Written by: Serene Shereef, 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.
Procrastination is quoted as one of the key factors that holds people stuck and prevents them from achieving the success that they desire. It is also considered to be an unchangeable fact, something that is outside of our control. Often there is an identity built around being a procrastinator, and a belief that “this is just the way it is”.
But what if……
What if procrastination is not your destiny? What if it’s just a bad habit? And like all other habits, what if you had habit-design tools to break this habit?
Before we tackle how to break through procrastination, let’s first take a moment to dispel the myths and stories around procrastination and really build a clear understanding of what it is, why we do it, & how can we ultimately overcome this habit. There has been extensive research on procrastination, as this has fascinated many, to further understand one of the major obstacles for productivity.
So what is procrastination?
It is the action of delaying something, because of associated negative feelings that we aren’t able to manage, and despite knowing that there are associated negative consequences. We might all procrastinate, from time to time. The paper or project we have to complete, or the household tasks that we have been putting off may not seem as exciting as the distractions in our everyday life, including social media, watching Netflix, finally doing that google search on “what cows like to do in their free time”, and so much more.
When does this occasional procrastination become your go-to habit, something that delays your fun-time & your bedtime? When does this become a problem and an obstacle in your life’s journey? Let’s explore the roots of procrastination to understand this further.
The self-worth theory of achievement motivation by Professor Covington [UC Berkeley] provides us with a tool for understanding what is the true motivator in our procrastination journey. Self-worth theory states that we all have a deep psychological need to “protect our sense of worth or personal value”. Research shows that our internal beliefs of self-worth is influenced by our beliefs about our performance, ability and effort. Our performance and subsequent achievements then influence our self-worth, which is how we think about ourselves.
So our sense of “feeling enough” is connected to all the things that we do, the value we perceive that we are bringing to our world.
Overcoming procrastination, like all our other habits, ultimately is about understanding and managing our emotions. One of the myths of habit-creation & a major factor contributing to procrastination is the belief that motivation and willpower are essential to completing our tasks.
How many times have you felt motivated to complete your laundry? Or finish that big project from work? Now consider, how many times you have pulled late-nights completing your tasks and getting things done [that were due/started days, weeks and months ago]?
The truth is that we need neither motivation or willpower to get our tasks done. What we really need is understanding and managing our feelings around the tasks that we have chosen to add to our to-do lists.
In reality, we might never feel like doing the laundry or completing our work administrative expectations. It’s even harder for the tasks that we are not familiar with. Thoughts connected to the fear of making mistakes, fear of failure, perfectionistic tendencies, sense of imposterism, feeling “maybe I am not enough” can all create a feeling of overwhelm and dread. Often this prompts our brain into saying “lets do it later”, because somehow later seems like a time that it gets better! But that “later” in time never arrives.
Now that we understand that our procrastination is not a reflection on our level of laziness or inability to complete tasks, or a reflection of our abilities and our efforts, I hope it alleviates the sense of blame, shame and guilt that you have always associated with your procrastination cycles.
Procrastination is related to our deep-seated emotions on what it means to be enough, what it means to fulfill our destiny.
Procrastination is actually our brain’s way of protecting our sense of “being enough”. Our brain thinks that the very essence of our internal beliefs, our sense of self is threatened with a multitude of subconscious factors at play and procrastinating seems like the ideal action to protect our self-worth.
If you have previously struggled with procrastination, then today is the day to change. Today is the day to envelope yourself with self-love and self-compassion, to connect to the truth “I am enough, exactly as I am, right now”. This task that we do, the project that we complete, the promotion that we work for, the relationship that’s coming up, none of these things measures or defines who we are. We are enough exactly as we are, and everything that we do is coming from a place of feeling worthy of love and belonging, coming from a place of being enough!
Now lets explore how to visualize procrastination without all of the emotions, all of the fears, all of the shame, all of the anxieties, that tends to cloud the issue when we try to objectively analyze why do we procrastinate. These are the 3 key mindset shifts that will help you breakthrough procrastination & create the transformation that you have been dreaming of:
Mindset Shift No.1: What is My Identity?
If you, like I, have ever identified as being a chronic procrastinator, then today is the day we shatter that belief. We are not chronic procrastinators, we are humans who have adopted a habit of procrastinating over time.
The first step is to build an identity that you want to connect to, consistent with your life vision and values. For me that was building the identity that I am someone who honors my commitments and keeps my promises to myself, as well as, to others.
And so every time there are choices to be made and emotions to be conquered, about a task that I might be struggling with, then I reach deep down to my identity as someone who honors my commitments and this helps me make choices that are in alignment with my identity and core values.
I want you to spend a few minutes to explore what are your core values and life vision? What is your identity?
Mindset Shift No.2: Procrastination is a habit.
When we procrastinate, we are following what feels familiar [and easy]. Our brain is naturally resistant to doing something that we perceive as unfamiliar and “hard”.
How can we shift from this space of hardship to creating familiarity and ease?
How can we use tools of habit design and implementation to break our cycle of procrastination habit on any task?
For many who are familiar with Atomic habits by Clear, J., you might remember that habit loop is really how we design a new habit or break an old one. As a review, a habit loop creates a pattern of behavior [habit] that is triggered by a prompt [cue]. A habit loop is initiated by a cue that creates the craving which connects to your response which then gives you the reward and this behavioral loop is now established in your brain as a new pattern of behavior.
The more times you repeat a habit loop, the deeper it gets ingrained in your brain as being familiar and as your new routine. Therefore every time you encounter that cue and those specific circumstances that you have designed and created, then it triggers a craving for that behavior which leads you to take a series of actions which then gives you the reward which again establishes that cue as a way for you to get that reward. This can be applied to thought patterns as well as behavior patterns.
So when we bring that back to procrastination as a habit loop we have established, then I want you to evaluate:
What are ways you are currently procrastinating?
What are the cues that are triggering this pattern of behavior?
What are ways that you can change your response?
Ultimately, it’s important to analyze how to utilize the tools of habit design and actually break down your habit of procrastination.
Mindset Shift No.3: The Secret Lies In Our Thoughts & Feelings
It’s important to understand that procrastination is actually not our enemy. Procrastination is not the reason that we are not getting that promotion. Procrastination is not the reason why we aren't setting up that first date or writing that book or applying for that job. Procrastination is just a habit that is part of a larger pattern in our life.
The struggles that I encounter and coach others on including burnout, overwhelm, mental and digital clutter, emotional exhaustion, perfectionism, imposterism, time scarcity, so many anxieties, fears and worries, all of the reasons that we think we are not taking action! But these are all just symptoms of a larger problem that is well-hidden in our subconscious mind. And that larger problem is a lack of clarity in what we want and not being present in our own life in a meaningful manner.
When we don't have clarity in what we want, what we're creating, what we stand for, what we believe in, then it's easy to procrastinate because we have no idea what we're supposed to do next. It's easy to feel overwhelmed because we have no priority list.
Our brain tells us “Of course you’re overwhelmed, there's a million things to do”. When we analyze the facts, we might have 20 items on our to-do list. The real struggle is that there is no true clarity on which one is most important. So they all feel urgent and important. And we dig ourselves deeper into the space of overwhelm and feeling stuck,
By building clarity and creating a clear vision on what we want to achieve, we can apply that clarity to break our goal down into simple habits and automate them, use habit design tools & alignment with our identity to breakthrough procrastination and take it one step at a time. This is how we create the change that we want to see in our life.
Another key aspect of this mindset shift is to connect to being present in the moment. The first step in this journey is to acknowledge that as humans, we are going to experience positive and negative thoughts. We are going to have positive and negative feelings. We are going to experience life as the blend of 50/50.
The next step is building clarity and developing awareness on what exactly are we feeling?
Now most of the time, we are delighted to have happy thoughts and happy feelings, right?
When we feel joy, it's amazing. We embrace it, enjoy it, wallow in it!
But as soon as we feel anything negative, then we are trying to run as fast as we can away from that. We might even think, there’s something wrong if I feel this way, so let’s postpone this!
What if we didn't? What if we are willing to feel all of it?
We are humans with our human thoughts and our human feelings, and nothing has gone wrong just because we have negative feelings. It is in these moments, that we remind ourselves that we are enough exactly as we are right now, that we are worthy of love and belonging as Brene Brown frequently reminds us completely unrelated to our to-do-list for the day.
As we prepare for 2022, there are many things that are going to be coming up.
What if we can give ourselves love and compassion in these difficult moments. And instead of judging ourselves or adding on the “shame, blame, & guilt”, we can remind our inner child “I know this space is unfamiliar. But I have complete faith that you can do this. You are enough exactly as you are right now”
Let’s first start this transformation by changing the way we talk to ourselves. We start this by building a loving connection to ourselves, then connecting to our future self and cultivating our Sage inner wisdom. We ask ourselves questions from a space of love, compassion and curiosity. We choose the thoughts that will allow us to build our desired results. We allow ourselves to feel the feelings, and then take that next step in a series of massive action to create the results that we have visualized in our Mind!
As we wrap up 2021 and reflect on what has been pivotal points in so many of our lives, I want to share a quote by Bill Gates: “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in 10 years”.
I want you to let go of the thoughts that are holding you stuck right now, thoughts that are evoking feelings of overwhelm and confusion, evoking feelings that maybe you're just an imposter, “why bother”.
Instead let's visualize the thoughts that will help us create a shift in 2022. Let's embrace all the imperfections that makes us human, with a human brain that frequently tries to keep us safe by giving us thoughts that keep us stuck in a space that is familiar.
Let's envision what would this transformation look like?
What are the results that you want to see?
And from that result line, let's explore what are the actions that you're going to do, actions that have not become familiar yet, so that you can create the result that you want?
And what are the feelings that you're willing to accept?
Because there's going to be a lot of feelings that come up when we go through something that is unfamiliar. What feelings are you willing to experience to get to your next level?
And what is a thought that is going to give you the feeling that will help you to take all of the actions that you are going to do to create the result which is something that you truly believe in. The result that you have visualized in your Mind so vividly that you can smell it, taste it, feel it, see it and experience it with all your senses.
And my question to you is, are you ready? Are you ready to step into your next level? Are you ready to take the action to create the results? Are you ready to accept the feelings and create your thoughts?
If you are ready to break through your procrastination and take control of your time, energy and productivity, then I invite you to connect with me. I would love to support you in this journey!
You can connect with me on my website, where I am offering a free consult call [subject to availability] for anyone who is ready to create their next level transformation. During our time together, we will explore what are the factors that are currently keeping you stuck and what will create clarity on your most impactful goals and actions for 2022, so that you can live your best productive life. And you can finally have more time and energy for yourself and your loved ones.
If you are ready to breakthrough your procrastination and take control of your time, energy and productivity, then join my “Create Your Vision for 2022” experiential masterclass, my gift to you to end 2021 with clarity, joy & love. Join me and others as we connect to our life vision & future self, create our 2022 vision board, set our goals, and design the habits to create a life of purpose and intentionality!
Register for the Masterclass!
Serene Shereef, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Serene Shereef is a general & trauma surgeon and a mindfulness & productivity certified life coach. After struggling with severe burnout and hitting rock bottom, she used the energy of mindfulness with the scientific principles of habit building and created systems of productivity to reclaim her life. She now uses this unique powerful framework to help other professional women struggling with burnout and overwhelm to take control of their time, mind & energy. She has created an integrated mindfulness and productivity program that builds clarity on your life’s passion and purpose and uses individualized systematic tools to take control of your life so that you have time for everything that is important to you. Her goal is to help you do less and live more, embracing the joy of living your best life.
