Researchers at UC Santa Barbara have identified a quick method to help people overcome procrastination. Their recent study, published in BMC Psychology, found that a two-minute reflection exercise can reduce emotional resistance and make it easier for individuals to start tasks they are avoiding.
“Most interventions aim to change who we are in the long run — our personality, habits or traits, but procrastination happens in the moment,” said Anusha Garg, a doctoral researcher and co-author of the study along with Shivang Shelat and Professor Jonathan Schooler from UCSB’s Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. Garg added, “If we can design tools that make it easier to step over that line, we can help people change behavior right when it matters.”
The research focused on what the authors call “the starting line problem,” which is the brief pause between intending to do something and actually beginning. The intervention involved participants completing a guided reflection exercise in under two minutes. Those who participated reported improved mood, less emotional resistance, and were more likely to act on their task within the following day compared with control groups. “The goal wasn’t to eliminate procrastination overnight,” Garg said. “It was to make starting feel a little lighter — to give people traction in the exact moment they’re stuck.”
This approach uses the temporal decision model of procrastination, which suggests that people delay tasks when the emotional cost of starting outweighs the expected reward of finishing. The intervention aimed to lower this aversion by encouraging affect labeling (naming emotions) and by having participants set small subgoals paired with self-chosen rewards.
In further research not yet published, Garg’s team examined whether breaking down tasks alone was effective or if pairing them with rewards produced better results. Preliminary findings suggest both elements together provide a stronger motivation boost. “When participants only broke the task down, they felt a little more motivated,” Garg said. “But when they also paired that step with a small reward — like a walk, a snack or texting a friend — the motivation boost was significantly stronger. The reward makes the effort itself feel worthwhile.” This supports theories suggesting that pairing effort with positive reinforcement can make starting tasks feel more rewarding over time.
To bring these findings into practical use, Garg worked with UCSB computer science students to create Dawdle AI, an app designed to help users implement these techniques directly from their phones. “We realized that the problem we’re studying — getting started — happens right where people are, on their phones,” she said. “So we built something that can meet them there.”
Dawdle AI features an animated guide named Pebbles who assists users in talking through what they are avoiding, breaking tasks into subtasks, and selecting rewards for completed steps. The app includes timers and feedback animations designed to encourage continued progress. “It’s essentially the study turned into a tool,” Garg said. “When someone feels stuck, they can open Dawdle AI, reflect for a few minutes, and feel that same shift we saw in the data.”
Launched on UCSB’s campus in November 2025 through ambassador programs and events aimed at students, Dawdle AI is now available on the App Store as well.
Garg emphasized her intention for this work: “So much psychological research ends up locked in journals,” she said. “We wanted this to live in people’s hands.” By focusing on strategies rather than shame around procrastination she added: “We procrastinate because we’re human,” she said. “But if we can learn to navigate that starting-line moment — to notice it, label it and tip the scales toward reward — we can start almost anything.
“The hardest part isn’t the work itself. It’s just starting. And that’s exactly where science can help.”
