Procrastination is a killer when it comes to moving forward with our lives, to getting things done personally and professionally and it debilitates us from living fully and creatively.
I recently posted on Facebook that procrastination is the perception of fear projected into the future around some imagined thought that prevents us from taking action and moving forward. Often, once we are in action, the fear dissolves and we are doing the thing we feared. I have a pattern that I cycle into and out of where I stop taking action, where I create some imagined fear in my mind and then avoid moving forward. This is a very ineffective strategy in business because it stops all momentum that had been built and it paralyzes me from doing anything productive. I find myself wasting precious time with doing other “busy” projects, checking emails, watching a program online or whatever else I can to avoid the very thing before me. I find this behavior zaps my energy. It drains my aliveness and deters me from creating what I want. I have made this imagined fear bigger than me and more powerful and I find myself sitting on the sidelines waiting and wondering. I see other people moving forward with their lives, building their businesses, creating what they desire and I find that I am drifting on a lake with no clear direction or momentum.
The only way out is the way through. I can only get to where I want to go by making a new decision to do the thing I am avoiding, to make the phone calls, to ask for the referral, to make a connection, to reach out to someone and be accountable for things that I need to get done. A key way to ensure that I get back on track is to plan my day everyday. When I do, then I have a map, a path, a plan of how to get to where I want to go. I need to not only plan things I need to do, but also plan outcomes and intentions that I want to accomplish. Without this roadmap, I am lost, set adrift on that lake with no oars in the water.
Procrastination is fear based. It doesn’t honor and value who I am and what I can do. It is predicated on the belief that I don’t have the skills and talents to create what I want. It is predicated on the belief in lack and limitation. It causes me to believe that I can’t do it so why bother. Just hide out and seek cover and I won’t have to risk being bigger. Ahhh! There’s the rub–the risk of being bigger.
When we risk being bigger, we risk stepping out into this fuller place in life. We risk opening ourselves to possible judgment, criticism and rejection. But ultimately, what’s the other option. Hiding out and living a life half lived? That is not the way to fulfillment.
Take a look at where you might be procrastinating and make a commitment to do it a differently. What steps can you take to move out of the inertia and into the flow of life to express what you want and need? If you need help with this, call Creative Space Organizing at 510.501.1213, and we can help you live more creatively and productively.