Procrastination Station!

Procrastination. This is something, from my experience, goes hand in hand with anxiety. It's the bane of my life at times! I don't want to procrastinate and I've often told myself "I'm just thinking" and "I'll do it in a minute!" There are good things about procrastinating. It means we think more carefully before taking the plunge in whatever it is we need to do. But its different when anxiety is it's partner in crime! Procrastinating can be disastrous for our mental health and well-being. The typical scenario for me is that I will have something I need to get done by a certain deadline and I will procrastinate until I'm panicking about not reaching said deadline. I don't mean to do it and nor do I want to but it's part and parcel of anxiety a lot of the time. I am a late person anyway, I was born late - so I like to tell myself that was procrastinating in the womb! This, of course, is an excuse. Now I'm a grown up with kids and bills and a house and a job. Being a grown up means that even procrastinating has to be put on the back burner of our subconscious because we have things that are detrimental to our lives to get done! But it's always there. And when we take a breather, that's when anxiety says "Hey. How about a bit of procrastinating? Just to remind you that I'm still here?" And so we succumb. 

So what'd we do about it? How can we become more productive? 

Well, the short answer is that we have to find the motivation. We must tell ourselves that washing is not going to do itself. That bed isn't going to make itself. Those dishes aren't going to do themselves. That dream career isn't going to fall into my lap. And so on.

As anxiety sufferers we need to force ourselves to be more pro-active. It's a hard slog. But it's one that is worth it in the end. And it will become a habit. How nice it would be to have a habit of NOT procrastinating, eh? It is in reach though. 3 weeks of pushing through the 'I will not procrastinate' mantra and it's yours for the taking. Legend has it that it takes 21 days to form a habit. Not so bad when you look any it like that is it?

Short and sweet but I hope it makes you look at procrastination in a different light. I hope it has spurred you to try and form a new habit of NOT procrastinating. Unless of course, there is a major life decision that needs a period of procrastination. 

Keep me posted 

Lotsa Love 

Lil

xoxo