Embracing Procrastination
Is procrastination dominating your life? Are you fretting over big tasks and feeling anxious or overwhelmed? Well, you may find this exceptional tale inspiring or infuriating, depending on your bent.
Typically, through social learning and observation, we determine the appropriate response to procrastination is to ‘nip it in the bud’ or focus on eradicating it from our lives. Now, I’m not saying this approach is ineffectual. There are loads of tools and techniques we can use to help navigate the tendency to keep putting off important tasks. If you’re interested in ideas to negate procrastination, there is so much advice already in circulation and if you have been a serial procrastinator in the past, you’ve probably heard it all before. So, I am not going to talk about those things here. No, today, I am going to offer something a little different.
Today, I share a story of leaning into procrastination. But before we get to that, here is some background.
Just to state the obvious here; in life, many things happen. Before we are born, there are influences that begin conditioning our responses to life. Some of these things we are born with; additionally, life shapes us based on our experiences. Some things we determine to be preferable and some things we determine to be undesirable or unhelpful.
When we deny that which is undesirable, that is, when we offer inner resistance or an internal dialogue of complaint; when we try to push away our emotions, they tend to get louder in order that we might acknowledge them.
Society teaches us to deny that which is uncomfortable, to push it away or to turn to distractions, that is, our devices, alcohol, food, television, work, constant ‘doing’ or anything else that keeps us busy and keeps us from sitting with those uncomfortable feelings. If you are one of those people who can’t sit still, you may like to reflect upon this. If you feel angry when you read this, there might be something for you to consider here. But don’t beat yourself up (or me, for I am but a humble little blog). Be gentle. You will look and sit with that which is uncomfortable when and if you are ready and the timing will be perfect. Now, this brings me to the unconventional perspective on procrastination.
What if you didn’t view procrastination as a problem? What if it is just one of those things in life that happens? What if you have simply determined a preference (for not procrastinating) and that preference causes procrastination to feel uncomfortable? In a world where time does not exist, procrastination would be null and void. Technically, time does not exist. We have made time up as a measure of the movement of objects in space relative to one another. One spin of the globe equates to one day. One earth orbit of the sun, we have called a ‘year.’ It takes approximately three-hundred and sixty-five spins of the globe to orbit the sun and so on. The measurements, to some degree, are arbitrary. We made the whole thing up to track progress. If we lived in a world where constant growth and ‘progress’ were not important, again, ‘procrastination’ wouldn’t even be in our vocabulary.
I was always a fan of productive procrastination. That is, when I was suffering from perfectionism, I would complete a myriad of tasks (mostly housework and sorting out my underwear draw) to avoid tackling the main task. I used this as a positive affirmation in my life. I would say, ‘I’m so happy I finally sorted out that underwear draw! It feels so good!’
But I always got things done when they needed to be done, even if I put it off for a while, even if there was heightened energy (anxiety) in the final stages leading up to a deadline and so, I decided to turn this into a mantra that has served me well; ‘I always get it done and at just the right time.’ I noticed that I did always get it done and began both acknowledging and reassuring the anxious part of me rather than attempting to stifle it.
Timing is important with this new perspective on procrastination. What if, instead of a deep-seated psychological trauma related to perfectionism holding you back, you are simply gathering momentum, putting together ideas, collating data and determining the best way to approach the task? What if you are meditating on the best way to proceed? What if you are waiting for that wave of energy that will carry you to shore?
Recently, I had been procrastinating on an assessment task that was due for my Diploma of Counselling course. Now, I decided not to worry. Each time the thought of worry would arise, I would breathe into the feeling of discomfort and say ‘It’s okay; I know I will get it done.’ I would put it out of my mind and return to the present moment (I highly recommend learning meditation and relaxation skills to help with this).
Closer to the deadline, I had started chipping away at the assessment task but still had a significant amount of work to do. My plan was to wake up early (before my TAFE class) and try and finish it outside of class or stay up until the midnight deadline. I felt surprisingly calm and easy about the whole thing; ‘I’ll get it done.’ I kept saying.
The evening before the assessment was due, I had a dream that my teacher gave the whole class a significant extension on the assessment. The next morning, I had about two hours free before class and I had two choices, work on my assessment or go surfing. I continued to feel assured and tranquil. My desire to surf on that occasion was very strong. The surf looked incredibly inviting and so, I decided to trust my dream and intuition and go surfing. And you’ll never guess what happened! My teacher gave us all a three-week extension on the assessment. In my whole time at TAFE, this is the first time a teacher has ever just randomly decided to extend an assessment that long! I was stoked. I had a fun surf and plenty of time to complete my assessment, which I did and in just the right timing. ‘Things are always working out for me.’ And so, they are.
I realise this narrative is only one tiny aspect of a very large picture but I do hope this tale has inspired you to consider what procrastination might mean for you. A key learning here is to listen to your feelings and what they are saying to you. Sometimes, your feelings are alerting you to something that needs to be done. Other times, your feelings are alerting you to a false belief you may hold. Fine-tuning your self-awareness is vital. I can help with this. And for other tips and tricks on procrastination (including the conventional ones) I am happy to assist! Please feel free to send me a message through this web page!
