Why Procrastination Persists (And the Power of Minimum Viable Action)

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*Part of an ongoing exploration into behaviour , habits, and the psychology behind sustainable fitness.*

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Procrastination is often misunderstood. Most advice on how to stop procrastination focuses on discipline, when the real problem is starting.

A little while ago I wrote an article on beating procrastination. Looking back, I realise I was a little naive to think I had conquered that demon. Procrastination has a funny way of disappearing just long enough for you to think you’ve outgrown it — only to quietly return the moment your routine breaks. The uncomfortable truth is this: procrastination doesn’t go away. It simply waits.

Why Procrastination Keeps Returning

Once I had made a helluva effort to get into the habit of doing something, a minor break resulted in me procrastinating to not doing that very same thing. Months and months of consistent effort got washed away and it became harder and harder for me to get myself to put in the effort. For example, writing this very article! I last wrote some 4 months back, and since the situation in my life altered; I easily got out of the habit of writing. Well, this keeps happening, doesn’t it? When you are in one situation, you are all gung-ho, take action and do something, then once the situation changes, you stop doing that thing and switch to doing something else. During this break, I realized that it is extremely easy to stop doing something that requires a consistent effort. In my book, Honey It’s Not About Six-Pack Abs I mention a ’21-day challenge’ tactic to get into the habit based on the age-old adage that – if you do something for 21 days consistently you will get into the habit. Whereas it may take ‘21 days’ to forge a habit but it only takes as little as a 4 days break to get out of a habit. Behaviour is fragile. Consistency is less about motivation and more about protecting small routines from disruption.

Passion Often Works in Reverse

What helped me re-evaluate this procrastination phase (if I might call it that) was asking myself the question – whatever is it that I desire, is that very thing essential to me? I ask you - is what you desire to do, that requires you to put a consistent effort, really close to your heart? People often try to explain this on the bases of passion i.e. if you are passionate about something you would do that or conversely if you don’t do something you aren’t passionate about it. We have been conditioned into thinking that this feeling of ‘passion’ is something that we are born with or have to be born with in order to put our heart and mind into something. I've increasingly started to believe that passion works in reverse. You take action, and if you feel good or satisfied post that action, then your passion level for that activity will go up and you will feel motivated to do it again. Moreover, if you take action and that action has resulted in an outcome you desire or brings you closer to what you desire, your passion level and motivation levels will go up. However, if you do something that makes you feel not-so-good later, you will either stop doing that altogether or delay putting in the effort i.e. you will come what may procrastinate.

The Idea of Minimum Viable Action

The real problem with procrastination is not effort. It is the starting friction. Greg McKeown in his book Effortless gives an interesting way out. He talks about taking the Minimum Viable Action at a particular moment. It’s an offshoot of the idea of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) mentioned by Eric Ries in his book The Lean Startup. The Silicon Valley and the start-up ecosystem swear by this idea of an MVP i.e. to create “that version of a new innovative product which allows an entrepreneur to collect the maximum amount of validated learning or feedback about the customers with the least possible development of the product” or in simplified terms to create the simplest version of that product. That’s exactly the way how procrastination should be dealt with.

See, procrastination is not bad the way it’s made out to be. Sometimes in order to put in an effort to do something that is essential for us, we must learn to procrastinate on procrastination only (Lol!) and take only the minimum viable action. Yes, it is hard or it may require will, desire, passion, discipline, and all the other verbs that people talk about in order to deal with procrastination, but at the very core, it doesn’t come down to any of these.

For example, the minimum viable action to go for a run may be to simply wear your running shoes. The minimum viable action to exercise may be to simply listen to your favorite motivational music. The minimum viable action to go to the gym simply may be to put on your gym attire. The minimum viable action to read a book that you have been procrastinating to read simply may be to keep that book on your side table. The minimum viable action to eliminate that back pain may be to simply do stretches for 5 min. The minimum viable action for living a healthy lifestyle may be to discard all the junk from the refrigerator. The minimum viable action to get active on Instagram may simply be to just post something. The minimum viable action for executing a large project may be to simply write the objective of the project. The minimum viable action to reconcile with someone may be to simply express.

Make Starting Easier Than Avoiding

Interestingly, this principle applies to fitness as well. Most people don’t fail because they lack discipline. They fail because the starting threshold feels too high — an hour-long workout, a strict diet, a complete lifestyle overhaul. But starting small — a short walk, a few push-ups, a ten-minute routine — often creates the momentum that sustains behaviour.

For me, the minimum viable action for writing this article was simply to sit down and write a few words. A few words turned into a few lines. And a few lines slowly turned into an article. The lesson is simple: procrastination rarely disappears because we suddenly become more disciplined. It disappears when we make starting easier than avoiding.  So, if you feel guilty about procrastinating on something you really really want to do, you don't have to garner the passion or the will or discipline to do it. Instead all you need to do is come up with the simplest and the easiest version of that action.

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If this perspective resonates, I explore these frameworks in greater depth in my book Honey It's Not About Six Pack Abs, where I unpack the behavioral architecture behind lasting and sustainable health transformation.

© Mayur Mathur

This essay is the original work and shall not be reproduced without permission.