmill or drinking your favorite tea while you work on a report. Another strategy is to take a few minutes to think or write about your values to understand how your work will help you put them into action. Or, you might turn to your social connections to boost your energy: Collaborating with your colleagues or even just asking their advice can increase your motivation<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We Accept Our Feelings as Facts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A similar illusion also tricks us into believing that there\u2019s truth in the emotions we feel about ourselves and our work<\/strong>. Meurisse explains that our misconceptions about motivation are an example of \u201cemotional reasoning,\u201d which traps us into thinking that just because we feel something, it must be true. The reality is that our feelings aren\u2019t necessarily the truth. For example, when it comes to procrastination, we think that because we feel scared of a task, it must be outside of our abilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can avoid the trap of emotional reasoning<\/a> by recognizing that your feelings are just feelings<\/strong>. Meurisse explains that when you feel the impulse to procrastinate<\/a> and then act on it, you accept that not feeling like doing something is a legitimate reason to put off doing it. The first step in breaking this pattern is to acknowledge that your feelings aren\u2019t necessarily true. You aren\u2019t obligated to believe them or act on them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Do We Mix Up Emotions With Truth? <\/strong>

The term \u201cemotional reasoning<\/a>\u201d describes a kind of thinking where we assume that an emotion must indicate something that\u2019s objectively true. (If you feel unintelligent or incompetent, for instance, then emotional reasoning would lead you to believe that you must really be one or both of those things.) When we fall into this irrational thought pattern, we don\u2019t really care about the facts. And typically, evidence won\u2019t change our minds. The phrase \u201cemotional reasoning\u201d was first used by Aaron Beck<\/a>, the psychiatrist who founded cognitive therapy. It captures what it\u2019s like for your emotional reaction to a situation to take over your thinking and therefore define your reality in that situation.

It\u2019s one thing to know that even if you\u2019re prone to emotional reasoning, your feelings aren\u2019t facts. But it\u2019s another to figure out how to handle strong emotions in the moment. Practicing a strategy taught in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy\u2014which combines cognitive behavior therapy and mindfulness<\/a> strategies\u2014might help. This form of therapy encourages participants to become more aware of their thoughts and feelings<\/a>\u2014and to recognize that those thoughts and feelings<\/a> aren\u2019t reality. For example, you can feel very strongly that a task is too hard for you. But if you recognize that it\u2019s just a feeling that will pass, rather than a statement of truth, you can stop treating it as an objective truth. Then, you\u2019ll realize you don\u2019t need to keep putting off the task. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We Think Our Future Self Will Handle Our Tasks for Us<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A third way in which our thoughts and feelings trap us is by making us believe that our \u201cfuture self\u201d will solve our problems<\/strong>. Meurisse writes that when we put off tasks, we often think that some future version of ourselves\u2014one who\u2019s better than we are at present\u2014will take care of the task for us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He recommends sidestepping this faulty logic by realizing that your future self doesn\u2019t exist<\/strong>. Meurisse points out that your future self isn\u2019t real\u2014at least not as an individual who has different capabilities than you do. If you aren\u2019t actively working toward improving yourself<\/a> today, then the version of yourself that you\u2019ll be tomorrow or next week won\u2019t be any different than the person you are today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who Is<\/em> Your Future Self, Anyway?<\/strong>

Even though we acknowledge that we\u2019ll still be the same person tomorrow, next week, or next month, we often can\u2019t resist leaving difficult tasks for our future selves. Experts say that procrastination is a great example of the present bias<\/a>, a term that describes how we tend to prioritize short-term rewards over longer-term ones. We\u2019re much more concerned about how we feel today than about how we\u2019ll feel in the future. So it follows that we care more about what we want to do today than what our future self will have to do tomorrow.

It doesn\u2019t help that even though we know<\/em> our present self and future self are the same, that\u2019s not how it feels<\/em>. Psychologist Hal Hershfield, author of Your Future Self<\/em><\/a>, explains that your brain thinks about your future self almost as if it were a stranger<\/a>, rather than a part of you. That means that when you procrastinate, a part of your brain really does feel that somebody else will deal with the task in the future. 

Typically, we\u2019re not nearly as empathetic or concerned<\/a> with our future selves as we are with the version of ourselves we are today. But psychologist Timothy Pychyl, author of Solving the Procrastination Puzzle<\/em><\/a>, explains that people who are more in touch with their future selves tend to be less likely to procrastinate. Pychyl writes that you can get more in touch with your future self by imagining your future self<\/a>\u2014and putting yourself in their shoes. He also suggests forgiving yourself<\/a> for procrastinating (and creating headaches for your future self) and then taking a small step to get started on the task you\u2019ve been putting off. This will make you feel better about the task. Then, you\u2019re likely to keep going\u2014and your future self will thank you. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How do negative thoughts cause procrastination? How do you go about breaking negative thought patterns? Immediate Action by Thibaut Meurisse says that to stop procrastination, you must recognize faulty patterns of thinking. These thoughts include: relying on motivation to act, accepting your feelings as facts, and thinking your future self will act for you. Let’s discuss each one as well as Meurisse’s advice for correcting each pattern.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":76007,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,9,43],"tags":[1266],"class_list":["post-113235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motivation","category-psychology","category-self-improvement","tag-immediate-action","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Break Negative Thought Patterns to Quit Procrastinating - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You're holding yourself back from getting work done. 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