Why do we procrastinate?
Procrastination.
What a stupid bitch.
But what is procrastination, really? You may be surprised to realize that procrastination is similar to people pleasing and quitting.
What’s the corollary here?
You’re avoiding feeling emotions.
Yes. You.
It’s understandable. Everyone is avoiding pain. It doesn’t feel good to be in pain. So it is a natural process to do what it takes to avoid it.
Unfortunately, though, it’s this avoidance of discomfort that keeps us where we are. In order to stop patterns that are not serving us, we will all eventually need to step into discomfort.
With people pleasing, what you're really doing is avoiding guilt. With quitting, what you're really doing is avoiding fear. Procrastination is avoiding feeling any emotion at all. While it might be painful to become aware of this, it is certainly worthwhile to know this. (And hey, if it was painful, great! 😈 You're experiencing discomfort right now! You're not only going to survive this discomfort, but you're going to be better for it. And that’s what makes this worthwhile.)
I have three tactics for you to help overcome your procrastination:
Get comfortable with discomfort. The more you push yourself, the more you'll realize how resilient you really are. And there's no better way than experiencing that resilience to get more of it.
Less thinking, more doing. When you find yourself thinking about your fears, what you're actually doing is trying to rationalize with your Gremlin. That is something that is doomed to failure. Your Gremlin will always be able to outthink you because it knows you so well. Therefore, the solution is not to think, but to do. Turn off your brain and get moving.
Have a clear and small first step. What often gets in the way for me with projects is overwhelm. I have found that if I have a very clear small first step, specifically one that won't have any barriers, I will find it easier to get into flow. Define your first small step in a way that is clear AF and small enough that it will get you going.
There's not much more you have to do than these three things. Getting started is often the hardest part.
So what are you waiting for? A green light? Well, this is your green light.
Go!
P.S. If you want some guidance from me, I have a free motivation series that can give you a jumpstart here: leighcambre.com/letsgetmotivated
