Content Page.

1.0 - Introductions
2.0 - Procrastinations
2.1 - The Neuroscience of Procrastinations
2.2 - Weakening Your Inner Brain
2.3 - Strengthening Your Outer Brain
2.4 - When Your Inner and Outer Brain Work Together.

3.0 - Motivations
3.1 - The Neuroscience of Procrastination
3.2 - Reducing Your Perceptions of Difficulties
3.3 - Increasing Your Perceptions of Rewards

4.0 - Conclusions

1.0 - Introductions
If you are reading this, it meant that you desire to know the techniques to stop
procrastinations and to boost motivations. Truth be told, motivational level in humans can be
manipulated to our advantage with carefully calibrated and scientifically developed techniques. By
understanding the exact neuroscience mechanisms behind human procrastinations and motivations,
you will be able to better appreciate techniques to stop procrastination and keep your motivation
level up.
In this premium post, we will be telling stories to explain the complicated neuroscience of
human procrastinations and motivations. Hopefully, by better understanding of the neuroscience
behind procrastinations and motivations, people would appreciate and apply the techniques to
control their procrastinations and boost motivations.
Alright enjoy the read!

2.0 - Procrastinations
2.1 - The Neuroscience of Procrastinations
The human brain have many distinct parts and they can be divided into either inner or outer
regions. The inner regions controls our desire to survive while the outer region are responsible for
higher level of thoughts like being morally right, forming social circles and the desire to succeed in
life.
The two regions, however need not necessarily be working together. Everyday, fight breaks
out between your inner and outer region of your brain. Although your outer brain allows you to
behave morally, things can change when your survival is at stake. For example, a vegetarian stranded
on island will have eat meat to survive although to him, eating meat is morally wrong.
The inner brain demands survival and send out powerful instructions to get the vegetarian to
eat the meat. However, on the other hand, his outer brain which is responsible for being morally
right, demand that he must not eat the meat because it goes against his moral. Hence there is this
fighting between his inner and outer brain.
The same concept can be use to explain why you procrastinate on your goals and dreams.
Your outer brain knows that you want to be successful and constantly output instructions to help
you get things done. However, on the other hand, your inner brain demands that you stop working,
have a break and conserve energy for survival. There is a fight between your inner and outer brain.
Often, you inner brain will win and you will find yourself procrastinating.

Likewise for your plans to loss weight. You procrastinate on your dieting and exercise
regime because it is not ideal to your survival. Deliberate starvations during dieting and energy
expenditures during exercising puts you in a less favourable situation to survive. Imagine a tired
person with aching muscle trying to run away from danger.
Energy is needed for your flight away from danger or your fights against danger. When you do not
consume enough calories(energy) during dieting, your inner brain sense that your survival is been
threatened. Your inner brain kicks in and make you procrastinate on your dieting plans so you will
consume sufficient calories(energy) for survival sake.
In a nutshell, your brain is divided into inner and outer regions. The outer regions helps you
to be successful in life while your inner brain focuses on keeping you alive. These two regions of the
brain often contradicts one another because firstly, energy is a limited resources. Spending energy to
become successful often meant lesser energy for survival.
Procrastination is simply a response from your inner brain. and a mean for your body to
conserve energy. And in times of need, these energy would help you flight faster or fight better and
thus allowing you to survive better. Your outer and inner brain is often fighting each other. When
your outer brain wins the fight, you find yourself working hard towards your goals. And when your
inner brain wins the fight? You procrastinate.
Now that we understand that procrastination happens when your inner brain wins the fight.
We can focus on techniques that strengthen your outer brain so that it always win the fight. Or
weaken your inner brain such that it always lose the fight. And ultimately, make your inner and outer
brain work together, channeling the energy that is used to fight each other into producing great
work.

Techniques to Stop Procrastinations.

2.2 - Strengthening The Outer Region of Your Brain.
Through neuroscience studies and advanced brain imaging technologies, we now understand
that the desire to succeed in life comes from our outer brain. Unfortunately, this desire to succeed
can be chipped away by signals from your inner brain, often leading to procrastinations.
Fortunately, our outer brain can be strengthened by increasing the desire to be successful.
When the desire to succeed in life is strong, signals to procrastinate from your inner brain can be
overcome and ignored, making any day, a productive day.

There are three methods in which you use to increase the desire to succeed in life.
The first method is to remind yourself of the reasons to be successful. Why do you
want to be successful? Were you often looked down upon? Did you lose your girlfriend because you
were a loser? No money to pay rent and getting evicted soon? Good. Do not forget the reasons why
you need to be successful. Keep that fire burning you for which it can strengthened your outer
brain, allowing yourself to ignore signals from your inner brain to procrastinate.
The second method is to visualize yourself being successful. Based on research on
placebo effects, neuroscientists have discovered that mere thinking can invoke physical and
measurable changes within your body. Visualization of success can fool your body into releasing
feel-good hormones like dopamine and it help your spirits up. Dopamine is addictive and when the
first round of dopamine wears off, your brain will start desiring images of success and in the process
increasing your desire for success.
The third method is to read success stories. We humans have mirror neurons. Mirror
neurons are a special group of neurons that can duplicate a person brain activity onto ours, allowing
us to understand one another intentions and feelings. When we read success stories, we duplicate the
brain activity of a successful person onto our own brain, we feel their frustrations as well as their
desire to succeed. Very successful people have a very strong desire to succeed in life, and reading of
their success stories can allow us to duplicate their burning desire onto us. A strong desire for
success is needed to ignore procrastinating signals from our inner brain.

2.3 - Weakening Your Inner Brain

As discussed earlier, your inner brain is responsible for procrastination. By weakening the
neural activities within your inner brain, you can less likely to procrastinate. Heres three methods to
weaken your inner brain.
The first method is to give your inner brain what it wants. Your inner brain is like an
overly-worried mother, so long you can show her that you are preparing well for survival, she will
leave you alone. Or else, she would stop you from working and get you to procrastinate so that you
will sufficient rest for survival. Take regular breaks between bouts of hard work to recharge your
energy level. Keeping your energy level high will quieten down your inner brain, making you less
likely to procrastinate.

A logger who spend half his day sharpening his axe, will cut more tree with the remaining half of
the day than a logger who had spent his entire day, cutting trees with blunt axe.
The second method is to convince your inner brain that your survival is not
compromised. As discussed earlier, your inner brain is like an overly-worried mother, constantly
worrying about your survival. When your inner brain feels that you in a hostile environment, it will
kick into high gear, send out strong signals to get you to procrastinate. As such your workplace
environment plays an important role in reducing procrastination.
Heres some pointers on the ideal environment to reduce procrastinations
1) Your back should not face the door. You cannot see who is coming nor their intentions.
You will be worried and less focused on your work
2) Sit at the corner furthest away from the door, facing the door. This allows you to see who is
coming into the room and you will have time to react. Best if there is a wall behind and
beside you. It gives you a sense of security, allowing you to better focus on your work
3) Sit near the window to have a bird eyes view of your surrounding. Best if you can see the
entrance of your office building. Able to see who is coming through gives you a sense of
security is important in keeping yourself focused. This is also the reason why castle are often
build at the top of a hill.
The third method is being progressive with your efforts. Sudden and large expenditure
of energy will compromise your survival. It is very much like an overly-worried mother seeing her
child being exhausted in a dangerous world, not having sufficient energy for flight or fight. And the
next time, the child wants to go out? The over-worried mother would definitely prefer her child to
procrastinate at home.
Being progressive meant building up your mental and energy capacity. You are less likely to
over-tire yourself out and always have sufficient energy for flight or fight. Your inner brain desire is
satisfied and you will procrastinate lesser.
Its very much like an overly-worried mother watching her child climbing tall trees for the
first time. The mother would definitely be less worried if her child have been progressive with the
climb, conquered a few easy and intermediate climbs. and proved to his mother that he would be
alright after the climb convince his mother with successful climbs and assure his mother that he
would not be in harms way.

2.4 - When Your Inner and Outer Brain Work Together.

Your inner and outer brain have very different responsibilities and they often contradict one
another. However there are moments where both regions of your brain can work together. And
when they do, the energy that they usually spent fighting one another can be channelled to
producing better works.
Ever wondered why people become extremely productive when they are mere days away
from the dateline? It is because both regions of their brain have common goals.
Mary and her friends were given 10 weeks to complete a project. They, however spent 9
weeks procrastinating. They procrastinate because working on the project requires energy, leaving
them lesser energy for survival sake. Their inner brain kicks in and send out strong signals to get
them to procrastinate. At the same time, their outer brain wants them to finish the project because it
the right thing to do but the inner brain is just way too strong and they cannot shake off their desire
to procrastinate.
Now, Mary and her friends are left with just 3 days to complete a 10 weeks project. They
know that if they missed the deadline, they would receive a bad scoldings from their teacher. Their
survival is now at stakes. In such a situation, their inner and outer brain have a common goal. The
outer brain wants to complete the project. And completing the project satisfy their inner brain as
they can avoid scoldings from their teachers. No fighting, no contradictions and finally, both regions
of their brain can now work together and become insanely productive.
Likewise for working adults. Getting their job done satisfy their outer brain and getting the
job done also satisfy their inner brain as they can avoid the scolding from their boss. And in some
extreme cases, they get to keep their job. When inner and outer brain have a common goal and work
together, you will find yourself being extremely productive.
How about entrepreneurs? They do not have a boss that threaten their survival. So how is it
that they can avoid procrastination and achieve high level of productivity? Well it seems that most
entrepreneurs goes through a series of ups and downs before they become successful. During their
down periods, they face very serious threats like bankruptcy and lawsuits. Definitely more than
enough to kick off their survival instinct. Hustle or die. Quite literally.
In fact most entrepreneurs only see success after hitting rock bottom. Steve Jobs had to
collect drink bottles to buy food with before he founded Apple Inc. Jan Koum, the founder of
Whatapps was a poor teenager from Ukraine before he sold his company to Facebook for 19 billion

of dollars. Li Ka-Shing, Hong Kongs richest man went through world war 2 and almost starved to
death before he created his massive empire.

3.0 - Motivations.
3.1 - The Neuroscience of Human Motivations
Motivations in the eyes of neuroscientists are seen as the desire to perform voluntary actions
to achieved a desirable outcomes. For example, putting in the effort to study (voluntary actions) to
achieve better grades (desirable outcomes).
This desire to perform voluntary actions depends on our perception of the actions
difficulties and its corresponding rewards. Generally, we are less motivated to do a difficult task
unless the rewards are well-justified. Our perceptions of difficulties and rewards differ from one
person to another, and from time to time. If we can change the way we perceive difficulties and
rewards, we can actually hijack and manipulate our levels of motivations to our advantage.
One day Bob saw a sushi master, the sushi master is famous and extremely wealthy. Bob
then decided that he want to be in the sushi trade, hoping that he can be as successful as the sushi
master he saw earlier. Bob was motivated because the rewards (fame and wealth) of being a
sushi master was great.
So one fine day, Bob started his sushi stall, believing that he will become a successful and
wealthy sushi master. The day before Bob open his sushi stall, he spent 16 hours practicing sushi
making And when Bob served his first piece of sushi, it was awful, the customers hated it. Bob was
at first discouraged but he kept his spirits high and continued to practice hard for the next few days.
Bobs sushi business is already 2 weeks old but Bob have yet to become wealthy and famous.
Instead, Bobs sushi stall have already earned a bad name of serving bad sushi. Angry and desperate,
Bob went back to the sushi master and asked him for his secrets to becoming a sushi master.
10 years! The sushi master said. He broke that 10 years down into 2 years of washing rice,
3 years of going to buying the right fish, 3 years of cutting fish and finally 2 more years of making
the perfect sushi before he become a sushi master. Wow a full 10 years. Suddenly, Bob perception
of becoming a sushi master become rather daunting. He lost his motivation and gave up on his
sushi master dream.

Initially, Bob was very motivated to become a sushi master. However, only if Bob had knew
how hard a person have to train to become a sushi master, he would definitely not be as motivated.
Our motivations level changes as we receive new informations and feedbacks.
Could there be anything Bob can do to influence his motivation level? Yes. Bob gave up
because he thought that the efforts needed to become sushi master is not worth the rewards. If he
can change the way he thinks of the efforts and rewards, he can actually motivated himself to
become a sushi master
Our level of motivation changes as we are fed with different informations and feedbacks. If
we can identify and ignore the correct informations and feedback, we can actually manipulate our
levels of motivation to our advantage.

Techniques to Boost Motivations.

3.2 - Reducing the perceived difficulties.
Generally, humans are unmotivated to finish a difficult task unless completing the task have
huge rewards. However, the difficulties of a task is a mere perception and it changes from a person
to another. For example, climbing mountains are perceived to be difficult for amateurs but
perceived to be easy by seasoned climbers. As such, seasoned climbers would be more motivated
than the amateurs to climb the mountains.
There are two ways in which we can change the way we perceive the difficulties of a task,
thereby making us more motivated to complete the task.
The first method is to simply divide a task into smaller segment. For example, closing
80 sales in one months seems difficult. However, if we consider 20 working days in a month, a
salesman just have to close 4 sales in a day, 2 sales before lunch and 2 sales after lunch. And since
we have roughly 4 hours before and after lunch, a salesperson just have to focus on closing one sale
every 2 hours. Focusing on closing a single sale every two hours definitely sound easier than closing
80 sales in a month.
The second method is to have some grit and perseverance. Acknowledge that the first
time in doing anything will always be the toughest. So long that you do not give up and keep trying,
you will find yourself becoming better and better at it. And when you become good at something
like climbing mountains, you will find yourself more motivated to conquer mountains.

3.3 - Increasing The Perceived Amount of Rewards

Rewards are what we get when we complete a task. The larger the rewards, the more
motivated we are to completing the task. But most of the time, rewards are not concrete and mere
perceptions. Furthermore our perceptions of rewards differ from people to people. There are three
methods to increase the perceived amount of rewards.
The first method is to spend a few minutes a day, visualizing the sweet taste of
success. Engage all your five senses to feel it. Most of the time we underestimate the rewards
because we have yet to enjoy it, we find it hard to believe that it is real and hence we perceive the
rewards to be way lesser than it is in reality. By vividly visualizing success, you will find yourself
believing in the rewards, and in the process, increase the perceived amount of rewards, making
yourself more motivated to become successful.
The second method is being aware of secondary rewards. Money is a bad motivator.
There are secondary rewards apart money that are just as rewarding. They can be improving
someone else life, more time for family, personal developments and breaking new limits.
Acknowledging these secondary rewards will make the perceived rewards much larger and help
boost your motivation level.
The third method is to read success stories and seek out mentors. When we read about
how successful people first drove that speedy and masculine lamborghini, it makes the perceived
rewards of hard work feels real. It motivates us greatly because success stories convince us that if we
are willing to work hard, we will be well rewarded. Sometimes, we feel discourage when the going
get tough and the rewards appear to be less real. It is because future is hard to predict and when
rewards start to appear less real, we become less motivated to fight for our success. Read more
success stories, let those stories convince you that great rewards awaits you so long you do not quit.
Let those stories inspire and motivate you. Believe in yourself that, soon you will be just as
successful as them.

4.0 - Conclusions
In conclusions, we have read that our brain are divided into inner and outer brain. Your
outer brain desire success in life and willing to spend energy to become successful. Your inner brain
on the other hand, desire to conserve energy for survival and send out signals to get you to
procrastinate.

We have also read that our inner and outer brain often fighting each other. When the outer
brain wins, you find yourself motivated and working hard. When you inner brains wins, you end up
procrastinating. Based on that, we can develop techniques that either weaken your inner brain or
strengthen your outer brain so that your outer brain would always win the fight and you will always
stay motivated and avoid procrastination
We have also touched on the topic of motivations. Motivations is the desire to perform
voluntary actions to achieve a desirable outcome. And motivation is influenced by our perception of
the difficulties and the corresponding rewards of making an voluntary actions. Generally, the easier
the action and the larger the rewards, the more motivated we are.
We have also went through techniques that can reshape our perceptions of difficulties and
rewards. By increasing the perceived rewards and reducing the perceived difficulties, we are able to
manipulate our level of motivations to our advantage.
To end off, I wish my readers all the best in their personal endeavors. Remember, the
greatest enemies is ourself. It is never about how hard success is but how motivated you are to
achieve success. There are many entrepreneurs who began with nothing, overcame great obstacles
and became successful. You are the master of your destiny and you are also the master of your bod
and mind. Learning how to stop procrastinating and motivation is the one of best tools you can
have to make yourself successful. Now that you have learnt them, go forth and conquer success!
Thanks for reading!

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