The REAL reason why you procrastinate

Here’s a shocking revelation. Your procrastination, to delay, is not about time. It is about avoidance. You delay to avoid something and it’s typically not about the task or situation but the emotions you associate with it.

I have written about procrastination and emotions before and I won’t repeat myself here. But the fundamental point I want to highlight is that the real reason we procrastinate is due to the emotions we feel about a task, person, situation, or moment.

When we experience change or hard situations, discomfort typically sits at the heart of it. And it acts as a barrier, stopping us from progressing by holding us back. Either to keep us in the safety of our comfort zone or due to the uncertainty associated with the situation.

Emotions – the paradox

Either way, comfort (and the emotions associated with it) or uncertainty are the emotions at play, and they play the lead role.  And as much as we think of ourselves as rational beings, we are fundamentally emotional beings.

The definition of e-motion is the energy that moves us to action!

Though our emotions that we feel in a situation may hold us back they can also provide us with information to move us forward.

Herein lies the paradox, although the human gut reaction is to delay or avoid our discomfort, the emotions behind them becomes the fuel that moves us forward.

So, how do we convert this discomfort to energy?

Navigating emotions

In the words of Marcus Aurelius – ‘what stands in the way becomes the way’

Emotions are there for a reason and they have a story. They are neither good nor bad but serve a purpose. This article on emotions has more details.

The key to emotions is not to control or manage them but navigate them by:

1.      Discerning which emotion you are feeling. As each emotion is unique with a story, purpose, and impulse, identifying which emotion it is you are experiencing is crucial. We often think we are experiencing a certain emotion when it could be a different emotion altogether. For example, joy and excitement are similar and easy to confuse. And as they are both unique emotions, discerning which one you are experiencing will help you take appropriate action.

2.      Understanding how they serve us. Emotions are neither good nor bad, but how they serve us is important. Some emotions serve us well whilst some do not.

If I am feeling frustration because I am in a long queue that does not seem to move, I can choose to leave the queue, returning at another time, or remain in the queue if the task is important to me.

3.      Replacing emotions that are not serving us well with ones that can serve us better.

If the task is important to me, I must remain in the queue. To continue feeling frustration does not serve me well in that moment. So, replacing frustration with another emotion such as acceptance or curiosity could serve me better.

Acceptance, it is what it is or curiosity, to ask to learn. Perhaps the service provider is understaffed and I accept the situation for what it is or I find out why things are as they are would help me re-centre myself in that moment.

Emotions – our energy

This is a simple example but when hard situations present themselves, how we navigate our emotions determines our outcomes.

Emotions are our energy that moves us to act. It is the energy that can hold us back, move us forward, make us feel undecided, make us act, take us high and bring us low.

Our energy, via our emotions, is crucial and plays a vital role in our adaptability to change.

Reading your energy is a critical part of the future-proofing you process.

How well are you reading your energy in the moment?

Let me know, connect with me at yoga@yoganesadurai.com