Does fear fuel your procrastination?
Procrastination grows with overwhelm and stress … and as unfinished tasks pile up everything just feels more and more impossible!
Your energy dwindles as fear mounts. Where do you begin, when procrastination has you in a panic and the clock just keeps ticking?
We’ve written quite a bit about procrastination here – and we’ve shared proven, practical ideas for addressing it. The main thing is to find the Procrastination Cure that best gets at the root of your own particular brand of procrastination. Here are some ideas to consider – and then we’ll explore a new possibility!
Procrastination Cures
Procrastination Got You Stuck? Self-Criticism Might Be the Culprit!
… the nagging voice of self-criticism often prompts people to back away from challenges and doubt their abilities. Self-criticism that leads to choices to procrastinate, is a major time trap. And it is so unnecessary!
Procrastination Cure – Get Unstuck Using Fun and Find Time!
So the idea here, for overcoming procrastination, is pairing a task you avoid (like doing the dishes) with an activity you enjoy and can do simultaneously (like listening to podcasts).
Procrastination and Deadlines – What Works for Finding Time?
Well, what I call soft deadlines can be quite helpful in addressing the challenges presented by procrastination. A soft deadline is a self-imposed ‘due date’ – something that you create for yourself and schedule before the actual deadline.
Try a search on the word Procrastination in the sidebar on the right – there are lots more blog posts on the subject!
Procrastination and Fear
Whether it’s a cause or a result of the choice to procrastinate, chances are you experience fear somewhere along the line when you are putting things off. Fear is debilitating and often fuels a vicious cycle of avoidance. And of course this just feeds procrastination!
But here’s the thing about fear. It grows with avoidance. The more we turn away from it, the larger it looms … until it dwarfs everything around it.
Overcoming fear isn’t a matter of battling this gargantuan monster. No – thinking of it that way just feed the fear.
Instead, visualize yourself creating a space where you feel safe. Remind yourself that you are an adult with lots of skills. Open to seeing your fear for what it is, then turn toward it and look it full in the face.
Doing this, you immediately begin to bring that fear down to its actual size. Details emerge, and as you open to them, you’ll see where your fears are realistic and where they are not.
And from this place, you’ll begin to see a pathway and you’ll feel renewed energy for moving ahead. This pathway takes you away from procrastination and toward the completion of your task.
Moving toward fear … or toward a challenge of any sort … is a very empowering choice. With each and every step you take toward what is difficult, you give yourself two gifts:
- You give yourself a realistic sense of the scale of your challenge and
- You tell yourself that you are fully capable of meeting it!
These are very simple, direct and powerful antidotes to fear.
So, are you ready to turn toward your fear and clear the path to your time success? You can do it!
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