How to Stop Procrastinating
Procrastination – we hear the word all the time and most of us say that it’s something we struggle with. But, surprise, surprise, let’s actually take a sec to define it:
Dictionary.com says: the action of delaying or postponing something.
True.
But I wanted to dive in more because, well that’s just me. I’m an over-the-top kind of gal so I took the liberty of reading a few articles about procrastination.
One of the articles that I read defined procrastination as the primacy of short-term mood repair over the longer-term pursuit of intended actions aka you’re focusing more on the immediate urgency of managing a negative mood than moving forward and doing the actual task.
Procrastination comes in all shapes and sizes. The way I procrastinate tends to look “productive” so I’ll decide it’s a great time to declutter my closet or organize the spice cabinet for example, whereas I know some friends who procrastinate by scrolling TikTok for an hour – and I’m here to tell you one really isn’t better than the other because both people still end up with a task with an impending deadline looming closely over their heads.
I don’t know about you but when I have a lingering deadline that I keep pushing off, I stress out and it affects all areas of my life. I might be short with my husband, distant from my friends, and it also sucks when I’m actually trying to rest at the end of each day and I can’t even do that well because guilt is eating away at my brain because of that dang task I keep tip-toeing around.
Truly no one is winning when procrastination is involved because what needs to be done isn’t being done AND your mind is consumed with the fact that you’re not doing that task. Procrastination is a massive energy suck all around.
Then why do we all do this? Why do we continuously put ourselves in the position to procrastinate over and over again?
In the article I mentioned a little bit ago, I read something that blew my dang mind and honestly made procrastination make so much sense:
A doctor referenced in the article, Dr. Hershfield, has done some research that has shown that on a neural level when we think about our “future selves” we actually view them as a stranger rather than as a part of ourselves. The research goes on to explain that when we procrastinate, there is a part of our brain that thinks that task or tasks we’re putting off along with any negative feelings associated with not doing the task that is waiting for us on the other side are somebody else’s problem.
EXCUSE ME?
That is wild to me! Our current self views our future self as a stranger! So basically when we procrastinate our brain is saying, “Not my problem so whatever, I’m gonna do what feels easy right now” when clearly it IS our problem.
One thing I do every morning to try and bridge this gap between my present self and my future self is 5 minutes of “future self-meditation.” I don’t know if there is a legit framework or something to follow to do this but I just take some time every morning to look at my vision board, close my eyes, and imagine myself showing up for my life in a way that aligns with what’s on my vision board.
I imagine myself doing the daily habits that align with the goals that are on the board. Maybe that sounds weird but I dare you to try it for a week before you knock it!
Let’s get into some action steps that can help with procrastination because you know I’m all about calling you (and myself, lol) out and UP. I’ll never just leave you hanging and tell you, “Good luck figuring that out!”
I’ve come up with 3 reasons or problems that may be contributing to why you’re procrastinating and a potential solution for each one.
Problem #1: You’re not honoring your energy.
Let me explain what I mean when I talk about honoring your energy. Some people may hear it and think honoring about it like an orb or aura or something mystical but NO that’s not what I’m talking about.
When I say your energy, I mean your vigor - the strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity.
When you’re not honoring your energy, that means that you aren’t doing things in a way that makes sense for how you’re wired. You’re essentially working against yourself and making things a whole lot more difficult for yourself.
This is actually our topic inside the BFF Membership for quarter 2 – How to Manage (and Honor) Your Energy because it’s something I’m passionate about teaching women to do after seeing such a massive shift in my own life after learning that energy management is just as important (honestly, to me, it’s more important) than time management.
We all have 24 hours in a day but I don’t think that all of those hours are created equally.
That’s why in the BFF membership this quarter, I’m teaching the BFFs how to figure out and optimize their energy zones.
If you’re not a BFF but you’re like UM EXCUSE ME, I need help with managing my energy, too, I’ve got you – that is a big part of what I teach inside the How to Create Your Peacefully Productive Schedule Course which you can enroll in anytime.
If you find yourself putting tasks off pretty often, it might be because you’re trying to do certain tasks when you truly don’t have the mental capacity to do them.
Solution #1: Structure your schedule to align with your energy.
Basically, what this means is to do the right things at the right times. Scheduling things in a way that makes sense.
I know I keep mentioning the BFF membership BUT it’s my favorite part of my job so not sorry! Part of what we do is read a book or 2 together every quarter that goes along with our topic and this quarter we are reading a book called At Your Best: How to Get Time, Energy, and Priorities Working in Your Favor by Carey Nieuwhof and it is so in alignment with what I teach through Hustle Sanely!
Carey teaches people to figure out what times their zones are and what kind of tasks fit in each zone. Let me explain what these zones are:
⋒ Green zone: You’re energized and should schedule very important tasks
⋒ Yellow zone: You’ve got moderate energy and should schedule moderately important tasks
⋒ Red zone: where you schedule draining and lower importance tasks
For example, I know that my green zone hours are roughly 7:30-10:30 AM and then 2:00-3:00 PM. I schedule my most important tasks that take the most mental energy during those blocks of time: podcast scriptwriting, product development, and vision casting. It would be a waste to fill those blocks of time with tasks like answering e-mails, editing content, or taking calls because I can do tasks like those just fine in my yellow zone.
Research tells us that we each have 3-4 hours a day where we are truly productive so keep that in mind and don’t go trying to be unrealistic and say that your green zone is from 10 AM-10 PM because no, not possible, lol.
In the Peacefully Productive Schedule Course, there are exercises that help you figure out what time of day you do certain tasks best so that you can structure your schedule to align with your energy as best as you can.
To sum this action step up – figure out what time your zones are and then figure out what tasks need to be done in which zones.
Problem #2: Your tasks are too broad.
This is the one that I used to struggle with THE MOST before my Hustle Sanely days. I would look at tasks as a whole instead of breaking them down into doable action steps and I’d feel overwhelmed before I even started the task because it felt so big and daunting.
I’d find myself putting the task off over and over again to try and avoid that overwhelmed feeling which, as I’m sure you can guess, led me to feel even more overwhelmed because not only was I overwhelmed by the task itself but I was overwhelmed for being behind on my deadline. BIG YIKES.
Here are some examples of tasks that might be on your to-do list and are too broad, causing you to procrastinate:
⋒ Write term paper
⋒ Design 2023 planner
⋒ Look for a new job
These are multifaceted tasks so when you see them on your to-do list it’s like you’re looking at the whole mountain instead of the next step in front of you.
Solution #2: Narrow your focus.
You’ve got to break these big tasks down into more specific action steps. If you’ve been around here for a while, you might know the Hustle Sanely method of doing this:
We use the S.W.I.T.C.H. Goal Mapping Method to break our big goals/to-dos into doable steps. You don’t have to use the S.W.I.T.C.H. Goal Mapping Method only for long-term goals – you can use the framework to help you tackle more intricate tasks on your to-do list, too.
For example, let’s go with the “look for a new job” example.
If you put “look for a new job” on your daily to-do list, you’ll probably put it off because you don’t know where to start. That’s too broad of a to-do.
Let’s break that sucker down.
What are 3 action steps that you can take that fall under looking for a new job?
⋒ Update your resume.
⋒ Write a cover letter template
⋒ Practice answering interview questions
Way less daunting, right? You know what to do when you see these tasks on your to-do list because they are action steps.
And you can break these down even further if you need to.
When I’m sitting down to work on my tasks, something I remind myself often is, “Keep the main thing the main thing” which means don’t make something into something it’s not. We get to decide how we respond to any situation so choose to focus on doing what needs to be done instead of creating a daunting/drawn-out scenario in your mind.
I know that one of my biggest distractions when it comes to staying focused on a task is scrolling on social media and then getting 50 new ideas that I feel like I need to immediately take action on which means I’m derailing myself from the original task.
The main thing here is getting the original task done by the deadline so to keep the main thing the main thing, I narrow my focus by creating doable action steps and I minimize things that I know distract me. Legit, I keep my phone in the bathroom on days when I have to buckle down on a mentally intense task.
So again, the second reason you may be procrastinating is your focus is too broad and you can fix that by narrowing your focus.
Problem #3: You’re trying to “outperform” your procrastinating.
I feel like hustle culture is about pushing ourselves to the max and punishing ourselves when our output isn’t at its peak every single day. I get exhausted just thinking about how I used to find my worth as a human in my output for each day. And by output, I mean what I was getting done or producing.
I used to say really mean things to myself if I didn’t finish my to-do list one day like, “You’re so lazy.” and I’d push myself to stay up until late into the night in the name of getting more done.
Here’s the thing, trying to “outperform” procrastination is not a long-term solution most of the time.
Solution #3: Get to the root of why you’re procrastinating and focus on fixing that.
Rather than attempting to plow your way through a task that you’ve been struggling to do, you’re better off pausing for some intentional reflection.
The article that I referenced earlier said something that was such a lightbulb moment for me:
“We must realize that, at its core, procrastination is about emotions, not productivity. The solution doesn’t involve downloading a time management app or learning new strategies for self-control. It has to do with managing our emotions in a new way.”
After reading that, I got curious and I wanted to know what the definition of lazy was so naturally, I googled it:
Lazy: unwilling to work or use energy.
I don’t know about you but when I’m procrastinating on a task, it’s usually not because I don’t feel like working or using energy, it’s because I’m struggling with some sort of limiting belief that is trying to hold me back from moving forward and making progress on whatever the task is.
What can we do when we’re procrastinating? What’s an action step?
Grab your Peacefully Productive Journal, open to one of the On My Heart pages, and start to brain dump the thoughts you are having surrounding the task you’re avoiding.
You’ve got to do a little detective work when it comes to uncovering limiting beliefs.
Let’s stick with the applying to jobs example from earlier. Grab your journal, and write, “Why am I avoiding applying to new jobs?”
Then sit still with your thoughts for a moment (seriously, like 30-60 seconds) and jot down what comes up for you.
Maybe it’s:
⋒ I don’t feel qualified to apply for any of the jobs that I want
⋒ I don’t know what I want to truly pursue
⋒ I’m scared that my family will think leaving my current job is a bad idea and judge me
When we identify our limiting beliefs, we can begin to move past them. Limiting beliefs create resistance in our lives and let me tell you resistance does not equal peace.
Once you call out limiting beliefs and work through them, you’ll clear up mental energy and I bet that you’ll be able to sit down and knock out whatever it is you’ve been putting off.
Let’s recap quickly: reason 3 why you may be procrastinating is you’re trying to “outperform” your procrastinating and what you can do to help is get to the root of why you’re procrastinating and focus on fixing that.
And there you have it - 3 problems that might be pushing you to procrastinate and what you can do to help stop each of them.
Looking for a journal to help you work through these kinds of questions?
If you enjoyed this blog post, tune into episode 125 of The Hustle Sanely Podcast to dive deeper into this topic:
