Some Tips for Dealing with Procrastination

Does procrastination stop you from creating your kick-ass dream life?

You made the choice to go for your dream and you took some initial steps forward, but now you seem to have hit a wall and you find yourself standing still. In your mind, you think you know exactly what needs to happen, but you can’t seem to do it. There are 100 other things that are more important.

All this procrastinating is wearing you down, and you are starting to mentally beat yourself up for not taking action. You are feeling bad about yourself and starting to doubt your ability to pull this thing off. After all, you know exactly what needs to be done, so why aren’t you doing it?

That is a good question!

Why aren’t you doing it?

Let’s take a minute to explore what procrastination is.

Procrastination is a form of resistance. There is something that is not in alignment. Somewhere inside of your subconscious, a voice is saying “don’t do it.”

The question you want to ask is “why not?”

I think that there are two potential answers.

The first being, it is not the right time to take action.

I find that this happens a lot around writing and other creative activities. You think you know exactly what needs to be done, but the idea really needs to percolate a bit before it is ready to come out into being. There is something that you still are unsure about. Forcing the issue does not help at all.

The best solution is to stop beating yourself up for not doing it right now and create the space for it to show up when it is ready.

The second answer is a bit more complex.

The voice in your subconscious is saying “don’t do it” because you are afraid of what is going to happen when you do.

Taking action to create your kick-ass dream life means moving outside of your comfort zone and that can feel downright scary!

When you ask yourself the question “Why Not?” the answer is: I am afraid of_________________( failing, being standing out, being laughed at, making a mistake)

The best thing to do is deal with your fear head on. In most cases, when you shine the light of awareness on it, it stops seeming so scary.

Next time you find yourself procrastinating, try these tips to move you through it.

Take a few minutes to acknowledge that you are procrastinating.

Stop beating yourself up and making yourself wrong for being in this place. Allow yourself to see what it is trying to show you.

Do a bit of self exploration to identify what is in the way. Ask; “Why am I not taking action?”, “Is now the right time to do this?”, “How does it serve me to not take action”, “What am I afraid will happen if I do this thing.”

If you find that you are not taking action because you’re unsure and not ready, lovingly give yourself some time to work it out.

If you find that fear is in the way, then explore that fear and meet it head on. Shine the light of awareness on it and determine if it is really a good reason not to go forward.