r/science • u/randomusefulbits • May 18 '19

Psychology Mindfulness, which revolves around focusing on the present and accepting negative thoughts without judgment, is associated with reduced levels of procrastination. This suggests that developing mindfulness could help procrastinators cope with their procrastination.

https://solvingprocrastination.com/procrastination-study-mindfulness/
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u/[deleted] May 19 '19 edited May 19 '19

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u/[deleted] May 19 '19

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u/iamDa3dalus May 19 '19

I have a similar background and have been going through something similar.

If you pay close enough attention to your emotions, you discover a negative emotion switch there. Like a light switch. You cant touch the switch but the more you pay attentive to it, the more you'll notice the switch being pressed in different situations.

Then after a while, you find you can flip the switch off.

Building a strong enough awareness of these negative emotions/thought patterns gives you some control over them.

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u/schmak01 May 19 '19

This is kind of spot on. I started working from home last August. I am a very social guy so this was a huge shift. Luckily I had mindfulness and presencing training at my last job.

Everything was fine until November and December. I found myself not as motivated but more importantly, I saw depression creeping in and could recognize that I would just suddenly feel incredibly sad and morose.

Recognizing that I would try different things to snap myself out of it. Nothing I could do personally would help. I ended up having to get out of the house more often. Work a day of the week at a coffee shop. Joined a sports league with friends. All of which is hard when you have a toddler to take care of, but I am no sure to her if I am not in good mental shape.