Procrastination 101
We’ve all had moments of procrastination. It’s so easy to put things off until later. For some, experiencing sporadic moments of procrastination doesn’t have a considerable negative impact. For others, regular procrastination has a significant impact on their daily life in the form of decreased motivation, confidence, goals, and progress. It can really take a toll once it becomes comfortable enough to be your default behavior. I help my Clients facilitate growth, mind management, and ultimately behavior change, so I spent some time trying to understand procrastination better myself. Here’s what I uncovered.
Let’s start with considering how self-destructive it can be to label yourself a “procrastinator”. You’re speaking in absolute terms and suggesting that you “always” procrastinate. This not only gives you an excuse to continue procrastinating, it could also become a self-fulfilling prophecy. You could use every future procrastination as further proof of truth . . . until it becomes a full blown belief.
What do you do about this? Change your language. Procrastination is not what you are, it’s a thing you sometimes do. Tell yourself, “I am not a procrastinator. I sometimes procrastinate”.
Now let’s go a little deeper. What’s a popular activity that people procrastinate? Working out. That’s the example I’ll use for the rest of the blog. (To gain some perspective into your situation, feel free to plug in your procrastinated activity every time you see “work out” in bold.) The activity of working out is neutral. This means that it’s not the actual activity of working out that leads you to procrastinate. It’s actually your experience with, judgment of, and thoughts and feelings about working out that cause you to procrastinate. It’s how you react (in your head and body) and the story you tell yourself when you think about working out that leads you to postpone or avoid altogether.
Consider it. If it’s really the the specific activity of working out, then why doesn’t everyone procrastinate doing it? If it really is so negative, then why is there a large number of people that love and look forward to it?
You have to look at YOUR personal relationship with it. If you have a pleasant perception of working out, grew up in a house that healthily encouraged it, and/or have a beneficial relationship with it, then your reaction to working out is probably going to be positive. You might procrastinate from time to time, but it’s not a chronic thing.
If you have an unfavorable perception of working out, grew up in a house that didn’t do it at all, and/or don’t have the confidence to get started or maintain it, then your reaction to working out is probably going to be negative. More than likely, you see it as unpleasant and the emotions that come up for you around it are probably also unpleasant. Humans just aren’t designed to appreciate and enjoy unpleasant things, right?
If you’re flooded with unpleasant thoughts or emotions at the very moment that you think about working out or when you’re getting ready to go work out, THIS is what causes you to avoid or delay. You are, whether you’re aware of it or not, trying to avoid those negative thoughts and feelings. It’s not the actual task you’re trying to avoid. Think about it . . . how many times do you push through those negative thoughts and emotions, go work out, and feel awesome after? Every single time! You know it’s going to make you feel good after it’s complete, but it’s extremely difficult to overcome all the unpleasant judgments in the here and now.
In order to work out more, you must overcome procrastination.
In order to overcome procrastination, you must challenge and change your negative/unpleasant thoughts and feelings about working out.
So how in the hell do you do that??” The answer is simple, but not easy. You must create positive thoughts and emotions around working out. Your goal is to have more positive than negative ones. When this happens, the positive thoughts and emotions will ultimately overshadow the negative (most of the time).
Think of something you love doing. I bet it’s something you rarely procrastinate. I bet it makes you feel good. I bet you have positive past experiences with it. I bet you even look forward to doing it. How can you view working out in the same way? It will look different for everyone. Here are some questions to help you get started:
1. What are my immediate thoughts when I’m preparing to go work out?
Example: “I’ll look stupid.” “It’s not effective.” “I’m too tired.” “I don’t have time.”
2. How does it make me feel when I think about working out?
Example: fearful, sad, anxious, guilty, overwhelmed.
3. How would you like to feel when you think about working out?
Example: proud, inspired, eager, confident.
4. Update your negative thoughts to help generate this emotion(s) when you think about working out.
Every time you have this negative thought, stop, take a breath, and replace it. Example: update “I’m too tired.” –––> “Working out will give me energy.” Or “It’s not effective.” –––> “It will be effective if I can stick to it. Working out regularly will help me live a long, healthy life.”
5. What’s one action you can take that will reinforce these thoughts and feelings?
This one has to be YOUR choice. It has to fit into your lifestyle, schedule, and interests. Example: if you’re too tired, work out for just 15 minutes. Some exercise is better than no exercise. Or if you’re concerned that you’ll get bored, choose a few different exercises that interest you.
6. Identify the obstacle to your action step and then come up with a way to overcome it.
Example: let’s say you only have time to work out at night, but you’re too tired. Find a work out that isn’t as intense—like yoga nidra. Or let’s say you can’t find the time during the week, start with a small work out on the weekends when there’s more spare time.
The most important thing to remember is that it took a long time to create these negative thoughts and emotions around the activity you procrastinate, so it will take time to create positive ones. Be patient. Take it step by step. Be content with where you are in the process. Get excited that you’re doing SOMETHING (because something is better than nothing). Remind yourself often that overcoming procrastination is more about the way you think and feel about the activity than the activity itself. By finding ways to discover, build, and establish beneficial thoughts and emotions around this activity, you will slowly procrastinate less and less.
Every time you push through procrastination and do the activity, it’s reinforcing your positive thoughts and emotions.
