Five phases of procrastination

Are you a professional procrastinator? Are ‘legitimate’ excuses, ‘busy’ schedules and poor prioritizing your themes? Then you have conversed well with that old friend, guilt, and those false promises of never doing it again! Until the next time…

1.  Intention
2. Deadline denial
3. Productive avoidance
4. False start
5. Panic

 It is always your very best intention to accomplish your task well in advance of the deadline. It’s a clear outline, in your mind, as you see it unfolding in an ordered, methodical manner.

 The inevitable looming of your deadline fades into the background as you enter the phase of deadline denial. “I’ve got plenty of time, its only due next week.”

 Suddenly, your life really needs an urgent spring clean, your car needs an oil change and you haven’t been to the gym in forever. These productive avoidances are suddenly so essential to your well-being, that you couldn’t possibly begin your project until these have all been done… marvelously well.

And so begins your bid to knuckle down and take the bull by the horns. You open your word document, write your outline, commend yourself on how well this is going and then, gracefully, false start.

 The day before your deadline arrives and you have no idea how you’ve gotten here.

Your ‘fool proof’, how-to-do list has made a disappearing act and the onset of panic and pandemonium has ensued. That stern voice of criticism in your head and the all too familiar lump in your throat are reminders that you have been here before.

“I can’t do this! How am I going to get this done? I’m useless! This situation is hopeless. I’m never doing this again!”

 Ready to park your procrastination?

1. Be realistic about what you need to accomplish, and how much time you really need to do this well.
2. Break down your project into smaller, more manageable tasks, that are achievable.
3. Admit to yourself what your potential distractions are and avoid them at all costs. Understand and know yourself, and then act from this honest space.
4. Always work from a schedule by setting time-specific tasks. Manage and prioritize your time wisely. Allocate time to work on your project, time to be online, time for taking calls and replying to messages.
5. Remember how distressed you felt when you thought you wouldn’t meet your deadline? Judging and criticizing yourself and your capabilities and those lingering feelings of guilt. You are in control of those feelings and you can choose a different outcome.

 Procrastination is triggered by a deep-seated fear of failure. If you’re afraid of what may happen if you fail, you will subconsciously talk yourself out of accomplishing it. After all, you can’t fail at what you don’t accomplish. Here’s the gem though, more often than not, the end results out-perform what you believed your capabilities to be.

Ready to start trusting yourself, or will you get to that later?

For more, visit The Trauma Coach Facebook page or their website.

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