Is Procrastination robbing you of your Happiness?

If you’re like millions of others around the world you will have experienced the deadly P word. It
can rob you of your happiness and also your self-esteem and sense of worthiness. Are you a serial
procrastinator? Do you tell yourself negative things like "I am pathetic, why can others do it and I
can't, I will never be any good?"

Well you’re not alone. Not only can procrastination increase stress levels it can rob you of precious
time. A study in 2015 indicated that on average, a person loses 55 days a year to
procrastination.......what the.....!!! By not taking action you can lose years of your life just thinking
about what you should be doing. Wouldn't you rather be in control, productive and be rocking the
shit out of your life. You betcha. So to get you back in control and on the happiness track, check out the
3 most common reasons people procrastinate and how to beat it.


1. FEAR
Pure and simple, we often don't take the step towards the activity because we are unsure of the
outcome. Have you ever thought about asking for a raise or calling that new prospect and then
finding every reason or activity to prevent you from doing it. The reason is, that we often think the
worst will happen. In the above cases, someone might say no or reject us which can heighten our 3
Universal fears, the fear of not being good enough, the fear of not belonging or the fear of not being
loved. We often don't think of the outcome in a positive light. What if they said YES. Let’s put it this
way. If you had a 50/50 (Yes/No) chance of winning tattslotto, would you hesitate buying a ticket.
Not likely. The outcome would be that your either in the same position (minus $10) or rich. This is
just the same as asking for a raise. You will be either in the same position (no raise) or you will be
richer. 

Tip
Focus on the benefits of your action rather than the negative


2. LACK OF BENEFIT
Motivation is created by VISUALISING the benefit. Seeing the outcome as a worthy destination. As
we are creatures of comfort, when we see things as uncomfortable our motivation decreases which
often propels us into procrastination. Have you ever thought about going for a run and the wind is
blowing, its pouring rain and freezing but the couch looks really comfortable and that block of
chocolate looks a much better option. Motivation to run? Zilch. 

Tip
In this case we need to turn up the pain factor, seeing and feeling the pain of inaction over the long
term. What’s it really costing not running today, tomorrow, next week. How will you feel if you keep
depriving yourself of the 'success' of following through? When you have created enough pain
around this vision flick to the other side. Get a contrast of how amazing it will be to have done the
task, to have stayed true to your values, to have followed through. Note what your telling yourself,
how your feeling, what your seeing differently. Identify with who you want to be and take action on
being that person.


3. OVERWHELM
I know you have had those days where you have a multitude of tasks to do or an activity that you
are really unfamiliar with and you just don't know where to begin, right! It makes your stomach
churn just thinking about it. And at the end of the day, or many days/weeks, it just looks like too
much so you avoid it like the plague. My house would become very clean when I was
procrastinating due to overwhelm. Overwhelm is about not having clarity on the steps required to
complete the task at hand. Its about setting small achievable steps.

Tip
If you have lots to do; spend 5 mins just writing down what you have to do. By getting it out of your
head and onto paper gives greater clarity on what’s most important. 
List the 5 most important tasks and set a time frame to achieve them. You can even use a pleasure
activity in-between each step as a reward. I like a cuppa or reading a novel as my break between
tasks, what’s yours?
Also, if you have an activity you are unfamiliar with e.g.: create a web page, put on your investigators hat and embrace the learning. Break down what you don't know into categories-
headings, font, information you want on your page, colours, etc....
Once again its about setting small achievable steps to get to the outcome and give yourself the gift
of praise. You don't get to run a marathon without first training, so train your mind to take one step
at a time. 
You are your own creator, create a happy space to achieve all that’s important to you and know
that you can handle it.