Procrastination: Why you do it and how to stop!

Hands up if you love a spot of procrastination?

What’s your distraction of choice?  Scrolling social media? Making yourself a snack?  Cleaning out your cupboards? Replying to non-urgent emails to clear out your inbox? Checking your bank account?

I’m guilty of all of the above!  I am a MASTER in the art of procrastination!

You too?

Have you ever wondered WHY you do it?

Check out the video below or read on for my take!

WHY DO YOU PROCRASTINATE?

If you’re anything like me, you procrastinate for one main reason …

FEAR.

And it's normally one of two fears:

(1) Fear of failing - you have high expectations for yourself, you’re scared you won't meet them, so you avoid this potential reality but avoiding the task all together.

(2) Fear of missing out - you have SO MUCH STUFF to do, by choosing to do one thing, you miss out on doing other things, so you sit in overwhelm, analysis paralysis or indecision and end up doing nothing.

This fear makes you feel UNCOMFORTABLE.  And you can avoid feeling uncomfortable in the short term by distracting yourself and procrastinating.  

But, as you’ll no doubt be verrrrry familiar with, procrastination is simply a short term delay tactic.  And eventually you need to face the situation at hand.

So how can you cut the procrastination habit and cut to the chase (so you get more done!)?

HOW CAN YOU STOP PROCRASTINATING? 

This is going to sound a little odd, but I promise you it works …

The cure for procrastination is to:

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable!

The more you can practice noticing, accepting and being with feelings of discomfort.  And the more you can practice the feeling your fear and taking action anyway, the more likely you are to lean into the uncertainty and discomfort associated with difficult tasks/people/things.  And the more likely you are to take decisive action when faced with overwhelm.

And you wanna know the best way to practice getting comfortable with being uncomfortable?

Yep - you guessed it!  PRACTICING MINDFULNESS!

Practicing mindfulness helps you create a better relationship with your thoughts, feelings and emotions (especially those pesky fears of failure and of missing out).  And when you create a better relationship with your thoughts and feelings - you have greater control over your actions!

Sounds too good to be true right? I promise it’s not!