Ways Of Turning Procrastination Into An Ally

(Please join my newsletter by clicking the?subscribe?button on the top of the article to be notified of new editions. Let me know your thoughts. Thank You.)

?Sometimes I ask myself if our ancestors were procrastinators or if they only enjoyed life the best they could. We can easily imagine after an attack many of them would deny themselves from moving forward and just put their head between their knees.

We are always busy doing things it's awkward that we suffer from something that stops us from doing the things we love and are potentially beneficial to us.

Similar to the flu it keeps coming and coming every time and each time a bit stronger. As we change so it also changes.

We are trying to adapt to society, to a way of life that goes so fast that the majority have difficulty accepting it and those that adapt probably used “supplements” to keep going.

Something isn't right with our society, at least when it comes to working. The stories of bullying, racism and other attacks are so widely 'available' and so easily masqueraded as an excuse for someone that couldn’t cope.

We work a lot, to the point we live and breathe work, even during holidays. Our society has been built on work. When you as a child become older enough to know how to speak and understand others, immediately people start planning your future, you are going to be a doctor, a lawyer, an artist, a football player, or someone important. You must work to be someone, you don’t want to be looser, don’t you?

Back in The Old Times

Do you remember when you were young at school and the teachers would scold us for creatively doing something else, although we were very proud of what we did? The time's authoritarian parental speeches would defeat our urge to create or experiment, the colleagues who no matter what would bully us for being different, and the penalty by punishment mentality that oversees our actions at work.

?Failing is a big no-no in our society, even today with the failing fast mentality, failure is like a great sin, a sign of weakness.

With the amount of pressure, we daily get is hard to think about what’s going on with us, so many decisions, so many things to do, so many meetings, and so many choices of entertainment.

And here enters procrastination, this mechanism that helps us slow down but if unchecked paralyses us from doing things that we know will benefit us. We instead, find excuses to not do it and leave for tomorrow or the right moment.

We invent stories in our heads about not being suited to do the task, that it doesn’t matter what we do, we are destined to fail anyway why invest such a long time to be in the same place, again?

I also let myself get done by procrastination sometimes in a spectacular way. Is taking me years to hit the publish button on my website, although is all set up with content, I still feel fear of doing it.

And I make excuses in my head, those beautiful stories that give us a sense of relaxation aka a feeling of avoidance, for fear of what in this case others will think.

Although I have done so many things in my life that required a huge amount of courage, and discipline this feeling still lurks around like a new old annoying friend.

That friend that invites us to skip doing certain things,” let’s have a beer”, “leave it for tomorrow enjoy your day now”.

Eventually, things keep piling up and up until the best way to handle it is to toss them around and hopefully, an obscure force will take them away from us.

And when that happens, when that thing is delegated or we miss our opportunity we often say, “oh but I was about to do that”.

This is what procrastination does to us, to you and me, it steals us from things we individually need to do, the opportunity to challenge ourselves…gone, those feedbacks that would probably increase our knowledge...gone discover our blind spots...gone.

Why Is So Easy To Succumb To It And Equally Hard To Keep It At A Distance?

Failing is not the only problem, fear is a catalyst to irrational feelings and thoughts that consequently change the way we accept to behave.

?Fear of failing lies deeply embedded in our ideas and beliefs.

Our body, specifically our brain, is just doing what it must do, protect the body from danger, why would we embark on an activity that others may punish us, embarrass us, or make a fool out of us? We are social animals and validity from others plays a big part in our decisions, we have been educated to avoid failure.

So, What Is Procrastination?

There are so many descriptions.

A choice for inaction, a devalued alternative action which diminishes our ownership, keeps us unmotivated and makes us accept cheap indulgence.

An instant lack of accountability gratification excuse, powered by the stories we continue to accept and believe.

What Powers This Behaviour, This Mental Decision?

It's unique from person to person with some similar causes and behaviours.

• Fear of missing out is now a feature in almost everything we use.
• What others think, we all know what this is.
• Setup for failure, most of the processes, goals or procedures are knowingly or unknowingly devoid of clear "rules".
• Fear of stepping up, how many times have we wanted to say something but decided not to?
• Ignoring past achievements, we easily ignore past achievements and sometimes other things we are good at making us diminish our value
• Past unidentified traumas, knowing past roots causes help us determine why we behave the way we do.
• The environment we are set in is very important knowing and identifying the type of environment we are in.

Not knowing what lies ahead plays a big deal in our foresight minds. We are negatively impacted by the very thing that helps us succeed as a species.

Is There A Solution To Defeat Procrastination?

Defeating it may not be a solution.

What we can do is use it to our advantage, get aware of when we procrastinate, determine when it happens and by seeking help why we sometimes behave so negatively, among other options.

We need to accept its existence and find personal ways to look at it positively to turn it into an actionable wake-up call and find that the very thing we are avoiding is exactly what we need to do.

In the next newsletter, we will cover some possible actions we can use to our advantage.

?Welcome to Secure | Support | Scale

This newsletter emphasizes the significance of strong leadership in life in achieving success. By building a solid foundation, setting clear goals, and fostering innovation and growth, people can empower their teams and themselves to reach their full potential and drive long-term success.

You should understand your values, goals, and strengths to build a strong foundation.

Achieving ambitions requires setting realistic goals and developing a plan. Scaling your vision involves thinking strategically and making informed decisions that support growth and expansion.