I hate procrastination. And I don’t mean, like how I hate unbranded baked beans or cauliflower. I mean a serious level of proper hate. Procrastination is an absolute killer. It sucks meaning out of life and causes the most evolved species on earth to be satisfied with a ‘meh’ existence.
I, along with most other people, would love to ditch procrastination in favor of productivity, or a word I think has much more meaning, fruitfulness. Amazon alone has well over a thousand books devoted to beating procrastination but I’d much prefer to watch a Netflix show than devote the time required to reading one of those how-to guides.
Anyone who has read my other Homescreen Heroes will know how much I love it when an app helps improve my life. I’m a sucker for the advertising, for a well-designed app, and for the hope that they so often promise. I’ve been drawn in again, this time with the Ahead app, with the hope that this might finally be the time that I join those masters of performance and devotion that go by the name of the 5 o’clock club.
Homescreen heroes
This is part of a regular series of articles exploring the apps that we couldn’t live without. Read them all here.
The app does a lot more than just help you deal with procrastination. Other emotional intelligence journeys that make up the core of the app include learning how to resolve issues without losing your temper as well as finding out how to silence your inner critic and just be yourself around others. These are both great endeavors, but they’re not for me at this stage of my life. I’ve got a wife, kids, a job, and plenty of other responsibilities. I can’t do everything all at once!
With my procrastination journey chosen and a set of targeted questions answered, the app presented me with a range of techniques specifically tailored to beating procrastination. Each ‘journey’ is made up of different levels, with my chosen journey going from level 1 up to level 5. They tackle subjects like staying in the focus zone, working efficiently, and being kind to yourself. It’s not possible to move up a level until the previous level has been achieved so there’s no skipping ahead.
Each technique includes a range of information, questions, and activities designed to add understanding and challenge to those moments of weakness. My favorite technique was, by far, ‘Eat your frog’ which involves making our lives easier by structuring our days around hard tasks. The idea is that we can end up doing all the easier tasks and only get to the harder ones when we’ve run out of energy.
The idea of eating the frog comes from the French nobleman Nicholas Chamford, who said that for mental toughness, one should eat a toad first thing in the morning, as everything afterward becomes more pleasant in comparison. I’m not up for eating an actual toad but I can get on board with the sentiment.
As a result of the challenge, I have been making a concerted effort to tackle harder and more substantial tasks in the morning. This is the time that I have the most energy and drive and syncing it with those intensive tasks has resulted in a lot of positive work.
One of the great things about the app is that rather than being a taskmaster with a rod, it adopts the role of a guide who comes alongside you. It acknowledges that every journey needs a certain amount of wiggle room and customization for each person. For the Eat Your Frog technique, they say to “pay attention to your body’s rhythms. If you need a relaxed breakfast before starting work, go for it! But don’t leave that frog too long.” I like this level of empathy.
The app also has a section called ‘Learnings’ that is perfect for quickly identifying your signs of procrastination in the moments you’ve logged along the way. This is a learning journal that can be referenced at any time. I’ve only been working through the techniques so far but I can see myself referring back to this journal to help keep me moving toward my goals.
At times, I still struggle with procrastination but I’m definitely coming out of it thanks to this nifty little app. Unfortunately, it’s only available on iOS devices but if you’re on the lookout for an emotional coach to boost your chances of achieving your goals, then there’s nothing better than Ahead.
Download the Ahead app for free on iOS