Procrastination
Time to finally break up with procrastination.
A notification pops up on your phone and you get that little dopamine hit, you pick up your phone and that's 12 minutes gone.
It's easy to get stuck in a loop of procrastinating and instant gratification. We have lovely instagram, online shopping, Whatsapp and tons of things at our fingertips that can distract us, give us a quick dopamine hit and make us feel better (momentarily).
The trouble is none of these things actually move us forward, instead they distract us from our goals and from the things that will serve our future selves.
Our primitive brain loves quick wins. When you become aware of the tendency for giving into your primitive brain, you can actually train yourself to be more present in your prefrontal cortex, this is where we can make better choices and make decisions that serve our future selves.
When you go to start some work (especially if it's something new), you are probably going to feel discomfort, then you will feel the urge to do something else, this is the point where we procrastinate. Nothing has gone wrong, you should feel discomfort, because you're going out of your comfort zone. This is not a stop sign.
If you want to break up with procrastination follow these three steps:
1.Allow urges
In order to overcome procrastination we don't want to resist or react to urges, we need to learn how to allow urges, we do this by Sitting with the urge, just allow it and observe it without judgment, not try to hurry your way through it or change it in any way.
Now notice thoughts causing the urge, just witness these thoughts, become conscious of those sentences, because these sentences are what drive your actions. Are these sentences even true?
2.Visualise your future self:
I want you to get really good at visualising your future self. Future you is not delaying the work, future you is not on social media every 2 minutes and working until midnight, Future you is showing up and doing the work, allowing discomfort and allowing urges.
Every day sit for at least 5 minutes and journal what your life looks like 6 months form now. The key here is to really feel it in your body when you are imagining your future procrastination free life. Here are some prompts if your struggling to get started:
What does your life look like when you are making great decisions for you and planting intention seeds for growth every day?
How do you feel?
Who are your clients?
How much are you earning?
What are you working on?
What do you do in your free time?
Whats different about your life?
3.Root yourself in your ‘why’
Come back to you ‘why’, why did you start to build this business or start out on this career path? Knowing your why wil help you to feel rooted and powerful.
The clearer you are about why you want to run your creative business, the more commitment you’ll have, and the more motivated you will be to keep showing up everyday, you’ll be able to continue through rejections, obstacles and failure
If you’re not clear on your ‘why’ click here to read a post about figuring out your why.
If you love this and you’re ready to stop procrastinating and start building a life that your future self will thank you for, you can Book a Clarity Consultation with me. You just need to be curious and excited to take it to the next level!