PROCRASTINATION.

Oh, how I love putting off ‘good for me’ things.

Sometimes for a few hours. Sometimes for days. Sometimes for YEARS.

Or.. forever.

 

Even though, with no exception, I KNOW that doing these things will make me feel great. ONCE they are done.

And yet.. I keep on procrastinating them,

Why is that?

Is this a form of self sabotage? Uh oh..

Perhaps.

 

I’ve even devised workarounds over the years.

One of these is ACTIVE procrastination. Doing something ELSE (ideally, something I am also procrastinating on) to distract me from doing the ACTUAL thing I am putting off.

This kind of works. Kind of.

It’s a hack. But only a temporary one.

 

It still doesn’t get the ONE THING done.

 

Like, for example, I am now writing this Blog post, FOR my newsletter.

Instead of actually writing my  newsletter.

It is useful FOR the newsletter, sure.

But it does not replace it, does it? It just buys me some time.

 

Another example: Taxes.

This year, I am ACTIVELY procrastinating on doing my 2020 dance admin tax return by..

Prepping my 2021/2022 dance admin tax return instead.

 

Future me will thank me for that 🙂 This is what I tell myself.

HOWEVER

I will still have to do 2020 taxes at some point.. (um, soon.)

 

Another workaround I found (a slightly better one, I think) is to make it AS EASY AS POSSIBLE to START.

• For stretching: Have my mat/bands/blocks at the ready (I’ve set up a ‘flexibility corner’ in the living room)
• For strength: Keep my weights in eye sight (they are on the counter, neatly sorted)
• For ballet/martial arts class: I make sure to prep my bag BEFOREHAND (this works for me!)
• For journaling: Have my journal OPEN and my pen already in it (and I make myself write 1 word BEFORE I get coffee)
• For going outside: Announcing that I’m going for a walk to MAKE me go (on FB or in my IG Stories)

 

This works well for the things I want to make a healthy, regular. or even daily/weekly habit.

Make starting easy. And connect it to another habit (trigger)

But I am still looking for effective ways to get started on those ‘once every few months’ bigger tasks that are too easy (and tempting) to put off.

How do you do it, I wonder? By just DOING the thing?

That just might work. Or not.

 

Another tricks that helps me (and we now use this for BOOST!) is.. putting it on the Calendar.

Yes. Even self-care stuff. Or Movement.

ESPECIALLY Movement.

I’ve even made a BOOSTie CALENDAR for this (I so love it!)

 

Do you feel the same? What is something YOU are procrastinating on right now? How will you get yourself to DO it?

Let me know in the comments below!