Procrastination: What Does It Mean About You?
What have you made procrastination mean? What have you made it mean about you? The definition of Procrastination: To defer or delay, to put off to another day.
The problem is not in putting something off to another day. The problem isn’t really that you delay some completion to another point in time. The problem is the mindset around why you are putting it off to another time and what it does to you in the process.
To defer or delay could be a very important factor in the quality of the work you are delivering. However, the problems lie in the meaning you have assigned about yourself about putting it off. It’s the meaning you have assigned to yourself about the procrastination that is the problem.
Let’s take a deeper look at what is happening. I suggest that you have made it mean that you are “bad and wrong” for procrastinating. Because of this judgement about yourself, you put yourself under undue stress and that costs you a lot. These thoughts and negative chatter can cause serious damage.
The meaning you assign is to just defer or delay the action of getting it done. Oh, I can hear their voices now…Mom and Dad saying, “Why aren’t you getting this done now?” “Why have you put this off to the last minute and now you have to cram to get it done. ““You are going to miss your opportunity but not getting this done sooner.”
Oh, I know they meant well, and you have made it all be “bad and wrong.” So, what if we could set all the aside for just one minute and look at a couple of things.
#1 What if there is Fear Driven Procrastination?
#2 What if there is Creative Driven Scheduling?
#3 What if you knew the difference?
Let me assure you that there most definitely is #1 and #2 and you can have #3. When you can determine the difference, you are on the way to knowing when you should defer or delay by scheduling or not defer or delay and find the fear.
When you can recognize the difference, then you will know what is appropriate. You see, fear driven procrastination is putting off the task because of something that you do not want to experience. There are very definite physical responses that occur when you are up against fear and you will tell yourself all kinds of reasons why you can’t get it done…none of which are the truth they are just mindset tactics to try and keep you away from the fear.
Meanwhile, creative driven scheduling has absolutely no fear attached to getting it done, no physical response and you are clear about when you are most creative, and you will schedule the task to be done during that creative time. In addition, there are no excuses about why you can’t get it done. You just schedule it and that’s when you get it done.