BREAKING THROUGH THE INERTIA OF PROCRASTINATION
I bet there is at least one thing that you said you would start this Monday and now that it is mid-week, you have convinced yourself that next Monday would make more logical sense. The conviction of the new self-promise is also surprisingly strong. Well, I hope you read this and get it done today instead. Drop me a note if you do. :)
So, now that I have stated this run of the mill human issue, I would like to share a few tangible ways that have actually helped me breakthrough. Also, before I begin, I think that it is important for you to know that, yours truly, has gone through phases of such immense procrastination which have left me truly amazed at this ability of the human mind. My favourite bit, is when the excuses that I have made for myself seem like the most plausible, sensible reasons. It is like one part of my brain is going ‘Seriously, this again?!?’ and the other part which I assume is larger is lounging on some spectacular beach, going, ‘you need to continue resting and do a few more not required things to better prepare yourself for tomorrow or next Monday or the 1st of next month.’
Ahhhh! the human mind! Probably the most fascinating place to ever exist.
After getting fed up of being fed up with my procrastination, I wanted to understand this constant love-hate relationship of mine. So, I began to dig deep. I went through the steps of blaming it on my childhood, my wrong habit setting, my general environment, my love life, my period and social media. Sometimes, I even included blaming the full moon, the new moon and the various retrogrades that keep spinning around. This went on for a couple of years maybe. Imagine, I procrastinated about figuring how to get over my procrastination!
While some of the things that I have mentioned above actually do slow you down or have an effect on your mental health, the baseline of it, is that, this is something that I really wanted to overcome.
I would like to say I am 60% there most of the time and on some excellent days, I hit an 85–90%. There are also days when I still procrastinate a lot, but the frequency of those are lower and I am kinder to myself about it.
Here is how I do it…….
- The 5 second rule
This quick brain countdown system created by Mel Robbins is very simple & works pretty well after practicing it about 10–15 times. As she explains it, ‘if you have an instinct to act on a goal, you must physically move within 5 seconds or your brain will kill it.’ Start small with this one, like instead of hitting the snooze button in the am, count to 5 and off the bed then. I use this one particularly when my brain gives me interesting reasons about why I should workout later.
2) I did it list
We are all too familiar with a ‘to do list’, but what about an ‘I did it list.’ The difference here is that you put down what you have done after you have done it. My reasoning behind this, is that since we were very young, tick marks imply positivity and progress. So, when you have an I did it list, it motivates you to do the next thing and put it down. For me, personally, this gets my momentum going and I am happier with myself by the end of the day. Also, please know that these things can be as big or as small as you choose. We are all on different paths at different times. I like to balance to do lists with I did it lists to keep a track of my daily life.
3) SOS friend
You know that person who is your 3am friend. The one you chat with about all the woes and joys about your life. Ask that friend to hold you accountable for what you say you will do. If you don’t get that important thing done, then no exciting life updates and you know you want them J
4) Accountability partner
This is similar to your SOS friend, just a bit stricter if you are on the falling edge of your procrastination journey. This could be anyone that you connect with on some level of authenticity. If you both have a common goal that you want to achieve, this works even better. You could restrict the conversation to just about the goal for 15–30 days initially. At the end of this time, both of you shall be vibrating sky-high.
I hope these little tricks of mine help you overcome this annoying grey cloud that we all deal with.
The most important thing to remember through this and your journey overall is…..
BE KIND, TO YOURSELF FIRST.
WHEN YOUR PLAN FAILS AGAIN –
KNOW THAT THIS IS NOT THE MOVIES
IT IS REAL LIFE,
IT GOES UNREHEARSED.
