Isn't it amazing how having one really important thing to do can result in all those less important things suddenly jumping the priority queue?
So those really important items get crammed up against a deadline, we get all stressed about it, and we beat ourselves up at least as much as we expect someone else to beat us up for not delivering on time.
Is procrastination related to the observation that work always expands to fill the time available, plus a bit more? It’s as if there’s a self-adjusting pressure regulator – we need to feel a particular level of pressure before we can feel satisfied with a conclusion. Or is it just something that happens when your head says ‘do it’ but your heart’s not in it?
Procrastination can help us to feel busy, important, burdened, pressured, resentful, guilty, misunderstood, used, abused, rebellious, indispensable, and even powerful! Yet some people can lie on the beach (or the couch) all day and do nothing. For others (well me anyway), time out is a maintenance need that you can always put off for a bit longer!
Certainly, some of the best creativity I’ve seen only happens under pressure – pressure strong enough to generate ‘out of the box’ thinking. Teams ‘get their acts together’ most effectively in times of crisis – and so managers often need to create the crisis to spark that forward movement.
So what is it about human nature that demands a certain pressure in order to bring out our best? Without pressure do we revert to lizard consciousness?
I could come up with a number of tips for curing procrastination, such as ‘remove distractions’ – but I don’t feel like it right now – and anyway this blog isn’t due for couple of days yet! But seriously, there’s little point in struggling with the effects if you don’t understand the cause – so let’s look deeper.
What are the typical things that you procrastinate over? Housework; study requirements; work projects for your boss; making phone calls; getting out of bed; completing tax forms; ending a relationship; getting a job; projects for yourself; firing someone; asking for a date; facing conflict; delivering bad news; taking a holiday? Identify your favourites here or add your own.
Now, what is the typical self-talk that you use around those items – ‘have to’; ‘must’; ‘they want me to’; ‘no choice’; ‘I’ll try to’; ‘I’m afraid to’? Typically we see the pressure to perform as being external to us. But whether external, internal, real or artificial, it is almost always emotional pressure.
Could it be that procrastination gives us a sense that those external forces do not control us – at least during the period when we are actively procrastinating? Perhaps I can hold on to the notion that I am a free agent in charge of my own destiny? But as a deadline approaches the internal pressure may become the superior force and I get on with the task at hand only when the free agent fantasy is overwhelmed by the rising level of panic?
So let’s go still deeper… what are the feelings that underlie the self-talk – name them. Are those feelings around being powerless or humiliated? Or about feeling unappreciated or undervalued? Or about feeling stupid or incapable? Or about…?
Whatever those feelings and possibly even strong emotions – sure enough, they’re yours! And there is your key to freedom. The joy of procrastination is that it puts you right in touch with your very own personal emotional nature. As a procrastinator you’re facilitating your own self-contained personal development workshop!
So let’s go still deeper… what are the feelings that underlie the self-talk – name them. Are those feelings around being powerless or humiliated? Or about feeling unappreciated or undervalued? Or about feeling stupid or incapable? Or about…?
Whatever those feelings and possibly even strong emotions – sure enough, they’re yours! And there is your key to freedom. The joy of procrastination is that it puts you right in touch with your very own personal emotional nature. As a procrastinator you’re facilitating your own self-contained personal development workshop!
So acknowledge those feelings to yourself (they are longing to be acknowledged!), then choose to express them – or to indulge them – or not. Procrastination is a flag being waved by those unacknowledged feelings – and they won’t go away without your attention.
When you examine those feelings it very likely you will discover that they are only vaguely related to the reality of the task at hand. The task is simply reminding you of them and the low priority you have assigned to them. Very often the energy that goes into resisting them is greater than the energy required to complete the task!
And where is the joy? Well, by properly acknowledging those old negative feelings you can make room for the positive feelings that could come from mastering the task at hand with ease and grace.
That will allow your heart to get back into the game. Don’t ever put that off!
What’s your experience?
Your own VitallyMe Personal Development Guide will also help you get your heart back into the game of life… www.vitallyme.com
Robert, I agree with the notion that procrastination can be a part inside of us crying for attention. More importantly, I like the correlation to a flag being waved, as an indicator that we're possibly not in tune with our inner-self. It's similar to another flag that was pointed out to me – guilt – when we feel guilty it can indicate that we're stepping away from our truth. That said, a notable aspect of procrastination is, as you say, that sometimes we excel under pressure. Determining the balance between letting something go until you know you'll "pull a rabbit out of the hat" or simply not giving into external forces you believe are controlling you, requires being genuinely aware of how you best perform in different circumstances and being in control of that awareness.
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