If you’re stuck in a pattern of procrastination, you probably know this cycle well: You put something off, then you feel guilt and shame about having put it off—so you continue to delay it even more.

This is what we call the procrastination vortex.

There is one practice that helps nip the procrastination vortex in the bud in the easiest, most pain-free way—yet most people don’t intuitively think to do it.

It’s the practice of retroactively studying—with curiosity, not self-judgment—your procrastination, why it happened, and how you can change it next time.

If you’re accustomed to being self-critical, it will be tough to snap your fingers and channel curiosity instead.

Which is why, when you join my program, Half-Finished to Done, LIVE, I’m going to teach you the Follow Through Formula.

It’s a step-by-step, 7-question process for studying your own behavior, understanding with self-compassion why you made the decisions that you did, and then consciously choosing the path you want to take next time.

If you are committed to really listening to yourself, you will tell yourself the truth, and the truth is the only way out of procrastination.

When you use the Follow Through Formula repeatedly, you’ll build your resourcefulness and resilience muscles—and procrastination can’t stand up to those two.

(Seriously—they are two of the most underrated skill sets for self-proclaimed procrastinators to master.)

If you’re a metaphor person, think of the story of the person with the pothole. The first time they don’t see the pothole and they fall in. The second time, they see the pothole and fall in, but get out more quickly this time. The third time, with a lot of attention and effort, they avoid the pothole. The fourth time, they take a different road.

Ready to stop falling into the pothole of procrastination?

I can help you when you join Half-Finished to Done, LIVE, the meeting place for soon-to-be former procrastinators.