If you were to survey amongst those people closest to you, you might discover that for many procrastination is a behavior pattern that causes a lot of grief.
The knowledge that life is passing you by while you are putting off doing those things that would make you happier, healthier and more productive causes a lot of mental and physical tension.
You may well ask "why can't I get started?" There are two broad sources of procrastination. The first is the fear that your efforts will not be good enough and thus by avoiding action, you avoid judgment and disappointment.
The second relates to a sense of being overwhelmed. In some cases this reflects underlying depression-which should be evaluated by a physician if you suspect this applies to you.
Russian spiritual teacher Gurdjieff (1866-1949) stated that we have three selves that we need to balance: ACTING, FEELING and THINKING. When one part is either deficient or overactive, we cannot function at our best.
The procrastinator may channel too much energy to the thinking self and manifest the condition known as "paralysis by analysis." Or it may be that there is too much action without consideration of priorities and in trying to be "all things to all people at all times perfectly" the old batteries get drained to a dangerously low level.
In either situation, it is important to perform a self-assessment and clarify priorities. Let's use the example of someone who chronically pays bills late and in racks up a lot of late fees in the process.
Current situation- "I usually pay my bills late and I get charged late fees. As a result I feel angry with myself and wonder why I just don't pay them when they come in-after all I do have the money."
Desired situation- "I pay the bills when they come in. As a result I feel more relaxed and have one less thing to worry about."
Note that the positive feelings are the result of changing the behavior, not the other way around. Quite often a person will offer the excuse "but I don't just don't FEEL like doing it right now."
Well, if you always wait for the right feeling, you may be waiting for a very long time and consistency is not going to be your strong suit!
After you have identified your priorities, it is very helpful for the person overcoming chronic procrastination to devote a fair amount of time each day to create a schedule or itinerary, the more detailed the better. In some ways this is actually an ideal "lazy man or woman's" approach to living since you get more done with less effort.
Note: It is very important to actually write things down when doing this kind of work-it cements it into the nervous system so to speak.
If you are interested in pursuing some more intensive work on overcoming procrastination, the Conquer Procrastination is a self-directed 5 day program that includes assessment and scheduling exercises that will help get you on the right track and stay there. Your investment is just $5.97.
Please note this course is in PDF format and it will be sent to your email address-if you want a paper copy you can easily print it out.
Purchase the through the Pay Pal button below and I will get the program to you ASAP (
usually within a couple of hours. I have already taken the course-ha-ha!)
P.S. - The procrastination problem can also be addressed with a hypnosis counseling program.
