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The Unconventional Antidote for Procrastination
And the Real Reason You Do it in the First Place
Anna Seirian
January 30, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
About a year ago I started saying, “Holy sh*t, I’m uncomfortable!” whenever I noticed myself procrastinating.
I still do it sometimes, and it’s become easier to notice myself in that familiar freeze.
Did you know that? About the freeze response? A lot of people don’t know that. They think that procrastination is a willful decision to be lazy, but I’ve rarely felt like I had a choice in the matter. I used to joke that I don’t know where the trauma ends and the ADHD begins, but it turns out that the walk between those two is a lot closer than most people realize.
The research on procrastination shows that neurochemically, our bodies are simply trying to manage uncomfortable emotions. That’s it! Your brain has a task that involves uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity, even boredom! And your body goes “Ohhhh, hell no. I’d rather scroll TikTok, thanks! That feels better.” So, of course I’ll procrastinate anything that makes me feel anxious, bored, maybe excited but uncertain, unclear, uncomfortable in any number of ways.
So here’s my general process for actually facing the emotions around procrastination:
🤔 Awareness
This seems like an obvious first step, but you would not believe how much you think about the thing before you actually do it — this can lead to a lot of anxiety about the thing without providing any kind of relief. So this step is about simply noticing and trying not to judge yourself. It’s not foolproof — I still get task anxiety! But a few years of diligent practice has given me a lot more power over situations where the devil on my shoulder is shouting through a megaphone to avoid, avoid, avoid.
👇 Lower the Bar
There’s a strong chance you’re making it bigger than it needs to be right now. Find the path of least resistance. You don’t need to do all your taxes in one sitting, you just need to start the spreadsheet. Let that be enough today.
🤝 I Choose This
A few weeks ago we shared this great Creative Pep Talk episode where the host recalls the familiar refrain from Pokemon — I choose you. CHOICE! Autonomy when I’m feeling like a victim of the scary task. Imagine that. Its like having a little chat with yourself to say — yes, this absolutely is hard and scary. But! Remember the good feeling you get when you do something difficult? Do you want that? Okay, it’s time to choose. I choose this.
Someone commented on a TikTok video I made about this recently as said “Okay, I’ve heard this advice, and even if I tell the feelings that they’re welcome here, motivation still doesn’t follow!”
To which I replied — if I said my procrastination is welcome here, I would be gaslighting myself. My procrastination feelings are not welcome here. Those feelings are fizzy and anxious and uncomfortable. But, they are part of a process, so I don’t have to be besties with them but I have to find a way to accept that they are a part the process. I don’t have to feel enthusiastic about it, this is about finding my way to acceptance.
We’re simply trying to shift away from resistance to and toward acceptance. Lower the bar.
👋 THANKS FOR READING
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