Why labeling behaviour is distracting.
What if believing in the concept of procrastination was the issue, and all the energy you are spending worrying about procrastinating was the problem? Imagine if you took that misspent energy and redirected it to getting into action.
Now I am not saying we don’t push activities back, but maybe there is a true reason for the inactivity. But to label an inaction merely gives another chance to feel guilty, for not getting something done when you feel you “should” have.
There may be an underlying cause:
1. You may be going against your natural rhythm.
2. The creative process sometimes requires space or "downtime" to fully form.
3. More information is needed to make a decision or take action.
4. You don't believe that what you want -- is what you want.
5. You don't really want to do - what you think you “should” do.
6. It's not yet time.
7. You don't trust yourself.
8. The task is overwhelming when envisioned in your mind.
9. Habit and conditioning.
When talking to people about the issue of “Getting More Done”, there can be a freedom around letting go of the guilt and panic of not having completed something on your terms.
“Follow your natural rhythm”
A Sales Rep for a steel fabrication company, who makes many presentations, would often leave the task to the last minute and create a presentation the night before. When we discussed this, he was under the false assumption that there was a “right way” of creating and so he thought he “should” have taken more time, he felt bad when he would “push off the preparation till the last minute”.
However, when he looked truthfully at how he operates, he found he was creating the content and mulling it over in his mind over several days anyway. So that by the time he was ready to actually write his presentation, it flowed through him easily and quickly. What would have taken him days to construct and write, took him a few hours. He was able to tap into his creativity much more powerfully.
Now it may be your nature to work in small pieces over time. If that is the case, go for it. It’s important to acknowledge your own work strategy.
The issue was never so called procrastination; he discovered the real issue was trusting himself and how he actually worked, then learning how to maximize his natural rhythm.
The issue was never about procrastination ... real issue was trusting himself, how he worked, and learning to maximize his natural rhythm
Today he works much more smoothly and efficiently, achieving more and spending less time doing so, as his mind is clear and focused on the task at hand. But more importantly, when he works -- he works, and when he doesn’t -- he doesn’t. No lost energy.
Labeling behaviour is distracting. Who came up with the word procrastination anyway? How does it truly help knowing that there is a name for something you are doing? When you lift the veil on labeling this kind of behaviour, you are free to explore the real reason. Get to work or don’t, you’ll get it done when it needs to be done. It just might be on different terms than you thought.
Copyright © 2014, Jonathan Creaghan all rights reserved
