One of the biggest “problems” potential clients talk to me about is procrastination. I hear: “Oh, I’m such a procrastinator.” “Oh, I always wait to the very last minute.” “Oh, I procrastinated too long and then couldn’t do my best work.”
Everyone thinks procrastination is negative.
Here’s a secret! Procrastination carries a message, you just have to consciouisly pay attention to what your actions (and your subconscious, driving those actions) is trying to tell you.
1. It isn’t really procrastination. It’s overwhelm. So you’re stuck stock still in the headlights of the oncoming truck and your conscious mind is blank.
You have a list. You woke up with 3 must dos, 2 want to dos and 4 should dos. Before you were out of bed, you were already behind.
Stop! Take a breath. Bring all the worries to consciousness. Write down all the to-dos whirling around your brain. Make them concrete. Now prioritize your top 3 things. If there are more than 3 things that MUST be done today, you are on overwhelm.
2. It really IS procrastination. You are putting it off because you don’t want to do it. Have a look at the “why” of doing it – why do you HAVE to do it in the first place? Is it in accordance with your true priorities and life’s passion? If it’s not, why are you doing it? And if it is – what are you hiding from yourself, because if it’s really your passion, you’ll dive right in!.
3. It’s productive procrastination. You find yourself cleaning the refrigerator rather than tackling something you know is your passion (if you’re home-based). Your subsonscious is saying: take a break. You need to think about this some more. Go for a walk (that take something out of the “must exercise” column). Don’t think – just go through the motions. In half an hour what it trying to break through will have had the space to do so and you can dive right in.
4. It’s really procrastination and it’s bringing unconscious motivations into the light showing you what you avoid. It allows you to see patterns. And once seeing, it allows you to correct by identifying the story running in your head – and then pick the story apart. Are you giving to much time to things you don’t love and aren’t passionate about? Are you afraid of failure (or success? – the end result is the same. Don’t do anything and you’ll have neither). Do you need to hire help or delegate work (share control)? Do you need to get clear on what your true passion is and what you really really want to do with your life instead of that thing over there that you are so assiduously avoiding?
Contrary to what we all think, procrastination is a positive experience that calls us to have an inner conversation.
So next time you think “I’m procrastinating” – stop and breathe. And change your reaction of beating yourself up for it. Instead welcome procrastination to the table and sit down and chat for a while!
Wylde Women’s Wisdom
“Are you willing to die for your beliefs?” I came to understand that the question was not about being a martyr for some held belief, but about dying because I could not leave behind beliefs that had been outgrown. Even if we understand our abilities to answer the question, it does not mean we are willing to face the consequences the answer might bring. Tammy Vitale
5 Comments
[…] *You have a list. You woke up with 3 must dos, 2 want to dos and 4 should dos. Before you were out of bed, you were already behind. […]
Barbara – you are welcome!
Kissie – what is the reason you don’t move until you are challenged? I know in the past I waited til the very end to write papers for school – maybe because I knew I was good at it and didn’t have to rewrite to get an A. Why waste time I could be doing something else. In which case that wasn’t procratination – it was a plan.
I think my issue is I don’t feel challenged unless I’m pressured because there really isn’t a justifiable reason for my procrastination.
Thank you! This is such important information and advise!
[…] Tammy Vitale gives us some new choices when it comes to looking at procrastination in: “4 Positive Possibilites for Procrastination” […]