Procrastination – a coping mechanism we shouldn’t rely on

Yes, procrastination is a coping mechanism!  When procrastinating you avoid a situation.  Procrastination can give you short term relief from uncomfortable feelings, but eventually that wears off and the task or situation is still there.  In fact, it could be worse.

Short term relief can look like watching Netflix, scrolling on the phone, doing housework, doing things for others, eating, exercising, it can be anything you do instead of the thing you are avoiding. These things may give you pleasure or relief in the short term but what you are avoiding still exists.

Things you can do to stop procrastinating:

Reward yourself – Set aside time to do the thing you avoid, or do one small thing towards it, and reward yourself. Rewards can be a motivating way to keep focused and help to reinforce the effort you are making. Set a time limit of 15 minutes or 30 minutes to get focused and then have a break or treat yourself with something nice.

Mindfulness – By focusing on the moment you are in can help you build progress. Taking a moment to bring your attention back to what you need to do and start.  Often even doing one small thing can lead to another.  If we were to build a pyramid it would start with placing one brick, if we were to write a song it would start with a sentence.  Small things lead to big things.  You just need to bring mind back to the task and start.

Feelings – when you are procrastinating, notice how you are feeling. Perhaps it is fear/anxiety that you will fail.  Notice the feelings that arise and then remind yourself of the goal you are working towards. Will avoiding it make it worse or better, will it make those feelings more intense. 

Procrastination can seem debilitating, so be kind to yourself it happens to most people.  You still have control.  Imagine what it would be like if you approached a task from a less stressed calm space, so break it down and see what follows.