I accidentally discovered how to 'solve' procrastination

Having worked with two clients recently who were struggling with procrastinating I had this 'revelation' which inspired me to make this rather bold claim (and I stand by it with one caveat further down!).

Case Study 1 - Daniel

Daniel (Staff Engineer in AdTech, not his real name) was attempting to start a personal project which mattered to him but, no matter what, he couldn't make himself get moving. This had happened before and he was really worried that it wouldn't get off the ground.

After a couple of sessions, there were several problems we uncovered and addressed

• he was starting the project in the way he thought you were supposed to (have a plan, start taking action) and he was finding himself mired in the 'what if's (overthinking) which caused him to get stuck
• he hadn't realised what he found most motivating about this project - what really mattered if you like

Solution

Daniel wasn't a planner. It didn't motivate him in the slightest. What motivated him was the result or the vision getting realised. The overthinking didn't help. Once he realised he was 'allowed' to start here he got excited and immediately got to work with drafting the vision.

Agreeing small steps (that I made him accountable for) made it easier to make progress and avoid getting stuck on specific details.

He went on to complete the project. He has adopted a technique that stops his tendency to ruminate (overthinking) which leads to anxiety. He is now taking on challenges which he would have avoided in the past.

Case Study 2 - Naveed

Naveed (Director at an investment bank, not his real name) wasn't maintaining his personal relationships to his usual high standards. He had a strategy to fix the problem that had always worked in his professional life. The problem was this was too demanding of his time in his personal life, so he struggled to?make?headway. Long story short, he was letting things slide and he wasn't happy about it.

This issue was really 'grinding away' at the back of Naveed's mind.

After a couple of sessions, there were two problems we uncovered and addressed

• He was staying motivated by using one of his natural strengths but it was not the right tool for the job
• He was overlooking other values which were important to him

Solution

Once he was invited to look at this through the lens of his other values, it became clear very quickly what he needed to do. He started putting in place the new actions which were aligned with his values.

This is something he can use now and in the future - it is being transformative!

The Caveat

This does not apply if you are not invested in the goal or the outcome.

If you are not invested then you will be trying to force yourself. Please have a word and ask yourself why you are investing effort in this.

Here are my thoughts on the truth about procrastination.

So the slogan for Austin, Texas, I believe, is Keep Austin weird. I'm recommending that you keep you weird. We're all weird. Everyone is weird in their own unique way. That's by definition weird. I'm weird to somebody. Many people are going to be weird to me, but we are all together weird. That's what unites us. So I invite you to connect to your inner weirdness, and this is the root cause of procrastination. You're not particularly connected to your weirdness. There's too many voices (most of them inside your head!) telling you what you should do, making you feel guilty, ashamed, lazy, and so it's all these other radio noises getting in the way of actually listening to how you would like to do things, what you would find energizing,

And if you're enjoying my reflections, here are some more in a video taken on a windy day at Dunstable Downs (2 minutes long).

I put this toolkit together to give you a step by step guide so you can discover flow to move effortlessly past your so-called procrastination.

Register to receive the toolkit here

______________________________________________________________________________________

The toolkit will be included in my forthcoming book, Grow Your Own Guru, which will be available in Spring 2025.

Grow Your Own Guru - unimagined possibilities will emerge when you trust yourself and your intuition