Procrastination is your propensity to decide to do something later that you believe
you should be doing now. In reality, you are choosing in that moment the action you
will be taking next. Like thinking: “Mmm, I think I’ll check my emails quickly instead
of writing this chapter on procrastination,” and off you go and spend time working
on things that are not that important and usually, may not add value to your life.“You cannot get motivated passively.
In fact,
motivation is the opposite of procrastination.
Motivation is doing something... now!
Procrastination is doing nothing... now!
Something... Nothing...”
Larry Hendrick
Journal work
Write down 20 sentences in your journal that each begins with “I
can’t...” For example: I can’t make money.
I can’t win with my kids
I can’t do the marathon.There are a few upsides to procrastination. People who procrastinate regularly work
extremely well under pressure. This is because you continually put things off, leave
things to the last minute and then work under tight deadlines to get it done. You get
good at this! People who procrastinate regularly are capable of doing many things in
a short space of time. People who procrastinate regularly are able to focus intensely
when needed. Deadlines have their uses – they enable you to complete projects and
to work under pressure. If you stopped focusing on the fact that you were a
procrastinator you could say that you work well under pressure, you have the ability
to focus intensely and that you are able to do much in a short space of time.Of course, the issue with procrastinating is that you put undue stress on yourself
because you tend to leave things to the last minute. This leads you to believe that
you only work well under pressure. So if there is no pressure (i.e. the deadline is far
away) then you believe you can’t work. This is similar to believing that you can’t
work because you don’t feel like it.