The Familiar Habit of Procrastination

Habits begin with a decision
We may not think of procrastination as making a decision yet this is exactly what happens. We decide to put off what needs to be done for a later time. We rationalize why we are doing this and believe it. According to Bob Proctor,”the only thing worse than an excuse is a really good excuse.”

What excuses do you have for putting off those things you know you must do?

In the classic book, Think & Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill talks about procrastination as a habit where often you spend more time creating alibis and excuses…“this symptom is closely related to over-caution, doubt and worry. Refusal to accept responsibility when it can be avoided…” Hill found that highly successful people to not do this, in fact, they make decisions quickly and rarely if ever change their minds. This is because they know what they want and say yes to those things in alignment with their purpose.

This might be a good time to reflect on how you make your important decisions.

The trance of procrastination
I know the high price of this habit personally. For 5 years, I had so many excuses on why my life was not working out like I planned. It was like a trance; I was just going through the motions, yet not being connected to what I was doing. In a field that I no longer had any passion for, I felt “stuck” and didn’t know where to turn, so I did what many do-nothing. The excuses sounded good and for awhile I believed them. I put off looking for that career that would really bring me passion and make a difference in the world. I was living for Fridays and dreading Mondays until a life changing wake-up call in 2005 set me on a new course. Finding my passion and the work I was meant to do changed my life for good. I had broken the trance of procrastination.

Stress & procrastination
Often people talk about the stress procrastination creates as the thing they know needs to be done is put on the back burner. Things can backfire with a host of undesired results. Sometimes they are constantly thinking about it and “beating themselves up” for not following through. Most people, who procrastinate on a regular basis, will find if they are honest with themselves, that they build up more stress than if they just did the task they are avoiding or made a decision to drop it.

Unfinished Business is an energy drain
It has been said that procrastination keeps your future good from coming in. Have you noticed that new things and situations seem to elude you when you have unfinished business. Sometimes unfinished things are presented to you in a variety of ways.

About three years ago, I was working with a client who had a massive clutter problem that was so bad he stopped going into his office. This in turn created greater problems for him as he had ongoing work to accomplish. He was a solo-entrepreneur and when he didn't work his income dropped.

As we worked together we uncovered some of this self sabotaging behavior and the pay off and the cost to continue this way. He knew he could loose customers and ultimately his business if things didn't shift. He was also experiencing extreme fatigue.

Create a new habit
We spoke about the minimum time he would need to create a new healthy habit. According to the experts, it takes a minimum of 21 days to break a habit. He took baby steps at first-10 minutes a day so he was not overwhelmed with the task. After a week he doubled this and continued to double it until he was able to spend up to 40 minutes a day getting rid of clutter. In a month his energy was back, his office cleared and he had a plan to keep it up by spending 10 minutes at the end of everyday organizing his office. He had successfully created a new habit that he implements daily.

Are you really ready for different results?

Are you are willing and ready to tackle the habit of procrastination and create more energy, greater freedom and ease in your life? This is a question to ponder. Often people say they want something different yet are not really ready to do what it takes. It starts with clarity of purpose and a decision.

When you realize what the high cost of procrastination creates you will have to choose. You can break the trance of procrastination and feel great about creating new and more empowering habits.

It all begins with a decision…