Why Do We Procrastinate?
Procrastination kills, literally! By being prey to the terrible habit of “putting things off” in life, we jeopardize our careers, we ruin relationships, our health declines, and stress levels rise to the point where we are in a constant state of anxiousness. Our minds are always worried about the things we should have done, the activities we need to do, and worst of all we fear the consequences of all of our past inaction’s combined.
Do you want to continue living like this? Of course not! But on the other hand, perhaps there is some psychological attraction to all of this grief. Maybe subconsciously we invite these negative feelings because there is something about procrastinating that makes us happy.
Are you confused by this possibility? Allow me to explain…
First of all, let’s take a break for one second and know that before you come down too hard on yourself because you’re one of the same people that have used procrastination all of your life, it is important to note that “putting things off” is very human.
At one point or another, every person alive has that natural instinct to avoid doing something that they would rather not be doing. It’s only normal. In fact, it is a battle that most of us face everyday, especially for people like myself who are self-employed. You are not the only one. Everybody faces this challenge in life. Some just have more self-control and motivation to do what they should be doing. Other people do not.
Write this quote down…
Brian Tracy, a great motivational speaker and author, sums up beautifully in one of his audio seminars when he said “success is doing what it is you should be doing, whether you feel like it or not”.
Write that quote down and place emphasis on the last part. Reread over and over the part where it says “whether you feel like it or not”. People who have overcome procrastination are those that do what they have to do even if it’s the last thing on earth they want to be doing at that time!
Getting back to the addiction…
Now let us get back to understanding why you may actually be “attracted” to living life stressed out due to procrastination. You see, like a drug, procrastination can actually give you a temporary feeling of power. In other words, whenever you decide that you can ignore a job or an activity that you have to do, you have the power to choose not to do it and in a strange way this actually “relieves you of your responsibility”. However, this is a false relief and the responsibility never actually goes way. It just gets worse.
Procrastination also allows a person to drop everything and to “take a break from the real world”. For example, instead of saving up money on payday like you have been planning to in order to pay off your debts, it would be more fun to spend it on a night out at the movies. Instead of studying for that test that you must take in order to move ahead at work, procrastination gives you a “reason” to drop it and do something fun instead.
If improving your health and fitness is a goal of yours and you decide to put off getting rest early each night, this gives you a reason not to get up early in the morning to work out.
Can you see the pattern? Can you understand how using procrastination can actually “feel good”? Is it starting to make sense now why procrastination can feel so good, but be twice as disastrous to your life?
Before you can make changes in the right direction it is important that you realize exactly what attracts you to making the decisions of putting off your responsibilities. You must come to an understanding and embrace the fact that you do these things in order to achieve temporary relief. And lastly, it is vital that you come to terms with the fact that these decisions are only making matters worse.
Learn more about procrastination and its horrible effects with this free 5 day E-course. You will be glad you did
Get Your FREE 5 Day E-course Here