I feel like I'm getting something done... but I'm not?

Contrary to popular belief, procrastination isn't an inability to schedule your time. Procrastination almost invariably relates to your current mental state. You'll happily seek out quick wins like wiping down the counters and delay dealing with bigger and harder obstacles.

Here's an excerpt from an article I wrote on procrastination:

With the understanding that procrastination is an affect related problem, the leading treatment for procrastination is a reduction in negative affect. In a recent study, researchers found that self-forgiveness for procrastination can reduce future instances of procrastination on similar tasks (in their case, studying for university midterms). The authors noted that self-forgiveness mediated negative affect and that the decrease in negative affect was responsible for a reduction in procrastination behaviour. Other strategies for reducing negative affect are things like meditation, using gratitude journals, or listening to certain genres of music.

Another salve for procrastination is to set implementation intentions. These are basically one of the holy grails of productivity and are able to help you with procrastination, getting rid of bad habits, creating new habits, goal achievement, and a myriad of other things. I’ll likely write a longer article about implementation intentions (and mental contrasting) in the future, but the basic premise is simple. Rather than just writing down your goals, create a plan for implementation. Set a behaviour that you want to do, and then pair it with a when, a where and a how. For example, at 10 pm every evening, I will set a timer for 20 minutes, go to my balcony and meditate for 20 minutes. The when is clear – 10pm. The how is reasonably well defined – set a 20-minute timer. The where is clear – my balcony. And the habit itself is clear – meditate.

People who use implementation intentions tend to be far better at holding themselves accountable for their actions. I would highly recommend giving it a try, and seeing if it works for you. If you want to dial it up to the next level in an easy way, tell someone your implementation intention. You’ll create some accountability and that extra bit of social pressure could help you to get it done.

/r/konmari Thread