We kick this episode off with a very real-life moment: Janine opened the refrigerator right before recording and realized it was past time for the dreaded clean-out… again. (You know the one—mystery containers, missing storage bowls, and the hope that nothing has started to smell.)

That prompts a conversation about procrastination—why we do it, what’s actually happening underneath it, and how we can move through it with more compassion and way less drama.

We also share one universal strategy that helps no matter what: figure out what feels bad about the task… and then counteract that.

00:54 The refrigerator clean-out avoidance (and why we wait until it smells). “You wait until the pain of opening the refrigerator is greater than the perceived pain of cleaning it out.”

02:07 To clarify: we’re not “above” procrastination—we’ve procrastinated in every possible way

03:12 Janine’s procrastination trigger: fear of something being unpleasant (phone calls, hold music, hoops)

06:39 The core strategy: identify the bad feeling and counteract it

07:50 The 4 productivity blocks that lead to procrastination: enjoyment, reward, distractibility, confidence

08:33 Why you tend to procrastinate for the same reason most of the time (but it can vary)

16:09 Shannon’s procrastination tends to be distractibility + lack of confidence. She shares her late adulthood ADHD diagnosis and how it changed things for her

17:45 Bottom line: you procrastinate to avoid feeling bad—and choose to do something that feels better instead

1. Why we wait until a task becomes unbearable (hello, refrigerator)
2. How procrastination is often our brain trying to dodge an unpleasant feeling (not laziness)
3. The four productivity blocks that lead to procrastination: Enjoyment, Reward, Distractibility, Confidence
4. Why we tend to procrastinate for the same reason most of the time (even though tasks can vary)
5. Why celebrating small wins can build momentum
6. How ADHD and distractibility can show up as trying to “set the scene perfectly” before starting

There is a formula to productivity and procrastination. In this episode we talk about the four “productivity blocks” that tend to contribute to procrastination:

1. Enjoyment: You expect the task to be unpleasant (or boring), so you avoid it.
2. Reward: There’s not enough payoff to get you started.
3. Distractibility: Your attention keeps getting pulled to other tasks, thoughts, or inputs.
4. Confidence: You’re not sure how to do the task, or you don’t feel confident you can do it well.

While there are specific strategies for each block (take the quiz at shannonwilkinson.com to learn them), there's a big universal move: identify the bad feeling you’re avoiding—and counteract it (even just enough to start).