You know what you want to do, but somehow you just cannot get to it. Perhaps ‘it’ is an exercise routine, or filling in your tax return, or taking a step towards a life goal. Sound familiar? You are in good company. Up to 20 percent of people are habitual procrastinators, the art of putting off doing something despite knowing there likely will be negative consequences. Mindfulness for procrastination can help.
There are lots of reasons why you might procrastinate. Including:
- Being a perfectionist – prefer not to do a job rather than to do it badly, avoids self-criticism
- Concern about judgement – worry about others’ opinions so you do not act to avoid being judged
- Perceived unhappiness – you do not act because you do not believe you will enjoy the activity
- Complexity of task – perhaps the work seems so confusing it is overwhelming
- Distracted and/or fatigued – it is difficult to bring enough focus and energy to the task to get going.
Some feelings and emotions can increase the likelihood of procrastination, such as anxiety and low self-confidence. These are common problems for women in midlife and can be exacerbated by insomnia and rumination (dwelling on the past). And habitual procrastination can make you more prone to depression, gastrointestinal disorders, and more likely to become ill because it suppresses your immune system.
Mindfulness for procrastination: start now for greater health
Mindfulness is a key tool in helping you overcome procrastination. There are several ways practice can help you:
- Awareness – you cannot take different actions if you are not aware of the problem. Mindfulness encourages you to pay attention in the present moment, so you can notice the procrastination taking place. Once you are aware, you have choices.
- Tolerance – one of the drivers of procrastination is avoiding uncomfortable or difficult emotions and feelings, such as self-judgement, anxiety. Mindfulness teaches that you are not your thoughts. Those uncomfortable feelings are body sensations, you do not have to act on them. With mindfulness, you learn to be accepting of discomfort, without letting the discomfort control your behaviour.
- Action – once you can recognise the procrastination, and sit with the difficult emotions, you can choose to act regardless. You can be courageous even when you feel anxious, calm when you feel angry, and do the task even when you feel unmotivated.
By cultivating an outlook of acceptance and non-judgement towards yourself, you redress some of the perfectionist tendencies. Cultivating greater compassion for yourself also helps you take better decisions for the care of your future self. Practice with the help of The Compassionate Self meditation.
Procrastination in daily life
I probably do not procrastinate that much – but when I do, it is nearly always because of perfectionism, or fear of being judged by others.
For some time, I put off ‘going live’ on social media. I love writing – hearing/seeing myself, not so much.
It is easy to get caught up in perfectionism, telling ourselves it is not the right time to try something, or we do not have the right tools.
On one of my ‘lives’, the audio failed. Do not know why and it had not happened before (or since). Anyone watching was greeted with 30 minutes of me talking without sound.
We survived – and I got a little more comfortable with not needing things to be perfect.
Try this guided meditation on the Power of Acceptance, to support you in using mindfulness for procrastination. The practice is 11 minutes long.
