Fear of taking action is the cause of Procrastination.
I can hear you right now saying to me that everybody procrastinates. That may be.
But if you keep consistently and constantly in a state of procrastination, you stop taking action. You freeze.
And when you freeze, you don’t get anything done. It feels as if you are either sitting or standing in a puddle of super glue. You can’t move.
When you are in this state where you can’t move, it is very hard for you to go from procrastination to a state of excitement and motivation in one big
jump. It is too big a jump to make!
So what can you do?
You can create steps.
Instead of trying that big jump, you walk. You create steps. Steps that are comfortable for you. Steps that are realistic to your circumstances.
The first thing you must do before taking the first step is:
Pay attention.
To what you feel when you think about procrastination. Pay attention as to what you feel about the backlog of work piling up. Notice how you feel. Go there and check that internal thermometer that measures the temperature of our emotions.
Perhaps you feel irritation, frustration or annoyance. Perhaps the levels are going a little bit higher than usual.
Now, you can take the first step.
Now the first step towards excitement and motivation is curiosity. Ask yourself:
“What if I allocate an hour of my time right now to get things moving”.
Perhaps to send or reply to all those emails piling up.
And you take action and you do that. Even if it feels a bit uncomfortable in the beginning.
Your goal is to move towards excitement, to getting things done. So you do it. Push yourself to take that first step of doing it.
And when you have taken that first step, pay attention to how you feel. Go back inside and check your internal emotional thermometer.
Perhaps you are surprised.
Or you think:
“Well that was not that hard”.
Perhaps that feeling of surprise is joined by a feeling o joy. So, that motivates you to take the next step. And you say to yourself:
“I am going to do everything I have to do today”.
“Everything I was supposed to have done yesterday, I will do today”!
And you do it! And when you do it, check inside again.
What emotions are there?
Perhaps Joy. Perhaps relief. Or a mixture of both relief and joy. Enough to move you towards taking action. Towards getting things done.
And now you are ready for another step.
Set yourself another target.
Perhaps to send that proposal to a client, to apply for that job you really want or make that important phone call.
And again pay attention to how you feel when you do it. Perhaps then you feel excited. And so you keep going. Keep going until you get things done.
And if you feel you are falling back to the old procrastination, then walk the steps again. Relive all those emotions.
Those emotions motivate you to take action.
To getting things done. Keep doing this until procrastination becomes a thing of the past.
Just do it, even though it is the most boring job ever! Just get on with it and do it.
So here is a challenge for this week.
Create your steps.
Be curious about it. Feel the emotions when you start. Start small. You are walking, not jumping.
Feel the emotion and keep at it until you have one task done. Then, move to another, and the next and so on.
While you are doing this exercise, while you are creating the steps, if you have doubts or worries and concerns, if you are struggling, then you know what to do. Let’s have a chat, get in touch with me. Sign up for a free consultation, or email or message me.
I am here to support you!
To support you to keep going until you get things done.
And now, as your first step towards getting things done please share this blog with others who can benefit from it.
