Procrastinating

[Cl****]

Morning all. Well today I should be doing lots of things (as I often feel like there's not enough time in the day to get everything done) but I'm tired & I don't feel like doing any of it. I will soon "I hope!" What do you do when you feel yourself Procrastinating when u should be getting stuff done? ? ? x

[Candy]

To be honest, I've been procrastinating all morning too ? And when I realise I'm doing it, I do it some more! The only way out for me is to just dig in and do what I need to do. Most times it helps going outside for some fresh air and a bit of a stretch. And also, just thinking about everything that needs to be done, and realising no one's gonna do it for you - and the panic related to that usually gets me going too haha

[Calvin77]

hahha hi @clareybobble. Well, I am sure we can ALL recognise feelings of procrastination. As a crabby Cancer, I used to do stuff sideways and put things off but now I try harder to tackle head-on.

I think if you really are in the mood to do nothing and won't use your time productively, then do nothing. As @Candysays, you may feel the benefit of some exercise first, a stretch or a walk.

Personally, I can't get anything done unless I make a list every day. Then I make sure I tick thing off at a time before moving onto other tasks, even though I'm mindful of how uncomfortable it can be sometimes. :)

 

[Julius]

I am also very familiar with procrastination. I noticed that the amount of procrastination for me correlates with the amount of discomfort I avoid.

For example once I had a coach who was regularly pushing me physically to go beyond what I would have done alone. Going beyond this pain barrier actually increased my willingness to tackle things I was procrastinating before. So yeah physical exercise and especially pushing myself a bit sometimes definitely helped. This pushing out of the comfort zone can also be in small gestures like choosing to have a cold shower instead of a cozy warm one. The resistance before the cold shower is similar to that before a dreaded task, so in a way you train your brain and will power to face and go through difficulties on another battleground :)

Lastly I have to say, that in my experience procrastination is also sometimes connected to some kind of emotional issue I was avoiding elsewhere in life. Earlier this year I had some issues with my dad. When I realized the impact it had on me, him and our relationship, I told him about it and took responsibility for what I saw in him and vowed to change that. It was a difficult conversation, but it released so much energy and love. All the things are connected and this freed energy had an impact in many other areas in life for me...

 

[KP****]

I am the Queen of procrastination...mine generally comes from self doubt and constantly questioning myself. I love what Julius says about pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone - something as simple as a cold shower I will be trying ! I find when I'm working from home and have a lot of "alone" time I procrastinate but if I'm working or collaborating with others I tend to feed off the combined energy and get things done x

[Li****]

Yes, I can also definitely relate to feelings of procrastination - I think we all can! ?
I agree with Calvin, making lists of what I need to do help me a lot, and I get great satisfaction from then crossing things out once I completed them,. It makes me feel really accomplished! lol Sometimes I even add things I already did just to have it crossed out - perhaps not the most solid advice... ?

I think sometimes it is a specific job that we find a) most important and b) the most dreaded. That then leads to not doing any of our 'smaller' tasks either since we feel bad starting another task than that main one. Somehow it feels more okay to not have started anything at all than to have started something with a lower priority, and we end up getting nothing done. 

Anyway, my tips would be to make a list, and start with the simpler, smaller things that you don't dread as much, and as you cross things off the list you might even feel inspired to tackle the whole thing. Also breaking a big task down to smaller subtasks can help as it feels less of a mission, as well as splitting your time in chunks. Decide that you want to finish x, y, z before lunch or that you'll give yourself a break to do something else at a certain time. That's how I got through uni haha

[Cl****]

Thanks everyone ?☺️ all very helpful. I am often the queen of Lists. When my Dad passed away & I Had to do certain things, I would write a big list of everything that needed doing then a daily list with things I need to do that day. Since things have got less important I've got out of the habit of lists. Or I'd write one, then beat myself up a bit when things didn't get done. Maybe I should start again, breaking the scary things down into chunks. ?