Ah procrastination. So many clients use procrastination as evidence they must whip themselves to shreds. I won’t listen to that nonsense. That’s my job – to hold the truth for them, after all. They might feel worthless at that moment. But, truth is, procrastination is a choice point. It can show there are good signs ahead. Good news: the redirect – of the whipping, and of the procrastination – can take 10 seconds. Ready?
Some background: This is pretty serious, this procrastination business. It is yes, one of the two main ways you can mess yourself up. The way your usually fine stress management can totally derail. So, no, it should not be casually minimized. Until you learn to work with it, it can knock your dream creation down for the count.
But the good signs ahead, when you start to procrastinate? a) I would guess, you are about to do something that matters. Hence the hesitation. b) There may be a negative belief showing up – those can be cleared. (c) There may be so-called negative emotions showing up. Working with these mindfully can also be kickass for your evolution.
Say yay for a. And then, the trick is, to welcome b and c. Wonderful! Hello, evidence of evolution about to happen. Yes, ya need tools for that (see below). But after some practice, b and c are recognized as part of the journey. Good signs in fact. Clues for the soul’s voice/input emerging.
See, when you make a plan or set a goal, there’s so much you cannot see about how it’ll actually go. Maria Nemeth in her book The Energy of Money calls this “trouble at the border”. The two lands meeting at this border? Your vision (metaphysical zone) and the world you’re trying to create in (earth, physical, 3rd dimension, yada yada). Trouble at the border is normal. It’s not wrong. It’s not even about you. It’s just what happens when vision meets physical reality.
Still, it can be easy to get derailed by those negative beliefs and emotions. They come up when you are entering new territory – a border indeed. A ceiling. Yep, time to break through that, friend. When you have the perspective that it’s part of the work, that these come up? That you can learn to compassionately meet those energies? That you can keep moving regardless? Good freakin’ signs, indeed.
Then, to “unprocrastinate” can be a ten second choice. You can decide yes, I’m going to do (something important, however challenging) this thing anyway. Yes. Versus No, not now (or really, going unconscious – oh look, facebook is hopping). You say YES. I will do this thing, that’s the ten second decision. Even though I feel crappy, even though I really don’t wanna…
Ten seconds for the YES, OK. Then, ten minutes for the task that needs doing. It’s a brief time, isn’t it? No one will likely die in those ten seconds/minutes. Well, maybe your inner whiner’s voice will be temporarily extinguished. Not fully murdered unfortunately, lol. Besides, your inner whiner, once it has a bit of expression, might also want you to move along.
So yes, we has ze ways to employ ze inner whiner so it’s less of an obstacle. And, after saying yes once in a while, you start to notice – oh. I feel better now. Just ten minutes of pushing against the inertia of procrastination? I’m moving again. Flow is back. Yay. What was next on that list? Here we go… Oh and look, I have new muscle definition there, under that former mindset flab.
With each ten second YES, and ten minute TASK you get this experience of just doing it, and feeling good afterwards. Sorry Nike, just about thirty years behind on that one. It was a little obnoxious then. OK, according to my inner whiner’s opinion. But just doing it does help you just do it next time. Yep, we do need to do something, sometimes.
Next post I’ll give you an example of how the nasty P tried to derail me, just this morning. Tricky wanker, it seemed to be totally unrelated to the herculean task in front of me at first. Ha ha.
Resources for working w/negative beliefs & emotions:
Core Belief Process by Marc Allen
Emotional Mindfulness Meditation
Emotional Mindfulness worksheet
Is some procrastination happening for you? Are these words helpful or relevant? I’d love to bash this ball around a little, or answer any of your questions, in the comments.