How to Stop Procrastinating and Increase Productivity

In this episode, Sam explores why we procrastinate, as well as strategies for being productive at work, even when it feels impossible. She draws from science-backed research and personal experience to develop creative, accessible, and actionable techniques for increasing your productivity and output.

Listen to this episode if you're feeling stuck or unmotivated, if you can't seem to stop procrastinating on important tasks, or if you're struggling to cross tasks off your to-do list.

Key moments:

02:42 Do you feel guilty when you procrastinate?

03:48 Sam says it’ll be a quick episode and then proceeds to talk for 49 minutes

04:15 The science behind why we procrastinate

04:29 The role of your limbic system

05:21 The role of your amygdala

06:22 Temporal discounting (so real and so interesting)

07:33 The role of your prefrontal cortex

09:05 The reasons we procrastinate

09:29 Listen here if you need a boost of good luck lol

09:54 Lack of motivation? Try these hacks

10:16 Body doubling (most fun tip IMO)

14:01 The bribe/threat method

14:55 Overwhelmed? Too much to do? Here’s how to overcome that

15:11 Amazing tip for nailing a job interview

15:52 Wisdom from my mom that changed my life

16:22 Step-by-step process for being productive when you’re overwhelmed

17:10 This is the best motivation I’ve ever heard dead serious

18:06 The best planner/agenda on earth (linked below)

18:39 How to mobilize yourself to start working

18:50 Friction auditing (identifying friction in your workflow)

19:06 How to remove the friction from your workday

19:41 The unexpected power of journaling (from someone who thinks journaling is cringe)

23:10 When the task feels daunting or intimidating

23:30 The most important thing when the task feels intimidating

25:48 The task never takes as long as you think it will

26:58 Hacks for getting you to start in the first place

27:10 The 5-minute rule (not 5-second) ((Mel Robbins approved))

28:25 The Pomodoro Method (Sam’s version)

28:46 Break snacks!!! (Not food-related lol)

31:58 We are so back—fear of failure vs. judgment

32:34 How to get over fear of judgment

32:38 Who should we be taking feedback from?

33:49 Who we should NOT take feedback from

36:05 Sam goes on a rare Bravo rant

39:02 Perfectionism, self-doubt, and procrastination

41:24 The power of the mini deadline

43:54 Procrastination and ADD or ADHD

44:04 ADD and ADHD brains are literally structured differently

45:34 ADD or ADHD paralysis

45:55 Symptoms of ADHD paralysis

46:06 Time blindness (SOOO real)

47:30 Reinforcement of avoidant behaviors

50:16 Upcoming CAPS LOCK episode topics (new!)

Thanks for listening! New episodes are released every Sunday at 8 AM EST, so if you liked this episode, subscribe or follow to get notified about the next one. And please leave me a rating or review, so I can continue to improve the show. Talk soon!

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Sam's "break snack"/manic episode playlist: https://rb.gy/giw7lc

Intelligent Change Productivity Planner: https://bit.ly/42AB3Cp

Resources for this episode can be found here.

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