How many of you procrastinate?
Not just the occasional thing, but EVERYTHING.
Waiting until the last moment to finish work.
Avoiding it all until it really needs to get done.
Then it’s a mad rush, a huge flurry of activity to finish.
And when it is done, you don’t feel good about yourself or the outcome.
You’re:
Frustrated that it happened again.
Anxious that it wasn’t good enough.
Wondering why it always happens.
Stressed during the mad rush to complete.
Feeling dissatisfied that you could not work on it before, and every time you try, you find a reason to not work on it until the pressure builds that you cannot avoid it.
Overall, you feel terrible that you cannot control the procrastination and you want it to stop.
Some think:
I have ADHD and can’t focus!
I am always distracted! I am addicted to my devices and social media and Netflix!
I can’t form the habit!
I use a calendar but I always skip my appointments to do work before it’s due!
If you’re a procrastinator, what else might you insert here?
I can guarantee that in almost all cases, it is not a clinical diagnosis of ADHD!
In the clients I have worked with on their procrastination, it boils down to some key factors:
You don’t like the work that needs to be done.
The work that needs to be done does not align with your goals, who you are, where you want to go, who you want to be.
You fear an outcome of the work:
What people think of you.
Failure.
Loss of love.
Not meeting self-expectations.
Not meeting the expectations of others.
If it’s not perfect, something bad will happen to me.
Do any of these resonate with you?
With my clients we work to figure out which ones of the above apply. Then we find the resolutions relevant to their particular situation.
There is always some cause lying underneath the procrastination. The trick is finding the true reasons.
Usually the solution is simple.
So if the work is a slog for you and you would find any reason to avoid it until the very last minute, the questions to ask yourself are:
What are you feeling when you think about doing this work?
What emerges inside you as you consider the work itself?
Or even, what is stopping you from moving away from this work?
Shining a light on the real reasons why will put you on the path to resolving procrastination!
Do you procrastinate? What happens for you when you shine a light on the real reason behind the avoidance?
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