Written by: Patricia Renovato, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
We all fall prey to procrastination from time to time. It’s a behavior that we develop during early childhood to protect us from something we don’t want to do. As soon as we are old enough to have a responsibility, like cleaning up or doing homework, the habit of avoidance starts to form. In the beginning, it’s benign. It’s a simple decision between doing something fun versus not doing something fun. It’s about instant gratification.
The tricky thing about procrastination is that it encourages us to avoid doing the work while convincing us that we create our best work under pressure. While this may be true sometimes, what we don’t realize is how consuming procrastination can really be. We take procrastination’s offer to have fun first and delay what we don’t want to do. But the avoidance game actually gets you thinking and anxious about the task for much longer than if you had started it with ample time for completion.
For example, let’s say that you had an assignment that is due a week from now. You will have the weight of the task and some level of distress about this assignment for the duration of the week or until the assignment is complete. And then you will play games in your mind about when you need to start. The effort given to stalling accumulates both time and energy even when no actual output towards the task is generated. You find reasons, excuses, and distractions to explain why you can’t start working on the assignment right now, and then suddenly you run out of time, and the assignment is due tomorrow. This behavior alters your overall level of stress and anxiety and could ultimately impact your result.
It is true that some get inspiration fueled by the adrenaline created by the pressure to complete a task last minute. But this may not be the best approach for every task and may not be the most effective long-term strategy. Much like everything in life, it’s about having balance so you can properly assess and respond to each situation as necessary.
The chronic procrastinator uses the delay tactic to hide something much deeper than the occasional choice to delay a boring task. The true nature behind the hesitation is fear. Sometimes we avoid doing something because it’s hard or we may not know how to do it. Or we are not confident we can do it well. We don’t want to feel vulnerable. It may cause fears you rather avoid, like public speaking, to suddenly come to the surface. The reasons can be obvious, and the person can be so proficient at hiding their real fears that they might not even be familiar with them.
Here are some strategies to help you understand why you procrastinate. Is it for instant gratification or fear?
Understand WHAT and WHY you’re delaying
Does your WHAT really matter?
Every responsibility has varying degrees of importance in your life (cleaning the garage vs. changing a habit that no longer serves you)
Is your WHY fear or mere boredom?
Identify your distractions
Understanding your distractions is the gateway to the solution. Once you identify your go-to distractions, they can become your alert system to help you make a change.
Make the task easy to consume
Break it into smaller chunks - this will make the task more consumable to start and require less effort during each working session.
You will also experience small wins every time you complete the task, which will motivate you to keep going.
It takes practice
Beating procrastination is hard. It shows up in different ways, and you may not recognize them all until you start paying attention.
Remember the win
Encapsulate how you felt the first time you won a battle with your old friend procrastinator. Remember what it felt like, so the next time you face it, you can make a different choice for yourself.
Stay committed.
If you’re trying to dominate your procrastination, I recommend you adopt a growth mindset. It’s the antidote. You can learn how to adopt a growth mindset in this blog.
If you want to learn how to implement these ideas and be coached by me, you can email me at truepassioncompany@gmail.com.
Patricia Renovato, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
For over a decade, Patricia kept ignoring the growing sensation that she could do more to serve the world. It was daunting to think about dramatically changing her life without direction. After spending some time searching for the answer, Patricia found her calling as a Life Coach. This became the vehicle for her to facilitate the transformation of people who felt stuck in their life, not knowing how to begin a new journey. Patricia dedicates her time to connecting people with their genuine passion for living a passionate and purposeful life. Patricia’s innate ability to see people’s potential beyond their purview inspires clients to work through the inner blocks preventing them from living their dream.
