[TAKE 2] - Are you a productive procrastinator?

My article last week about productive procrastination had some interesting responses and questions. Upon reflection, I thought the topic warranted a revisit.

So, here is take 2 of productive procrastination.

Productive procrastination is not deadline (time) related.

Productive procrastination is about ignoring, avoiding, delaying what really needs your attention, the ‘thing’ that you want to do to get to the next level!

The reason we ignore, avoid, delay by busying ourselves with other tasks is because of the emotions we associate with the ‘thing’.

The emotions

The typical emotions that cause us to productively procrastinate are fear, anxiety, guilt, doubt, denial, uncertainty. You may be able to think of other emotions.

Recap of the definition of e-motion – it is the energy that moves us to action. Each emotion has its unique story, impulse (that moves us to action), and purpose. Each emotion guides us toward an action.

If emotions are the energy that moves us to action, then the energy from fear, anxiety, guilt, doubt, etc needs to be expended. Energy needs to find a release.

So, one way to expend this energy is by doing other things to ignore, avoid, delay the ‘thing’. This is the ‘productive’ half of productive procrastination.

But what you are doing is holding yourself back. You deceive your future self by justifying your present actions.

Fast forward your life into the future, the result of your productive procrastination, if left unaddressed, can potentially evolve into regret, shame, nostalgia, or other emotions. This is energy too and needs to be expended.

One potential avenue for this energy is through your behaviour. How you treat yourself and how you treat others – blaming, stuck in the past, addiction, depression, punitive or other ways.

But worse, the energy that cannot find an avenue can find a home physically too through illness, weight gain/loss and/or exhaustion.

Cause and effect

Productive procrastination can potentially affect our future self and our emotions play a crucial role.

They are the cause and effect of productive procrastination. And I speak from personal experience but this for another article.

And we ALL have experienced productive procrastination in some form or another.

For example, for a solopreneur, who needs to self-motivate, self-manage, and set their own deadlines, areas that are out of their comfort zone can become potential productive procrastination targets.

I have had conversations recently with solopreneurs (and professionals) who all alluded to productive procrastination.

Some called it procrastination, but it was not about time. Others meandered at first but with further questioning arrived at the specific emotion they felt towards taking their next step! It (the emotion) was holding them back.

By avoiding the ‘thing’ they want to do to get to the next level!

I am a solopreneur too and I get it. My opening sentence in my last article was that I used to be a productive procrastinator and still am at times.

But I am more aware now and catch myself before it festers! It is tough at times but taking small steps beyond my comfort zone is how I navigate my emotions and by holding myself accountable!

This is not limited to the context of solopreneurs or professionals. This applies to your context in any of the many roles you play.

So, what can you do to stop productive procrastination?

Lean in – listen and act

The first step is accountability. The courage to be brutally honest and accepting of yourself – warts and all. It is liberating!

This is more than navel-gazing. This is acting on the feedback from your navel-gazing. Your subconscious (and the related emotions) is always trying to bring your awareness to what needs addressing.

But, you need to LISTEN then ACT.

This happened to me last week. I am about to launch my online course and I am managing all the related technology to support the launch. This is quite a bit of work and time to figure out.

When my first client signed up, I noticed that their name and email did not show in my course list. It raised a warning note in my mind, but I ignored it! I carried on with other things on my to-do list.

To cut a long story short, there was an error, but I did not listen to my warning! I had to do some damage control the next day as I had sent out the link to my affiliates. So much re-work, energy, and time wasted. It would have taken 1 minute when my mind first alerted me.

It’s a simple example but a valid one, nonetheless. My emotion of naivete led me to ignore what appeared unpleasant (my thoughts: I designed this well, there can’t be an error). It cost me some rework, but I am lucky to have caught it early.

Fine-tune/change your default settings

The next step is to deconstruct your thinking (and emotions) to avoid your cognitive booby traps.

Again, we all should do this from time to time. Just as we take our cars for a diagnostic check to reset error codes, our thinking requires intermittent diagnostic checks too, to fine-tune/change our default settings.

And there is science and researched methods to do this.

That’s why I created future-proofing you. And because you are capable of so much more than you realise!

I am here to help!

*** Join me in Choose YOUR Future, my online masterclass from fear and inertia to clarity and results! *****