5 Pros For Procrastination!

PROCRASTINATION!

If you are like me, your long “to do” list keeps getting moved from one day to the next without a single dent in it!

Sure, I rise on time to head out for some exercise. I certainly don’t forget to eat, (and eat, and eat), sit down in front of the TV, watch the news (and the talk show, and whatever comes on next), check my e-mail, social media, “like” a few posts, pop out a few birthday greetings, look at articles (many of which aren’t 100% truth based), maybe turn on my desk top computer, then walk away to check on something I forgot in the kitchen.

I started this blog more than a few weeks ago. Though I keep coming back to it, with all that procrastination, it’s a wonder I complete any task! On the other hand, nobody has complained that I didn’t respond to them, show up on time, or submit a project by its established deadline.

How is it that someone who procrastinates so much, still gets important things done?

WHAT’S YOUR DEFINITION OF PROCRASTINATION?
These two online dictionary sources are slightly different:

• Merriam Webster online dictionary says “Procrastination” means putting off something that should be done intentionally and habitually.
  
  
• Dictionary.com says “Procrastination” is putting off or delaying something (especially something requiring immediate attention)

The difference between these two dictionary definitions is in Merriam Webster’s “intentionality” and “habitually”.

I don’t know that I agree with those words. For most of us, doesn’t life just happen?

IT'S DIFFICULT TO CONTROL THESE FACTORS..... 

• Genuine overwhelm: Sometimes we just have too much on our plates. There are only so many minutes during any given day. We all have the same 24 daily hours to work with (unless we perish). There is no physical, mathematical, or logical way we can get everything on our overwhelming lists completed within those 24 hours, 7 days, 52 weeks, 12 months, unpromised years and decades. Just thinking about everything we have assigned ourselves to accomplish can be exhausting!
  
  
• Frantic immediate priorities: No matter how well-organized we are, and how well we plan, more important things suddenly pop up that need to be dealt with. The school calls about your unexpectedly ill or injured child, or their horrid behavior. "Pick your child up right now!" Your loved one has an emergency and needs you for support or as their advocate if they cannot speak for themselves. An automobile accident occurs on the way to work. A fire starts or a damaging leak floods your home…
  
  
• Known or undiagnosed Medical/Mental disorders: Folks often lightly joke that being attention deficit is their excuse for being less efficient and timely. It’s true that ADD (attention deficit disorder) and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorders) are known to cause distractions that may keep folks from maintaining consistent work pace and concentration. There are other diseases and disorders that can also interfere with everyday life functions. Some of them become progressively worse, even with treatment. Medications and medical visits additionally may hinder our concentration, pace, and available time.
  
  
• Urgent need for self-care: Honestly, if we don’t take care of ourselves first, we lose the capacity to address or stick with any task we’ve planned. We don’t work efficiently or concentrate well when we are sleep deprived, in pain, worried, depressed, or anxious. Are we getting headaches, feeling fatigued, and experiencing visual disturbances / blurriness from too many hours in front of a computer? Delaying self-care just makes us less able to accomplish planned tasks.

ARE WE AWARE OF THE DIREST CONSEQUENCES OF PROCRASTINATION?

We miss the final words of a loved one when we don’t show up on time. We lose our jobs for perpetual tardiness. Nonpayment or late bill payments reward us with bad credit, repossessions, and greater loan fees (if we’re allowed to apply for a loan). Our businesses lose customers for delayed delivery of promised goods and services. Late submission of projects and papers earn us bad grades in school and demotions at work. Worst of all, when we procrastinate in addressing a medical condition, it may progress to a terminal illness.

TO BALANCE THINGS OUT, IT'S NOT ALL BAD!

Think about how we feel when things don’t work out because we put it off too long. Most of us learn from our mistakes, and we are often more productive than we think!  

What if we could reevaluate our own expectations and stop bashing ourselves over the head?

Let’s look at the more positive vision and give ourselves a break!

We are all different. If we understand ourselves, we’ve likely found adaptive techniques to maintain our best function and competitiveness.

Consider one or all the following “pros” to justify and allow procrastination when you notice yourself hedging….

5 PROS FOR PROCRASTINATION:

1. EASE: Procrastination can set your mind at ease. Perhaps your goal is not very important in the current scheme of things. Maybe you just don’t need to do what you’ve set in front of yourself. Are you being influenced by someone else or an ideal that says you “should”? Take a closer look at the task or goal. If you had to rate it from a #1 high priority to a #10 lowest on the totem pole, where would the importance fall? What is your motivation for accomplishing this task? Does it represent staying out of dire trouble, moving forward, emotional satisfaction, or joy? If not, let it go!

In my life, people always wanted me to do what they thought was good for me. They wanted me to follow a traditional path or made assumptions about what would be meaningful for me. I always knew instinctively what felt good, but it took some time and strength to fight the outside messages and allow myself to be who I am. Once I stopped listening to others and understood my own rhythm, life became a lot less stressful, and a lot more joyful! For me, it’s all about creative expression, like music and writing.

Our passions can be just as profitable financially, as they are productive and joyful.

2. HEIGHTEN: Procrastination helps us heighten our problem-solving skills. Given time to think through things more carefully, we may conclude that now is not the right time to move forward. It’s not that our goal isn’t relevant. Perhaps the timing is off! Look at the “why”. In many cases, we don’t have enough information to move forward. More research, conversations, listing / weighing pros and cons, and mapping out potential steps will help us create a clearer plan or decide the next action. Stopping to think may clarify what’s missing.

Some years ago, I was working as an outside salesperson in the automotive field. The job was more about public relations, getting shop referrals, and fleet business, than selling a physical product. As I made my rounds to the same shop owners in the territory, some of them said “I wish I had a salesperson like you.” An idea popped into my head. Knowing most of them could not afford a full-time outside salesperson, what if I could offer a group outside sales program? I took my time thinking about it, weighing the pros and cons, knowing I had a steady income in my current position. I let the idea sit until all the details worked out in my mind, and then I acted. It was several years later that I presented that group marketing program in the same territory, and successfully got clients on board.

In taking my time, I solved a problem for these shop owners while gaining the freedom and flexibility of self-employment (also maintaining my income)!

3. PRIORITIZE: Prioritize YOU!  When our minds are tangled with millions of details and worries. Ask: “Do I want to make myself sick?” Would actions become more efficient and focused if you took a break and did something else for the moment? Is there a valid reason the task must be completed immediately? Has a finite deadline for completion been established? Is that deadline self-imposed or vague? If the deadline is clear, go ahead and “Eat that Frog”! ^2. (see book reference in the footnotes) If not, it may be healthier to get distracted with a pleasant activity or dive into a repetitive task that calms and easily measures accomplishment.

These days, when I find myself dragging on what I have prioritized as an “immediate” task, I get the message to “step away and the focus will come when it’s needed”. Setting anxiety aside, I try to enjoy the moment. This could mean taking a walk with friends, allowing my husband to sweep me away on a shopping (or window shopping) expedition, or doing some repetitive menial routine tasks. I tend towards organizing, cleaning up, or being creative in general.

Sorting and clearing papers off my desk, reorganizing music files, or deleting thousands of undesired e-mails works well for me. Maybe I will spend those moments writing a poem (which often becomes lyrics for a new song) and imagine how I would produce it in the studio. I recently started a project illustrating one of my songs in video. (I don’t want to leave that project!)

The options are endless! It’s easy to forget the pressure we put on ourselves when we are having fun or feeling like we accomplished something – anything!

4. IDENTIFY: Procrastination helps us identify the right thing to do. It can clarify the difference between a never-ending foggy jumble in our brains and the light shining at the end of the tunnel. We’re waiting for something to occur.  We need enough solid information to visualize our path forward and act on it. How do we find that information?

Actively obtain what’s needed by studying, researching, creating vision boards, having conversations, and whatever else works to help us identify what we are missing. That “ah-ha” moment often comes of its own accord when the available information is so compelling that there is no question left in our minds! With that kind of clarity, we can move forward. Then, it’s hard to fail!

Before I returned full-time to my music passion, I had taken a hiatus working a standard job for salary and benefits. About halfway through that job period, I had a performance opportunity that changed everything. After that performance, I had an overwhelming yearning to get back to my music. I inquired about various performance markets. With my prior experience, and my current age, I was not focused on going back to my former performance routine. I identified a new niche and determined I could earn reasonable pay there. I gathered more information including pay rates, likely work hours, potential for frequency bookings, billing information, and how to expand within the niche. While maintaining my full-time job, I experimented during off hours, getting paid, and maintaining bookings successfully. I was aching to work my passion full time. Retirement was within reach, but not immediate. However, as I gathered more information about benefits and surveyed my clients, I felt the right thing to do was to retire early with the benefits I’d earned and go back to my music passion full time.

It was the best decision for me – the perfect thing to do!  I am forever grateful for the opportunity to serve my full-time employer and receive benefits, but I am also grateful for the opportunity to continue serving my clients passionately through music. 

5. HONE: Something in our gut is telling us to hold off -- or to JUMP IN! Procrastinating suggests the gut feeling is negative, keeping us from moving forward.

Think about it. Our instincts can be pretty accurate. Why do we disregard them, allow others to rationalize them differently, or find our own logical reasons to do the opposite? When we have time to hone our gut feelings and listen to them, magic can happen!

On a basic level, instincts are related to automatic reactions. For instance, most of us have heard the phrase “fight or flight”. Do our instincts tell us to stand our ground or run away?

Acknowledge the physical symptoms of fear, that sudden flow of adrenaline that causes our hearts to pump faster.  In addition, we should also acknowledge our experiences. Adding the two together provides us with more reliable positive or negative signals about anything, like trusting other people, accepting work positions, trying new projects, and spending money.

If 8 times out of 10 you have won when you stay to fight, perhaps fighting is the answer. Similarly, if you got burned the last time you laid your hand on a hot oven burner, your experience will most likely tell you the pain isn’t worth the effort.

What about considering the experience of success in the mix? Last time we quit our jobs before having another in place, and a great opportunity filled the gap, that’s a success. Last time we asked someone for a raise, and we were rewarded, that’s a success. Last time we tried something new and enjoyed it, that’s also a success! Obviously, there will be some unchartered territory, but we gain confidence with successes. Considering the ramification of failure in any given circumstance along with the benefits of prior successes is a honed instinct – and a valuable skillset.

Throughout my life, I have had - and acted on - some crazy ideas. Somehow things worked out.

Here’s a great example: One summer during my college years, I hitchhiked alone all over the country with only $50 in my pocket! Do I recommend this activity in today’s times? No! Still, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. A few instincts kicked in during that trip which suggested I was taking more of a risk than I should have. I recognized the gut feelings related to those situations, but I did them anyway!   

Whether my actions were smart or stupid, thankfully, my history of trial and error kept good luck on my side while hitch-hiking, starting new jobs, having relationships (even though some didn’t work out), and pursuing my passions.

These are successes that add to life confidence. Gut feelings plus (positive or negative) experiences have played a part in each of the examples I’ve cited under the above “Pros for Procrastination”.

Telling you what’s worked for me supports my pros, but everyone has their own sets of instincts and experiences. Make it a habit to pay attention to what your “gut” is saying at any given moment.

GIVE YOURSELVES PERMISSION! Next time Procrastination hits you in the face, give yourself permission to ease, heighten, prioritize, identify, and hone. 

Remember, Life is short. We don’t know exactly when our time will be up.  Let's take full advantage of feeling pleasure in as many moments possible!

Now that I have finally finished writing this blog about PROCRASTINATION, I am excited to resume my self-imposed task creating an illustrated music video to release on my YouTube channel.

I welcome your reactions, comments, and connections!

If you like this blog, please subscribe and share!  :)

BLOG FOOTNOTES:

1. Today’s blog image was created with directed AI assistance!

2. “Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time” is a book by Brian Tracy and Christina Tracy Stein. It’s been around a long time and an discusses a great method to frame and address your most looming projects and tasks.