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How To Master Procrastination
By
Rae-ann Wood-Schatz, Personal Mastery Coach |
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Procrastination… We all do it to some degree.
The question is: “How much does it have to hurt before you are willing to do something about it?”
In the Webster’s Dictionary the definition of procrastination is: “To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness.”
I believe that procrastination is a choice. Some of you may resist the idea that procrastination is a choice as ‘choice’ implies you have some power to impact or change your result. You do!
All behavior manifestations start with a thought or a belief. They may eventually evolve into a physiological manifestation, but if you ever hope to change your physiology you must change your thoughts. And to change your thoughts you must be accountable for your current frame of reference.
Here are the four simple reasons why most people procrastinate. (If you already are aware of what your map of reality is or the thought process that feeds your propensity to procrastinate, then you can move right to the suggested solutions.)
When Something Is Difficult
When you decide you lack the skill or expertise to do something your self talk will convince you not to even attempt it. You may choose something easier instead or not do anything at all. An interview with a co-worker resulted in the following admission: “Because I’m sure I won’t do something good enough, I don’t even bother trying or starting. I’m pretty sure I have a core negative belief about myself that is deeply rooted in perfectionism. This stops me from risking and results in procrastination.”
When Something Is Time Consuming
When you feel that a particular task is time consuming or will take up a considerable block of time, you will try to avoid ever starting! You will convince yourself that you must do something else that takes up less time.
When You Are Afraid
Generally, when you are afraid of failure in a particular task and you do not want everyone to know that you failed or to blame you for failing, you will procrastinate. You keep postponing the task.
When Something Appears To Be More Satisfying
This type of procrastinator views their responsibilities negatively and avoids them by directing energy into other tasks. It is common, for example, for relaxed type procrastinating children to abandon schoolwork but not their social lives. This type of procrastination is a form of denial. The procrastinator avoids situations that would cause displeasure, indulging instead in more enjoyable activities. In Freudian terms, such procrastinators refuse to renounce the pleasure principle, instead sacrificing the reality principle. They may not appear to be worried about work and deadlines but this is simply an evasion.
You may see yourself in one or more of the above examples. Regardless of which one or perhaps how many of them are true for you (you may even have a different motivator or reason) there is a solution. It begins with being accountable and acknowledging that you’re choosing not to do something. From there you must decide consciously what is motivating you to choose not to do the task. Once you are clear in what motivates you then you can re-frame the thought process to a new frame that empowers and motivates you to get it done!
Neuro Lingusitic Programming has a very fast technique for changing beliefs. It's based on the observation that whenever a belief changes, there's a transition from state to state that looks like this: Conviction -- Doubt -- Disbelief -- Open to a New Belief -- Uncertainty -- New Conviction. The assumption is that those states can be anchored just like anything else.
Below is a sample of the technique and includes an example by Nancy Grantham. Nancy was a classic procrastinator in regard to something as vital and important as choosing healthy food and an exercise program. It was always about tomorrow and tomorrow usually never came. Had she continued to procrastinate on these issues she may not have been here to share her experience. May her success and the example be an inspiration for you!
The technique involves six stations. When you're first starting this, you should write out the stations on pieces of paper and arrange them in a circle for added visual effect. The stations are:
1. Current Belief
2. Open to Doubt
3. Museum of Old Beliefs
4. New Belief
5. Open to Believing
6. Sacred Place
When you're doing the imagining, make sure you feel the total experience - visual, auditory and kinesthetic (feelings).
Stand at Station 1 (Current Belief). Think about your current belief and how it feels. Examples would be: “I don’t have enough time,” “I don’t have the skills necessary,” “I am afraid” and “I am lazy.”
Nancy: It’s too scary and risky to be thin and attractive. I believed that I needed the extra weight I carried in order to support me, to protect me. I had been raped and I believed it would be safer to be grossly obese rather than risk being attractive to the opposite sex. I also believed the weight would keep me in ill health and therefore safely dependent on others. The idea of being totally on my own, having my own career and being self supportive was far too scary an idea. There were a lot of reinforcing beliefs that kept me in my obese and ill body. Not only was I obese but I was disabled due to arthritis that I had since childhood (which was exacerbated by the weight).
Move to Station 2 (Open to Doubt) and think about something that you doubt and how that feels. Now think about your target belief and how it feels to doubt it. Examples would be times when you aren’t afraid or times when you have rose to a challenge despite a skill deficiency and actually got it done.
Nancy: My belief was open to doubt as I knew I wanted to be healthy and I knew I also wanted to have a loving intimate partnership. My belief that created the ill health and obesity did not allow for these possibilities. There was a lot of incongruence between what I wanted to experience in life and the options available at that weight and in that state of health. This created the opening of my mind to doubting old beliefs about what is attractive and what is safe. I wanted to be healthy and well, to experience life fully, have a loving partner and a rich career.
Move to Station 3 (Museum of Old Beliefs) and think about a belief that you used to have but no longer have and how that feels. Now think about your target belief and how it feels to no longer believe it. As you leave Station 3, imagine that you're leaving that belief behind in the museum.
Nancy: I knew I wanted something different. I also knew that once upon a time I was healthy, slim and had felt safe. So I knew I could imagine what safe, healthy and having a slim stature would look like. I had access to an alternate possibility – if only in my mind/imagination.
Move to Station 4 (New Belief) and think about the new belief you want to have.
Nancy: I thought about what it would feel like to have the loving partner and a rich career and I came to acknowledge that I could create all of those feelings inside my own self. I began to feel what it was like to actually love myself and to acknowledge the gifts that I had. I came to know that I did not have to hate myself because I was obese and ill but that it is through loving who I am that I get to create the alternate experience. As I thought about the life I wanted, the bottom line was that I wanted to experience respect and love and I thought a career and a body would do it. I found out the good news is that I did not have to rely on those things in order to love and respect myself.
Move to Station 5 (Open to Believing) and think about something you don't believe but are open to believing and how that feels. Now think of your target belief and how it feels to be open to it.
Nancy: When I thought about what I wanted as a career and what my gifts are I found direction and self love. When I thought about myself as a sensual and physical being worthy of love, I naturally began to treat myself differently in thought and belief. Then, by extension, I provided foods and activities to myself that fostered health and wellness. It was the change of belief and being open to what a different experience might be that made the difference in my life.
Move to Station 6 (Sacred Place) and think about one of your strongest and most sacred beliefs and how that feels. Now think about your target belief and how it feels to believe it with the same conviction.
Nancy: One of my most sacred beliefs is that there is a God and that the power of the love encased in that God is available to me. I have no idea if that God is a being or an energy and I do not care so much. I just know that there is a power that supports and loves me and that I walk with it always. When I think of how that loving power is there for me it becomes linked with my goals and dreams and they become stronger and more part of that loving power and indeed, anchored to it.
Once you feel anchored to the new possibility, kick into gear and take action. The more likely you are to push past your procrastination, the more motivated you will be to not CHOOSE procrastination ever again.
Author's Bio
Rae-ann Wood-Schatz is a Facilitator and Personal Mastery Coach who offers one-on-one coaching and also transformational seminars - Personal Best Seminars. To contact her call 780-408-5530 or to find out more about how to participate in experiences like those mentioned above, visit their website at www.personalbestseminars.com.
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