Olympic Procrastinator

I used to describe myself as an ‘Olympic Procrastinator’.

I would make it sound like a joke, whilst inside I would feel anxious, embarrassed and ashamed.

Because I know I am one of the very very many who suffers from the effects and consequences of procrastination, I want to share a few personal words about this global human phenomena.

 

Many names

Google synonyms for procrastination and you will find:

 

Fifty one synonyms and antonyms, shows how present it is.

 

Fear related

I began to change this paralysing habit, when my marriage was falling apart.

It became necessary to look myself in the eyes.

And make myself healthy promises – the first one was to deal with what scares me.

When I recognised I was avoiding and delaying doing something, I spend time with my thoughts and feelings.

I realised that listening to the voices in my head, saying things such as: stop faffing; just get on with it; it is not hard, pull yourself together; stop making excuses … only made me feel more upset with myself.

My self-criticising lead to nothing, but more procrastination.

Instead of criticising, I started asking questions to figure out the reasons for my state of paralysis.

Questions such as:

• why am I not starting or completing tasks?
• what am I afraid of?
• why am I feeling tearful, anxious, useless?
• what will help me to feel less freaked-out?

What also worked wonders for me when feeling overwhelmed, was slow, deep breathing.

To this day, my calming steps are: breathe, reflect, feel, understand.

Understanding is my game-changer, transforming procrastination into choice.

 

Procrastination is learned behaviour
&
Fear is not real

The above statements remind me that I can change my procrastinations into act-or-not-to-act choice moments.

For many years, my strategies have helped me stand in a strong place because I give the needed attention, empathy and energy to support myself.

Procrastination is a learned behaviour to manage fear.

We all know fear is a feeling.

And it can be such a strong feeling that it’s felt physically, making us think it is real.

I have taken ownership of my procrastinations thanks to understanding they are simply left-overs from times of feeling stress, anxiety, fear and insecurity whilst lacking support and empathy.

 

Shaped by our thoughts

Acknowledging this not only helped manage my procrastination, but also made me look at my other learned behaviours in a bright new light.

Even though I still have moments of procrastination, I now feel much more efficient, confident and comfortable with taking action.

Feeling ashamed and embarrassed has changed into feeling proud of giving procrastination less of my time and energy than before.

Ironically, you might be procrastinating at this moment …

Is today your day to look yourself in the eye?

Is it your turn to transform procrastination into an empowering habit?

:))