Dear wondering women, WOR DS : J E SS I CA H O E PE R G R A P H I C : freep i k . co m
Dear Jess, My life would be better if I wasn’t a procrastinator.
What can I do? Why does this happen day after day and year after year? I even asked my doctor about procrastination; he didn’t have an answer. — Thelma Laura
Dear Thelma Laura, The most beautiful piece of this question, is that you are radically self-aware that you are someone who procrastinates. Here’s a really important truth, you may be a person who procrastinates, but that does not mean it is mandatory to label yourself a procrastinator. I too procrastinate at times. For me the power lies in not “becoming” the procrastination. Who you are is as important as what you do. It is really important to not intertwine your being with your behavior, when the outcome is not to your liking!
(i.e., house chores, routine appointments, etc.) or maybe it’s automatic in relational ways (i.e., avoiding or delaying difficult conversations) or maybe another theme is found during reflection. This awareness piece is a profound first step because when you clearly see the area of need for a new behavior, you are more likely to pick a new behavioral response that might work well.
Procrastination can become habitual and almost seem natural over time, meaning day after day and year after year you find yourself procrastinating. To change any behavior, you have to first (as you have done in this question) acknowledge the behavior. Then you have to choose to change it and come up with an alternative behavior to take its place. You will need to practice fiercely to embody the better alternative behavior.
Let’s think about if procrastination shows up for us in daily automatic tasks. One consideration could be that it is happening because you are tired, so a new behavioral response might be to go to bed earlier or add more sleep to your day. But, if procrastination shows up in another area such as relationships, like avoiding or procrastinating on having a difficult conversation, the behavioral change needed will be much more cognitive, like adding more time for intentional gratitude into your routine. Or it could be a combination of both physical and thinking behaviors that need to change to reduce your procrastination.
The power of reflection is needed when becoming aware of your own procrastination. You will discover there are themes to your procrastination! Does procrastination become automatic with tasks
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:: areawomanmagazine.com