Motivation Information |
Beyond Procrastination - 8 Questions To Ask Yourself
Why am I constantly putting things off? Why don't I do the things I'm "supposed" to do, but don't really want to? Why do I always seem to be forcing myself to do things? Whether it's chores at home, work for school, or projects at work, how do I get beyond procrastination? Most often, something is operating "underneath" the procrastination. Asking yourself these nine questions and spending some conscious time reflecting on your responses can help you uncover why you are resisting doing what needs to be done and support you to move beyond procrastination. 1. What are the benefits of completing a task and what are the consequences of procrastinating? Another way to ask this question is by exploring these four additional questions: (1) what will happen if I do this? (2) what won't happen if I do this? (3) what will happen if I don't do this? and (4) what won't happen if I don't do this? Reflect on your responses and align with the energy and positivity of right action, doing the right thing, while visualizing successful completion. 2. What is my self-talk like? What are the thoughts that support my resistance? Are my thoughts positive and supporting, or limiting and self-sabotaging? Moving to thoughts of joy, appreciation and gratitude can support you to experience an energy shift allowing you to take action. 3. What is my diet like? Do you experience lows, lethargy, laziness and staleness after eating certain foods or drinking certain liquids? Begin to explore your relationship to food and drink and your energy and moods. 4. What is my Life Force (Chi) energy like? Blocked, lacking, low? When one's life force energy is blocked, there is usually some disequilibrium among mind, body and spirit. Movement which supports the flow of Chi energy (such as Yoga and Tai Chi) can restore balance and energy among mind, body and spirit, allowing your Chi energy to flow which supports action and activity. 5. Am I depressed? You might want to have a physical exam and ask for a professional opinion to explore the possibility of a deeper malaise that may be affecting you. 6. What might be a competing committing that keeps me from acting? In other words, there is something I value more than the task I am resisting. This competing commitment is usually fear-based. As an example, a self-employed entrepreneur is resisting organizing her physical space, her office and work environment. When she inquired into her resistance, by journaling deeply into it, she discovered that when she completed the organization of her space then her next goal would be to focus on her business and she was fearful about taking next steps to grow her business. So her competing commitment was to maintain the status quo and do nothing, to resist and procrastinate. So, what might be something you are valuing more, than the task at hand? 7. Am I "acting out" some childhood resistance, as an adult? For example, if you were brought up to believe that "neatness counts" or "you must be organized", you might be rebelling against this belief by not keeping an organized living or work space. It's important to look "underneath" the resistance to inquire about existing beliefs that are driving you to procrastinate. 8. Am I attempting to maintain some self-image? Many folks procrastinate in order to maintain a positive self-image and be "good." In other words, by procrastinating they exonerate themselves from potential blame if something goes wrong or does not work out as they hope, or plan. In such circumstances, these folks delay taking action in the face of deadlines. These folks are poor self-managers and have difficulty self-regulating. The may spend an inordinate amount of time rationalizing dysfunctional behaviors as they are resisting "failure" in some way, shape or form. So, the resistance shows up as the following behaviors and attitudes: (1) Ignorance -- I didn't know I was supposed to do that; (2) Skill deficiency -- "I don't know how"; (3) Apathy -- "I really don't want to do" or, "It really doesn't make any difference if I put this off." and "No one really cares of I do this or not." or "I'm not in the mood."; (5) Fixed habits and patterns -- "I've always done it this way and it's hard to change."; and "I know I can do it at the last minute." or, "I work better under pressure."; (6) Inertia -- "I just can't seem to get started."; (7) Frail memory - "I just forgot."; (8) Physical problems - "I was sick.; and (9) Perfectionism - "I can't get started as it won't be perfect." Asking yourself these eight questions can support you to get underneath procrastination and uncover what's really, really at the root of your inaction. By staying with your responses, and inquiring deeply into them, you can begin to raise your level of awareness about the nature of your resistance and then create and take action steps to move forward to both reduce and eliminate the root causes of your resistance and become a "doer" on a consistent basis. Peter G. Vajda, Ph.D, is co-founder of SpiritHeart, an Atlanta, GA firm specializing in coaching, counseling and facilitating. Peter focuses on personal, business and relationship coaching. He can be reached at 770-804-9125 and pvajda@spiritheart.net
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting |
RELATED ARTICLES
How To Be Motivated To Create The Life Of Your Dreams When it comes to motivating yourself to be a better person, to do better at work or to create a happier family life you need to understand the importance of taking control of your self-talk. You really need to know how to motivate yourself through thick and thin. Speed Reading Technique Four Brilliant Tips to Speed Read Faster than EverMany people, particularly students, would love to beable to take in information faster. However prior to retaininginformation, they've to go through the 1st stage oflearning, which is reading. By Planning and Exerting Effort, You Can Change Things For The Better Most of us plan to find the love of our life, our soul mate. It is a natural human instinct to find a partner. Danger In The Comfort Zone I don't know who said it or where I heard it, but I'm sure it was brought to my attention by a sales trainer somewhere, at some time during my journey through the maze of countless sales trainings and seminars that I have attended over the years, but it does make perfect sense.There is danger in the comfort zone!Ahh yes! The comfort zone, we all know it very well, we have all spent a lot of time there. Why To Dump Will Power And Get Motivated The Easy Way For over 20 years I have been fascinated by the possibilities that exist for creating rapid and lasting personal change. And I learned some great tools for personal change. Nobodys Perfect Being human is being fallible. Evolution determines that we all are naturally different. Motivation: Small Changes, Big Results When I was 8 years old, my parents let me go to the toy store with my buddy Mike and his Mom.My dad gave me a whole dollar to spend. Discover How to Stay Motivated and Be Successful If you surveyed 50 people asking each their definition ofsuccess, chances are you would receive fifty different answers. Even so, there are certain steps everyone must follow in order tobe successful. I'll Do It In A Minute... Or Maybe I Won't 'Procrastination is like a credit card: it's a lot of fun until you get the bill.'Christopher ParkerDo you suffer from distractibility? I do. Its Not Enough Whatever you are doing in your life at the present moment; it's not enough. What do you mean it's not enough? I've done all I can. Mastering the Problem of Everyday Living People are unhappy and defeated by their everyday problems that arise in life. You should know that life is full of ups and downs. Have You Ever Not Done Something Because Someone Said You Couldnt? "Every truly great accomplishment is at first impossible." It's a beautiful spring day that I am writing this and it's at this time of year that I get motivated about what the rest of the year holds. Forgotten Your New Years Resolutions Already? How To Get Back On Track How quickly we forget. We are only a few weeks into the New Year, how many of you have forgotten that you even made any New Year resolutions. Hurry Up And Procrastinate I've been meaning to write this column, but I keep putting it off. There always seems to be something better or more important or easier to write about. Are You Ready To Make A Strong Finish? Talk about a strong finish! In their inspiring story of perserverance which ultimately led to great success and victory, the Detroit Shock won their first ever WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) championship title. USA Today told of their "worst-to-first odyssey" where the team, after winning only nine games in 2002, they finished 2003 with a league-best record and championship title. How Are You Feeling? Its More Of A Brain Question Than You Think How you respond to How are You reveals a great deal about you."Hi! How are you?""Not bad, you?"How many times have you started a conversation this way? I'll bet you do it nearly every time you say hello. 10 Easy Ways To Stop Procrastinating It is counterproductive to concentrate on so many tasksthat you cannot accomplish them and may cost you time andenergy with no results. Many people seem to spend a lot oftime and energy only to achieve very few results. Motivation: The Power of Vision Here's an interesting story from the world of race car driving. One of the most important things that beginning race car drivers learn is what to do when they lose control of the car and go into a spin. How to Stay Motivated Until You Get What You Want And somehow you knew how to stay motivated.. 7 Great Life Lessons From Tsunami Survivor As I am writing this article, the world is shaken by the tsunami that hit Asia on 26 December 2004. It is only now that we start understanding the greatness of the tragedy. |
home | site map | contact us |