INTRODUCTION
The temptation and actual process of procrastinating has brought many woes to many artists over the years, and continues to be something that we seem to have to work and struggle against in any creative endeavor that we might undertake.
But what if you could turn procrastination into an asset? Sort of like a spy who turns someone against their own organization, and then that person becomes a spy for you, for your organization. What if we could do that with procrastination? What if we could make it work for us, rather than against us? I think this is possible, and I'm going to explain why. So first of all, we should talk about what procrastination does.
1. Procrastination is the great energy sucker.
It takes just as much energy to AVOID doing something than to actually do it. So whether you're facing the project ahead of you or procrastinating, it's draining you of your vital creative energy.
2. Procrastination makes us doubt ourselves and our abilities.
Procrastination makes us feel bad about ourselves because we realize we're not living up to our full potential. And a lot of times we don't know why we're procrastinating. We think, "What's wrong with me?" There's so much self- loathing that goes into the notion of procrastination.
3. Procrastination disconnects us from ourselves.
Procrastination shows us that we are not actually in touch with ourselves; what we truly want and what we truly need. In fact, it usually means we operating under the bonds of obligation.
FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLE TO UNDERSTAND WHY WE PROCRASTINATE: People do what they want to do.
There were a lot of areas of procrastination in my life, and at the end of the day, it was because I had made commitments to do this or that, that in reality I didn't want to do. I had consciously agreed to things that deep down I didn’t want to do, and my subconscious had taken over in the form of procrastination. People do what they want to do. If they don't want to do something, they don't do it.
UP NEXT
Next week, we will explore part two of this quest - how to actually turn procrastination into an asset.
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SPECIAL THANKS
The Mission with Zena Dell Lowe would like to thank composer Carla Patullo for the original music she graciously permits us to use in the intro and outro of this podcast. To find out more about this amazing talent, go to www.carlapatullo.com
Tags: Artist, Artists, Psychology, Procrastination, Self-sabotage, Self-help, Writing tips, Writing, Writers, Story, Storytelling, Storytellers, Zena Dell Lowe, Mission Ranch Films, The Storytellers Mission, The Mission with Zena Dell Lowe
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Ep. 27 - Procrastination 1
Thu, 10/1 5:35PM • 18:29
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
procrastination, procrastinate, zena, week, storyteller, procrastinating, people, feel, podcast, artists, baffled, listening, sister, depressed, writer, christmas, catan, listeners, avoid, settlers
SPEAKERS
Zena Dell Lowe
Zena Dell Lowe 00:06
INTRO: Hello, and welcome to the storyteller's mission with Zena Dell Lowe, a podcast for artists and storytellers about changing the world for the better through story.
Zena Dell Lowe 00:15
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Over the weekend, I found a message in my inbox from somebody that's been listening to the show since the very beginning, and I want to share it with you because it speaks to what I believe to be my personal responsibility to you, my listeners. So this person wrote, "Zena. I just listened to Episode 25. I loved it. The example from Stargate was perfect. The explanation of how to use props to amp up visuals and emotions was truly golden. And your advice on dialogue was great as always. I'm still learning something usable in each episode. Fantastic." So thank you to the person that wrote me this message, because I can't even tell you how much it means to me to know that the information that I'm sharing each week on this podcast is actually resonating with people, it's actually practical and usable in terms of helping you up your game as a writer, as a storyteller.
Zena Dell Lowe 01:18
Now, it reminds me of a very terrible saying that I'm sure you have all heard. The one that says, "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." Now, I hate that saying, because of course, I'm a teacher. And I'm also a writer. However, I believe teaching is its own gifting. And in fact, I believe that that's primarily what I've been called to do at this stage in my career. My personal mission is to come alongside other writers and storytellers and to help them achieve excellence in their craft, and God willing, success in their particular industry. Now this podcast has been a bit of an experiment. I needed to make sure that what I had to share would actually resonate with people. And the only promotion of the show I've done is to my friends on social media. So let me tell you something: if you're listening to this show, it's because something bigger than me led you here. And I'm blown away by the reach of this podcast. Do you know that we have listeners in 19 countries, in over 350 cities around the world? And I notice. Each week, I notice these places that continue to listen and support the show, week after week after week. Places like Medina, Ohio; Chesapeake, Virginia; and to my international listeners, those of you in Canada and Australia and England, and whoever you are in Clichy il de France. You guys are the core of my mission. You are the people I'm meant to serve. I want to thank you. And I also want to reward you. To that end, next week I will be making two very important announcements, so I encourage you to tune in, to come back next week, and you'll see how I intend to make good on that desire. In the meantime, however, let's dive in to this week's podcast.
Zena Dell Lowe 03:22
So over the last few weeks we've been exploring craft from the point of view of actors, and what actors can teach us about writing. In two weeks, we're going to launch into another miniseries, and this one is going to be on how to write great dialogue. Whether you're a screenwriter, a playwright or a novelist, dialogue can make or break your story. So we're going to address this aspect of the writer's craft in depth and discover both the principles and the tools that you can use to excel in this area of story.
Zena Dell Lowe 03:54
PRESENTATION: Today, however, I want to talk to you about something else that I think has come to be seen as an enemy to the artist. It's something that trips us up over and over, something that gets in our way and prevents us from accomplishing either what we've been called to accomplish, or what we want to accomplish in our own heart, and that is procrastination. Now, any artists that I've ever known has struggled against this great foe. The temptation, the actual process of procrastinating, has brought many woes to many artists over the years, and continues to be something that we all seem to have to work against and plan against and struggle against in any creative endeavor that we might undertake. But what I would like to submit to you today is the idea that procrastination isn't, in fact, the enemy. What if you could turn procrastination into an asset? What if you could make procrastination your friend? Sort of like a spy who turns someone against their own organization, and then that person becomes a spy for you and for your organization. What if that's procrastination? What if we could turn it and make it work for us, rather than against us? Well, I believe that that's possible. I believe that procrastination is something that we can actually learn from, rather than something we simply have to fight against all the days of our lives. And I'm going to explain why.
Zena Dell Lowe 05:32
So first of all, we should talk about what procrastination does. Number one, procrastination is the great energy sucker.
Zena Dell Lowe 05:41
It really is. For one thing, it takes just as much energy to avoid doing something, than to actually do it. So whether you're facing the project ahead of you or procrastinating, it's draining you of your vital creative energy. We gain nothing by avoiding it. And we know that, on some level, which is perhaps why we hate ourselves when we do it. Procrastination is the thing that, when we participate in it, boy, that inner critic of ours goes into overdrive. It chastises us. It tells us how horrible we are. How stupid we are, how lazy and undisciplined we are, what bad people we are, what failures, we are. It tells us that we will never be successful, and that we might as well just give up. And before we know it, we're sapped of all our creative energy and we wallow in self doubt and self hate and wonder why we can't seem to get anything done that really matters to us. Is this ringing a bell with anyone? So the first thing we need to understand is that procrastination gives us nothing. It is the great energy sucker, and it drains us of all our creative energy.
Zena Dell Lowe 06:57
Number two, procrastination also makes us doubt ourselves and our abilities.
Zena Dell Lowe 07:04
When we procrastinate something long enough, we begin to feel like, well, maybe we really can't do that thing. Maybe we really aren't up to snuff. Maybe we really don't have what it takes to do it. It makes us feel bad about ourselves because we realize we're not living up to our full potential. And a lot of times we don't know why we're procrastinating. We don't know why. We just didn't get to it. And that's the truth. We'll be like, "Dang, I meant to do that today and I had that on my plate to do for a month and once again it was the only thing I was going to do today and once again I didn't do it. Geez, what's wrong with me?" It makes us doubt ourselves, it makes us doubt our abilities.
Zena Dell Lowe 07:47
Number three. Procrastination also disconnects us from ourselves because it makes us feel so powerless. It makes us feel baffled and confused.
Zena Dell Lowe 07:56
It really is one of those deals where we constantly find ourselves baffled by ourselves. We find ourselves confused by what we're not doing, when we know very well what we want to do, and we still don't do it. In fact, it really reveals the weakness of the human person in a lot of ways. And so there can be spent a great many number of days just recovering from the abusive language that we speak to ourselves when we do this. And then what do we do? We try to beat ourselves into submission and force ourselves to comply, and then we may or may not get going on it, and that's the worst part. The worst part is, if you actually do chastise yourself, and then the next day rolls around, and you do the exact same thing. And the inevitable result is that you become fairly hopeless. I mean, it becomes this vicious abusive cycle. So that's what procrastination has the power to do.
Zena Dell Lowe 08:55
So we've talked about a few of the ways that procrastination affects an artist, but now I want to talk about why we do it. Why do we procrastinate?
Zena Dell Lowe 09:08
Now, by way of illustration, I am going to tell you a personal story about myself. And it happened a couple of years ago. I had just gone through a second divorce. I was fairly depressed. I was in recovery for childhood trauma issues that I had only recently discovered I needed to address. My divorce was painful. I had very few people left in my life, which is why, for Christmas that year, I was supposed to go to my sister's boyfriend's parent's house. This was literally the only option I had, and believe me, I was grateful for it. And yet I was depressed because it was literally the only option I had. So here I was, I was going to go to my sister's boyfriend's parent's house for Christmas and the morning of Christmas rolls around and what do I do? I stay in bed. I not only stay in bed, I stay in bed playing Settlers of Catan. And I know time is ticking by. I know it. I was awake by 8am, I'm supposed to be at my sister's by nine to watch her kids open presence and then they were going to go to their dad's house and my sister and I were going to go to her boyfriend's parent's house. Those were the plans. I knew them, and yet, there I am just letting time fly by, and ignoring my phone, which, by the way, is blowing up. I can hear the buzz of text messages between rings. And I'm just, "Doo doo doo," playing Settlers of Catan. What in the world?
Zena Dell Lowe 10:41
Finally, around 11, I finally jerk myself out of this trancelike state and answer, and my sister is beside herself with worry. "Where are you? Is everything okay? We've already opened presents. Why aren't you here? What's going on?" And I didn't answer at the time because all of a sudden I realized, oh my gosh, I am such a jerk. So I just said, "I'm sorry. I got distracted. I lost track of time. I'm on my way." And I quickly quickly quickly got ready, got in my car, drove over, and the whole time on the drive over I'm thinking, "What the hell is wrong with me? My sister was worried sick. They were all waiting for me and I ruined everyone's Christmas. Why? To play Settlers of Catan?". I was so baffled by my own actions that I could hardly function.
Zena Dell Lowe 11:27
So, I'm in counseling at the time, and about a week later I went to my appointment, and I told my counselor what had happened. I told him that I didn't really understand why I had done what I had done; why I had procrastinated. And I was able to piece together at that time that maybe it was because I'm depressed because my only option was going to my sister's boyfriend's parents house for Christmas. I don't have any life of my own. I don't have anywhere else to go. I have to be a tagalong. I have to be the redheaded stepchild, and I felt humiliated. And my therapist is actually smiling at me, and he kind of chuckles, and he says, "Zena, there's another reason why you procrastinated. It's much simpler." And I'm like, "There is?" And he said, "Yeah. You didn't want to go." And I'm like, "What?" So he says it again. "You didn't want to go. You didn't want to go so you didn't go. It doesn't have to be more complicated than that." And I'm like, "Yeah, but.... But why? Is it because I was depressed or because I felt like I was a loser or, or what was going on inside of me? And he said, "Zena, you didn't want to go." And he said, "Let me tell you something funny about people. People do what they want to do. People do the things that they want to do." He said, "When it comes to your family or certain other important things in your life, you feel a profound sense of obligation. So much so that you never stopped to ask yourself how you feel about something. What do you want in that situation? What do you need? You never ask those questions because you feel so obligated it doesn't occur to you that you might want something different. So when you were invited to go to your sister's boyfriend's parents house for Christmas, you just assumed that that's what you ought to do, and you never even stopped to consider whether or not it's something you wanted. But the truth is, we don't do what we don't want to do, so on a subconscious level, you knew you didn't want to do it. So what happened? Your subconscious took over and you avoided it. And this is kind of a pattern for you, as it is for many people."
Zena Dell Lowe 13:55
Huh. So for the next few months, I put this theory to the test. I embarked on a Zena Dell Lowe procrastination watch party, where I would observe myself and these areas where I was procrastinating without judgment. And sure enough, in every single area of my life that I procrastinated. At the end of the day, every single one of them were because I had made commitments here or there or committed myself to doing something, but I didn't actually want to do it. So I wouldn't do it. I would avoid it and avoid it, and avoid it. I had consciously agreed to do something that deep down I didn't want to do, and I've never even allowed myself to consider the possibility that I didn't want to do it. They were good things to do. And it made me feel like I was a bad person for not wanting to do them. But eventually, I came to realize that my therapist was right. People do what they want to do. If they want to do something, they do it.
Zena Dell Lowe 14:59
So what does this mean?
Zena Dell Lowe 15:03
Well, next week, we're going to unpack this more. If it's true that people procrastinate because they don't want to do certain things, then what does that look like to you? How do you use that to actually turn procrastination into your friend? How do you use that information to totally transform your experience with procrastination and, hopefully, figure out ways to use it as an asset? That's what we'll talk about next week.
Zena Dell Lowe 15:36
OUTRO: Until then, thank you so much for listening to the storyteller's mission with Zena Dell Lowe. May you go forth inspired to change the world for the better through story.