How To Stop Procrastinating
A behavioral scientist teaches a dog trainer new tricks for productivity.

Listen longer
Slate Plus members get ad-free versions of all Slate podcasts, plus extra segments, bonus episodes, and more. Try it free today.
Listen & Subscribe
Choose your preferred player:
- Apple Podcasts
- Google Podcasts
- TuneIn
- Spotify
- Stitcher
- RSS Feed
Get Your Slate Plus Feed
Copy your ad-free feed link below to load into your player:
Episode Notes
Marie trains dogs for a living, but she’s struggling to teach herself a new trick—overcoming procrastination. For a year, she’s been ready to launch a new dog training app….just as soon as she makes the training videos for it. The delay is hurting business so why can’t she ever cross this task off her to-do list? In this episode of How To!, Dan Ariely, professor at Duke University and author of Predictably Irrational, shares some procrastination tips that got him through a tough time in his own life. When a difficult task looms in front of you, Dan says, reward yourself for the effort, not the outcome. Otherwise, you may never get started.
What are your steepest challenges during the pandemic? And what have you found is working for you? Leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001. We’re collecting your problems and solutions for our recurring Quarantine Q&A.
Podcast production by Derek John and Rachael Allen.