Procrastination is a big theme for high-achievers.
We don’t just want to do things well. We believe we need to do well ahead of time.
Yet, we suffered, not from the so-called procrastination but from our self-criticism and our anxiety of failing (not because we wouldn’t make it but because we wouldn’t make it ahead of time!).
Take a moment, put the bad reputation of procrastination aside, I bet ahead or not ahead, you not only delivered but also delivered above and beyond ahead of time or not.
How I get out of procrastination?
The best way I found is to eliminate the concept of procrastination.
How?
Let’s get back to the basic.
There is goal or task.
There are set of criteria to determine whether it is accomplished.
There is a deadline.
That’s it.
The idea of “how much ahead it shall be accomplished so that I can prove I am better or more worth-while” is totally self-inflicted.
10 days ago, I received an email of update on a collaboration project discussed a month ago. I was really looking forward to putting this project in the pipeline and I believed that it perfectly aligned with my business strategies.
Yet, there was a small detail I didn’t anticipate – an extra cost.
As a solopreneur and leading a life without monthly paycheck, making sure financial resource go where is essential is quite a test and a task. Sometimes, I was wary to deal with it so I “procrastinated”.
I let that email lie in my inbox for a week without even open it to look at the details. The mental stress bothered me.
Yet, was it procrastination though?
By now, I knew better. I do not judge myself for not doing things at the supposedly perfect timing.
Instead,
➡️ I acknowledged the resistance and discomfort.
➡️ I allowed myself to sit with it (since I was not ready to face it yet). No judgement.
➡️ I set a deadline to snap out of the avoidance. (We know if we really want to avoid something, we can do it till end of the world.)
➡️ I didn’t get over it before the deadline (I usually did.) When the deadline arrived, I embraced myself and tore the band-aid off.
You know what. It was not horrible at all. With more details on the project, I actually felt more comfortable moving my budget around. I get to double check the clarity of my direction. The sun suddenly shone in!
It’s time for you to get rid of the concept of procrastination.
Every one of us have our own divine timing to get things done.
Every one of us have our own internal resistant (even wounds) to heal and the events are here to help us to do that.
Acknowledge the real obstacles that cause procrastination.
➡️ Is there anything you are procrastinating on? If yes, how does this one come up for you?
Be love and be loved.