Why do I procrastinate and what can I do about it? - Video transcript

Hey guys, I'm Kristen, the anxiety therapist, and today I'm going to be talking about procrastination, which comes from the latin word, procrastinus, meaning belonging to tomorrow. So a lot of times we like to think of a task we're putting off as sort of being the problem of our future selves, so to speak.

But this is actually a very self sabotaging way of operating. And procrastination has very little if anything to do with self control and time management and everything to do with emotions. So it's not necessarily the task itself that we are putting off, but rather the emotions that are connected to the task.

So, an example might be if you have a presentation for work that you need to begin working on. And so it's not the creation of that power point that you're actually putting off, but rather maybe there's some self doubt attached to that, you know, maybe you are questioning whether, you know your stuff well enough to give a presentation or whether you are the right person to do so.

And maybe there's some imposter syndrome creeping in, maybe you don't like public speaking, you know? And so the which is the case for a lot of people. And so maybe the anxiety of speaking in front of your boss or colleagues or peers is um what is actually making you avoid the task of creating that power point. So I'm just gonna quickly run through kind of the four main procrastination styles or types, um the first one being the performer and these are the people who um basically tell themselves that they work well under pressure, which may actually be true because these people tend to be very perfectionistic.

So they need that external deadline in order to give them a hard stopping point. Otherwise they would just continue working on something day in and day out in an attempt to perfect it, which obviously isn't going to happen. So the challenge for these folks is just the getting started right. And so the solution is to kind of switch things around and instead of focusing on the deadline, um setting a starting date for yourself or even using the five minute rule where um you know, the hardest part of any task is getting started. So set a timer for five minutes, start working on something.

I guarantee 99% of the time after that timer goes off, you will have sort of found your groove and and won't have as much of a problem continuing with it. Um and if at the end of those five minutes you still hate what you're doing and you don't want to keep going, then maybe you're just not in the right headspace at that moment and try it again later or another day.

Another type of procrastinators, the self deprecate er and these are the people who just say that they're being lazy or unmotivated and this often applies to men and it's actually quite the opposite that these people are not lazy or unmotivated but rather really hard on themselves for taking any sort of break. Um they have difficulty admitting that they're tired?

And so the challenge is really taking that break and the solution is having compassion for yourself and giving yourself the time to relax and recharge. You know, I think a lot of times we think of rest as being earned after we after we work really hard and in reality it's it's rest that allows us to work really hard. So if you think about putting gas in a car, you know, the rest is the gas, the car is not going to run without the gas, we're not going to run without without the rest.

Um, so it shouldn't be viewed as sort of a a privilege at the end, but rather something that's necessary to keep us going uh next is the over booker and this is the person who has just committed to too many things, they're feeling overwhelmed and they use business as sort of an excuse as to why they can't do something.

Um, so the challenge for them is that they sort of unknowingly create this chaos in an effort to avoid something. And so the solution is um really getting introspective in identifying what it is that they're truly avoiding. You know, what, what emotions are coming up for them when they think about this task, that they just, I don't have time for, so to speak or that they claim to be too busy for, you know, what, what is it?

Um do they not value it? Um do they, does it bring up some, like we mentioned before some anxieties and self doubt, what is it that you're truly avoiding? And then last is the novelty seeker and this is this um often creeps up with entrepreneurs where they sort of have this huge idea that they're really excited about and they jump right in and get started and then their momentum sort of fizzles and they get bored and then they have another great idea that they want to start, but they haven't completed the first idea. Um so they never really do anything to completion because they just have these these great ideas that keep popping up. So, um that's their challenge, right, is not doing anything to completion and not seeing something through um to the end that will, will sort of yield those um those long term results and the solution is to make sure that you complete one thing before moving on to the next.

So you're going to have great ideas, doesn't mean you need to spring into action right away, keep a log of those ideas so that when you are done with your current project, you can decide, okay, well, you know what, what would be the best use of my time and attention next.

So these are just some of the ways that people procrastinate, see if you can relate to any of them, see which one describes you and then hopefully you can take some steps in order to uh cope with those emotions and sort of move through those emotions so that you are able to take action. And action is the best way to um eliminate that fear that that comes with avoidance.

Whereas avoidance or postponement or indecision is um is sort of a breeding ground for fear. So I hope you found this video helpful if so, be sure to subscribe to my youtube channel and I will see you guys next week. Have a nice one.