In this podcast I’m focusing on a common issue that many people struggle with.
What am I talking about?
The self-sabotaging habit of procrastination.
Do you procrastinate?
Do you put off doing things until tomorrow and find that tomorrow never comes?
Do you have dreams and ambitions but find you never actually get round to taking action?
And then, worst of all, do you find yourself beating yourself up all the time?
If there’s one thing that can really damage a person’s sense of self, cause unnecessary stress, and lead to constant feelings of misery and guilt, it is the habit of procrastination.
If you recognise this tendency in yourself then check out the strategies in this episode, regain your personal power and start to feel good about yourself.
Thanks for listening!
You can discover more about my work on my website: https://www.harinderghatora.co.uk
Follow me on Instagram for free information on healthy, balanced living: https://www.instagram.com/harinder_ghatora/
In this podcast I’m focusing on a common issue that many people struggle with.
What am I talking about?
The self-sabotaging habit of procrastination.
Do you procrastinate?
Do you put off doing things until tomorrow and find that tomorrow never comes?
Do you have dreams and ambitions but find you never actually get round to taking action?
And then, worst of all, do you find yourself beating yourself up all the time?
If there’s one thing that can really damage a person’s sense of self, cause unnecessary stress, and lead to constant feelings of misery and guilt, it is the habit of procrastination.
If you recognise this tendency in yourself then check out the strategies in this episode, regain your personal power and start to feel good about yourself.
Thanks for listening!
You can discover more about my work on my website: https://www.harinderghatora.co.uk
Follow me on Instagram for free information on healthy, balanced living: https://www.instagram.com/harinder_ghatora/
How to Overcome Procrastination
Hello, it’s Harinder here, Holistic Life Coach and counsellor, helping you to bring peace and balance back into your life.
It feels like life is waking up again; not only has Spring arrived here in the UK but we’re also gradually emerging from the restrictions of the lockdown.
I had an interesting conversation the other day with someone who made me realise that this transition isn’t necessarily going to be an easy one for some. The person I was talking to was joking about being a chronic procrastinator and was worried that she’ll never get back out into the world because she keeps putting everything off until tomorrow. Although she was laughing, I did sense some anxiety underneath. She was making light of an issue that was clearly troubling her.
In this podcast I’m going to focus on the issue she drew my attention to. It’s a very common problem and I know a lot of people struggle with it.
What am I talking about?
The self-sabotaging habit of procrastination.
Do you procrastinate?
Do you put off doing things until tomorrow and find that tomorrow never comes?
Do you have dreams and ambitions but find you never actually get round to taking action?
And then, worst of all, do you find yourself beating yourself up all the time?
If there’s one thing that can really damage a person’s sense of self, cause unnecessary stress, and lead to constant feelings of misery and guilt, it is this habit of procrastination.
If you recognise this tendency in yourself and want to change then what can you do about it?
Well, the main thing to remember is that procrastination is always a symptom of a deeper issue.
No matter how dysfunctional our behaviour seems on the surface, underneath we all only ever do things because we get something positive out of them. The outcome may not appear to be positive but there is a psychological pay off which needs to be understood if we are to break this habit.
I’m going to talk through seven of the most common reasons why a person doesn’t take action.
See if any of these ring true for you.
1. Fear of the Outcome
Fear can play a big part in procrastination. Are you frightened of failing? Frightened of being rejected? Frightened of being judged and of making a fool of yourself? Fears can stop us in our tracks and need to be unearthed and worked through.
It may seem crazy, but some people are even subconsciously frightened of succeeding. After all, it’s not always easy to deal with the consequences of success, especially in the modern world we live in with so much exposure.
2. Perhaps you feel helplessness in the face of complexity
Does what you need to do feel too difficult? It is easy to get overwhelmed, harassed and demoralised when tasks seem too challenging. We can all quickly end up feeling inadequate, incapable and unresourceful. When we’re faced with a job that feels too complicated and too hard it’s easy to understand why avoidance seems so appealing.
3. Rebellion
This is an interesting reason. Some tasks get imposed on us by others and this can cause us to feel resentful or even powerless. Is there any chance that you are choosing to rebel? Nobody likes to be coerced into doing things. I’m thinking back to school days and assignments now. Perhaps you’re consciously, or even unconsciously, trying to assert personal control over certain tasks by simply choosing not to do them?
4. Lack of motivation
Let’s face it, some of the things we have to do are just plain dull and boring. It takes a lot of effort to get motivated with tasks like this and again, avoidance can seem the most appealing option.
5. Lack of focus
We all know that modern life is full of endless distractions. This is an issue that previous generations didn’t have to grabble with as much as we do. Now, if we’re not particularly self-aware, focused and self-disciplined it’s easy to while away our precious time on everything but the task we’re meant to be working on. A lot of my younger clients have this problem, particularly with regard to their mobile phones and their university assignments and project deadlines.
6. Not knowing where or how to start
Some tasks are simply huge, and it’s easy to feel daunted by the size of the job in hand. It’s much simpler to just keep putting the task off until a later date purely because we don’t know where to begin.
And lastly, number 7. Perfectionism
I know this one very well. Do you set your standards so high that you either don’t finish tasks in a reasonable amount of time, or you have such unrealistic expectations that these act as a barrier to you even starting? Perfectionism kills productivity and can fuel many a person’s procrastination habit.
Procrastination is ultimately a showdown between two things: desire and fear.
If the desire to do something is greater than the fear of doing it, then it will get done.
If the fear of something is greater than the desire to do it, then it won’t get done.
If you are prone to putting things off, invest in some self-reflection time. Pick up a journal and write down your responses to the following questions.
Ask yourself what really prevents you from starting/completing this task. Think about the seven things I’ve just mentioned. Is it one, or a few, of these?
Ask yourself what am I afraid of? What could possibly happen if I started working towards this goal? Be honest with yourself. No-one is going to read your journal.
What do I get from not completing this task? This is a good question as it will unearth the resistance.
What do I lose by not completing this task? This question will draw the negative consequences of you not taking action into your conscious mind.
What would I gain if I completed this task? This question will highlight the positives and give you some motivational energy to get moving on your project.
How will I feel when this task is done and dusted? Allow yourself to travel into the future and tap into the wonderful feelings of having accomplished your task.
This sort of self-enquiry is really empowering. It was Carl Jung who said:
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”
When we do things unconsciously with little awareness, we can feel confused, frustrated and powerless. It is as if someone other than our conscious mind is calling the shots. However, when we gain some understanding of why we are behaving in a certain way we can begin to disarm the fear by seeing through it, and start to regain a degree of control and power over our inner and outer lives.
Once you’ve shone some light on the reasons behind your reluctance to get things done you could try and employ some of the following simple strategies for dealing with procrastination.
You could split big tasks into much smaller, more manageable chunks. This makes big goals much less daunting and much more achievable.
I have to employ this strategy regularly so that I don’t get overwhelmed and end up doing nothing.
Getting this podcast to you, for example, has involved nine separate little tasks.
· Deciding on a topic
· Writing the script
· Practicing reciting the script
· Recording the audio
· Editing the audio
· Uploading the audio onto the hosting site
· Writing the show notes
· Tidying and uploading the transcript
· And, promoting the podcast in my newsletter and social media feeds.
When you have smaller tasks to do you can focus on one at a time and set yourself clear deadlines for each one so that you keep your project moving.
Taking regular breaks has been shown to keep people focussed and motivated. As has giving yourself a reward whenever you finish each small task. It was my mum’s birthday yesterday so I’m off to have a cup of tea and some of her leftover birthday cake as soon as I finish writing this script.
Another thing that can help is consciously connecting with the feeling of achievement as each task is ticked off the list.
As distraction plays such a big part in all our lives and wastes so much time, you can get super focused by removing all distractions for a short while. Maybe leave your mobile phone in another room, turn off the TV, or go somewhere quiet where you can be alone and concentrate.
When I write scripts, I have to silence my phone and switch off my email notifications so I’m not forever being distracted by the next message.
Making yourself accountable by telling someone you are going to complete a task by a certain time can also help. Research shows that if we tell people our goals we are more likely to get then done.
If a job feels too complex then, instead of spending ages struggling with it, ask for help, advice, support or information from someone else. Or better still, if you can, delegate the job to others who have more knowledge or expertise in the relevant area.
The fabric conditioner dispenser isn’t working on my washing machine. I’m pretty sure I could figure out how to fix this problem by searching online and watching some YouTube videos but is this really worth my while when someone out there can do the job so much faster because they are the expert?
Another important thing to remember is that if a particular way of doing things is simply not working for you then don’t continue walking down the same non-productive path, try doing things in a different way.
Being realistic about what you can achieve, the quality of what you can produce and the timescales that you set yourself are also important. Sometimes we expect too much of ourselves and simply get overwhelmed with the pressure itself.
I used to fail spectacularly at this one. There were times when I’d get anxious and upset purely because I was imposing a ridiculously demanding deadline on myself.
We’ve already spoken about using journaling as a therapeutic tool to identify and process your feelings about any given task. The next time you find yourself not wanting to start or complete a project sit down with a journal and pen and explore the real reason behind the procrastination.
What exactly is it that’s preventing you from taking action? Once you’ve unearthed this you will find it easier to move through it.
Another powerful way in which to stay positive and motivated is to keep a diary of your accomplishments. Whenever you’re feeling down on yourself you can refer to it and get an instant self-esteem boost. There is a beautiful upward energetic spiral you can tap into with this. When you do something, you feel happy. When you feel happy, you have more energy. When you have more energy, you feel motivated to do more. This then drives you to accomplish more. And this in turn makes you feel happy and good about yourself, and so the spiral continues.
There’s another important point here. It’s about ensuring, as far as is possible, that you only agree to do those things in life that are truly aligned with your interests and passion. Motivation and energy naturally derive from the things we love to do. This always counteracts procrastination.
And finally, if procrastination is a well embedded habit in your life then regularly reciting affirmations to positively change your underlying beliefs can really help. Here are a few examples:
I am focussed, motivated and inspired. I always take action.
I work hard and I get things done.
I overcome challenges easily.
I love finalising projects.
I completely believe in myself and I get things done.
Getting things done within a relevant timescale has many benefits:
· your stress levels are reduced
· your focus and personal productivity increase
· you accomplish more
· and you feel good about yourself and your life.
If you’ve given everything a go and still find you can’t quite break this habit, then check out the services page on my website. Perhaps I can help.
Okay that’s it for now. I hope that’s been useful in some way. If you enjoyed listening, then do subscribe and be sure to get onto my mailing list from the home page of my website. There’s a link in the show notes.
Until next time…
Take excellent care of yourself… because we both know that if you don’t, no one else will.
Bye for now.