Are you procrastinating by reading this blog post about procrastination? This is why I love you & this is why we are friends.
If you are like me, you have some kind of mental narrative about your procrastination that goes something like.. “why do I do this? I’m so lazy! why can’t I just get my act together?” I know you give yourself a hard time about putting things off, so I am sharing my 3 secrets to conquering procrastination:
Give yourself a break. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who didn’t procrastinate. The first thing you need to realize is that the reason you do this is because you’re a human & as a creature, you’re programmed to seek pleasure, avoid pain, and use as little energy as possible doing it. This served us really well in the olden days when we needed to literally stay safe in the cave, but now it just makes us want to order takeout and watch Netflix in bed all day (every day) which isn’t helpful. We aren’t made to want to do hard things and stretch ourselves but sometimes we need to so we can chase bigger goals. So don’t beat yourself up for procrastinating – it’s a human thing.
Ask yourself. Instead of asking yourself why you procrastinate in a judgemental & mean way, ask in a curious way. “What am I gaining from procrastinating?” Look inside and see if you can find the deeper reason without resorting to fake answers like “I’m lazy.” Inception moment: “I’m lazy” is the lazy way to answer the question of why you are really procrastinating.
Take a small step. What is one thing you can do right now to get closer to the goal you want to achieve or the thing you need to do? You don’t have to do the whole huge project, you can do a small piece. If you need to clean your room, this looks like finally putting away that clean laundry in the basket you have been picking out of all week. If you want to get into an exercise routine, this looks like telling yourself you only have to take a 5 minute walk then you can come back. Chances are that once you start, you will want to keep going, but even if that doesn’t happen this time, you’ll still have made some progress.
Bonus secret: Make it fun. I don’t know if I’ve ever cleaned something in my life without either watching a show, talking on the phone, or listening to music or a podcast. Scrubbing toilets, unloading the dishwasher, folding laundry.. this is boring stuff. It’s ok to make it fun. Whatever it takes to get it done. #rhyming
If procrastination is not the only thing you beat yourself up about, friend, you have got to join me for my online class, Quit Talking Shit. You deserve better than the way you treat yourself & I can help. Think of it as couples therapy for your relationship with yourself. Click here for all the info.
