How to Stop Procrastinating, Solved

SOLVED with Mark Manson

Mark Manson

Self-improvement, Education

4.9 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 1 June 2025

⏱️ 281 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

From Plato and Aristotle to Freud and modern research, we break down why we delay the things that matter most—and how to actually stop. This isn't a “just set a timer” productivity talk. We’re diving deep into shame, identity, perfectionism, culture, and why procrastination is ultimately a *skill issue*, not a moral failure. We cover things like: How humans have thought about putting things off for over 2000 years, the real reason you avoid the most important tasks in your life, why “I work better under pressure” is (usually) BS, why self-compassion is actually more motivating than guilt, tons of practical, research-backed strategies you can start using todayAnd much, much, much more. We also put together a free companion guide with all the takeaways, references, and tools to help you get your sh*t together once and for all. Download it here : https://solvedpodcast.com/procrastination Sign up for my newsletter, Your Next Breakthrough. It will help make you a less awful person: ⁠⁠https://markmanson.net/breakthrough⁠⁠ Get clarity on what actually matters. Try Purpose, Mark's AI mentor app that learns your patterns, challenges your blind spots, and helps you take action. Get 7 days free at purpose.app/solved⁠ Chapters 08:20 CHAPTER 1: What exactly is procrastination? 1:04:25 CHAPTER 2:Freud's Influence on Psychology 1:59:20 CHAPTER 3: Time Management 2:34:22 CHAPTER 4: Importance of Task Completion 2:59:22 CHAPTER 5: The Role of Technology in Procrastination 3:28:09 CHAPTER 6: Introduction to the RAIN Method 3:40:21 CHAPTER 7: The 80-20 of Procrastination Follow Mark Mark’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/markmanson Solved IG: https://www.instagram.com/solvedpodcast/ Twitter: https://x.com/markmanson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmanson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@IAmMarkManson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Solved, the Self-Help podcast for smart people. My name is Mark Manson, three-time
0:06.0	New York Times best-selling author, and this is my co-host and longtime lead researcher Drew
0:11.6	Bernie. Now, Drew and I have been in the personal growth and mental health space for a combined
0:16.5	30 years now, and we've had enough. We've had enough of the bullshit, empty promises, and
0:21.8	fake solutions. Every episode of Solved, our goal is to create the most comprehensive,
0:27.3	evidence-based value-delivering podcast on earth on that specific topic. And today's topic
0:33.7	is procrastination. Now, the catch of Sol solved is that whatever topic we cover, our goal is
0:39.6	that it is the last time you will ever feel a need to listen to a podcast on that topic. And this is
0:44.8	the last time we can make an episode covering this topic. Therefore, our promise to you is that
0:50.4	if you make the commitment to get through the entire episode and implement the advice,
0:54.8	your procrastination will be solved.
1:04.4	Drew, I have two things to say before we get started.
1:07.4	Okay.
1:07.9	Before we solve procrastination for the entire world.
1:14.2	You're welcome, everybody.
1:16.2	First thing is, so listeners don't know this, but this is the second episode that's going
1:21.4	out of this podcast, but this is actually the first one we're recording.
1:25.7	And ironically, we procrastinated this episode like three months.
1:32.0	How many months did it take us to shoot this?
1:34.2	Pretty close to that, yeah.
1:36.1	So be confident, listener, that your hosts are experts on procrastination.
1:42.1	Very familiar with the topic you're about to discuss.
	...

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