10. 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! Follow along: Instagram: www.instagram.com/lifeincapslock  TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@lifeincapslock  YouTube: www.youtube.com/@lifeincapslock  Threads: www.threads.net/@lifeincapslock  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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices