The procrastination course you'll actually use.
Stop putting things off—there are six reasons you do it, and a quick fix for each. Bite-sized, funny, and built for people who don't finish courses.
Science shows there are just six reasons you put something off. Luckily for us all, there are quick, practical fixes for each one. Taught by Chris Bailey, bestselling author of four books on productivity, in short, entertaining videos you can watch before your coffee cools.
“This course has already done more for me than the many, many books I've read on productivity.” —Marie, course student
Does this sound familiar?
You're busy all day and somehow still behind—feeling guilty about all your half-finished projects.
Other people seem to handle this just fine… so why can't I?
You're not the problem! In studies, 95% of people openly admit to procrastinating. (In my view, the other 5% are lying through their teeth!) Procrastination isn't some laziness or a time-management problem. It's an emotional regulation problem. Some tasks feel bad to start, and so your brain finds something that feels better.
You don't need more discipline or more willpower. You need to know why some tasks feel bad—and exactly what to do about that feeling. Enter the course.
Learn from my weird experiments.
I'm Chris (hi!). For more than a decade, I've been a productivity guinea pig, running experiments on myself for my books and writing about what actually works. Four books, 900,000+ copies in 40+ languages, and a TED talk with 20+ million views—here we are!
My weird experiments shine a fascinating light on why we procrastinate, so I've woven a ton of them into the course. I once made myself bored for an hour every day, for a month—counting the zeros in the first 10,000 digits of pi, reading Wikipedia articles about rope, watching a clock—and what I learned about boredom became the course's tactics for making dull work interesting again. I ran a stimulation fast to reset how novel my phone feels, and inside the course, I'll guide you through a mini version of this experiment as well. I kept a framed photo of my face digitally aged 30 years on my desk, because brain scans show we treat our future self like a stranger (this explains why we hand our future self unfinished work—which the course fixes).
The course turns experiments like these into tactics you can use—while having fun along the way.
Built for people who don't finish courses.
Fewer than 1 in 5 people finish the average online course. So I designed Overcoming Procrastination for that reality instead of ignoring it. Each video is 2–10 minutes, you can watch them in any order, and your first sitting produces something real: a Procrastination List, with all of your triggers mapped.
Every tactic is rated on Payoff, Challenge, and Time, so you pick surgically instead of binging. And of course, there's a video called “How to Not Procrastinate on This Course.”
You don't have to finish the course to get your money's worth. One right video at one stuck moment can unblock a month. Dip in and out as you want. This course isn't designed to be “completed”—it's designed to be used.
Watch in any order. Skim the PDFs at your desk. Designed to be useful in five minutes—not a binge.
Procrastination always has a trigger. Let's find yours.
Every single task you avoid trips at least one of six wires. When you know which one you're setting off, you stop fighting yourself and learn to take action—even when you don't feel like it.
Boring.
You may not want to hear this, but often, counterintuitively, your work isn't too hard. It isn't challenging enough. Raising the stakes on certain projects can make dull work weirdly interesting.
Frustrating.
I once put off expensing a stack of receipts for three months. When I finally understood where the friction actually lived, the task took all of ten minutes. Learn to spot invented dread.
Unpleasant.
Some tasks are “emotionally expensive,” but tactics like aversion journaling—a two-minute analog exercise—can make them a piece of cake. (If you think journaling is kinda weird, like I do, I bet this method will stick for you.)
Far off in the future.
We see our future selves as a stranger. So, when you put something off, you're psychologically handing it to a stranger. It's as if you're giving it to Taylor Swift to do. The problem: she's busy, hosting expensive weddings and enjoying the trappings of being a billionaire poet. Learn to close the gap between your current and future self, so deadlines feel real before they're overdue.
Unstructured.
Some tasks are ugly (and in some cases, fugly) because they're not mapped out. Let's map them out together. Learn tools like defining the Very Next Step, and the Resistance Method—shrinking a task so the resistance disappears.
Meaningless.
This is the deep one. Learn to rewrite and reframe tasks so they actually serve what you value. And at the same time, learn which goals you should drop.
“This course has already done more for me than the many books I've read.”
“This course has already done more for me than the many, many books I've read on productivity. Chris is so human, personable and knowledgeable—a pitch-perfect guide who helps us to understand the reasons why we procrastinate, and how to overcome them. Everything is fully evidence-based, but never too onerous, and never judgmental, like a supportive friend who's got it figured out and is happy to share. My own personal procrastination list (of tasks I never seem to get around to) is already shortening. This is nothing short of amazing. I honestly cannot recommend this course enough. Worth every penny and then some.”
“The bite-sized videos and immediately actionable tips are exactly as powerful and useful as I expected them to be. I've told everyone who would listen to me about the values test and I think that's going to be the biggest takeaway for me. I'm a huge fan of finding new ways that self-knowledge can be leveraged for motivation—and the Values-Edit feels like the holy grail of cognitive reframes. I'm excited to continue using it in my life and sharing it with friends.”
“Chris has done what no one else could. For twenty-five years, I've had coach after coach—each one trying to help me pull that sword from the stone. The transformation has been profound. Clients and colleagues who had written me off now stand in disbelief at the 180-degree change. The sense of calm, purpose, and self-trust that came from his process has touched every corner of my life. Chris has become my King Arthur—the one who helped me lift the weight of years off my shoulders. For that, I am sincerely, empathetically, and eternally thankful.”
This isn't just a course you watch. It's a course you do.
This course won't only tell you why you procrastinate—Claude and ChatGPT are already great at that. It is designed to show you exactly how to take action. The videos provide you with a map to getting unstuck, while dealing with the deeper roots of procrastination (like a highly-stimulated mind).
The centerpiece of the course is the Values Test. It's a real scientific instrument—validated in 60+ countries across hundreds of thousands of participants. I license and personally pay for it every time a student takes it. But more than the science, you'll learn a ton about yourself after taking the test. You'll see your twelve core values, ranked against one another. And you'll find it delightful in other ways, too: suddenly it will be obvious why certain projects repel you—and you'll learn to align them with what actually drives you. Students compare results with their partners and friends. Many print it off. It's the takeaway people bring up more than anything else.
And if you get stuck: email me. (Actually me!)
Somewhere in this course, I'll give you my personal email address and an offer: tell me the goal you're stuck on, and I'll do my best to hold you accountable. I read every one. No chatbot answers my inbox. Just me, a guy who enjoys seeing people like you finish things they're stuck on.
Your own personalized Values Test.
A Values Test so you can finally understand what drives you. A centerpiece of the course—included for free.
Learn more about the Values Test →Be unstuck before your next coffee.
Permanent access. Self-paced. 60 short videos and a Values Test you can return to whenever your work or life shifts. Try it for 30 days; if it doesn't help, get a full refund.
- ✓ 60 short videos (2–10 min each)
- ✓ The 6 Tactical PDFs
- ✓ The personalized Values Test
- ✓ The past webinar recordings (live Q&A sessions I've held with students)
- ✓ Lifetime access · 30-day refund
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The honest FAQ.
+Can't I just ask Claude or ChatGPT how to stop procrastinating?
Yes! And it'll explain, in great detail, why you're putting stuff off. I use chat-based AI all the time to solve problems and get deeper insights into my work. But AI won't make you care. It won't keep you accountable, and it won't make the process of doing ugly tasks enjoyable—even meaningful. That's the part this course is built for. AI is great at giving advice. But it's bad company.
+What if I procrastinate on the procrastination course?
So meta! You might: after all, it's human to procrastinate! But I've stacked the deck in your favor. First, after you sign up, I'll send you a few email reminders to help you get started. The third video is literally called, “How to Not Procrastinate on This Course.” Also, the whole thing is built for dipping in and out—no guilt trips anywhere :-)
+Can I buy it now and start it later?
Yes—you'll have lifetime access! So, fifty years from now, when you're old and grey, you'll be able to revisit the video lessons from your holographic projection chamber. Though at that point, you'll likely be disappointed by the 4K resolution.
+What do I actually get?
60 videos, 2–10 minutes each, six tactical PDFs, and the personalized Values Test. I think you'll especially love the values test. A lot of people think of it as a digital keepsake.
+How quickly will this work?
Sometimes shockingly fast. A single video with the right tactic can unblock a task you've been avoiding for months—so quite possibly today. The more triggers you learn to spot, the better the course will work.
Ready to become someone who finishes what they start?
The first video is seven minutes. You could be unstuck before your next coffee.
End procrastination's reign →(Don’t put this off—and you may never put anything off again.)