{"id":2967,"date":"2021-08-05T13:10:36","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T20:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindworkshypnotherapy.com\/?p=2967"},"modified":"2021-08-05T15:58:18","modified_gmt":"2021-08-05T22:58:18","slug":"why-do-i-procrastinate-let-me-count-the-whys-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindworkshypnotherapy.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/05\/why-do-i-procrastinate-let-me-count-the-whys-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Do I Procrastinate? Let Me Count The Whys – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Bored Procrastinator<\/p><\/div>\n

In\u00a0 the blog post “How Do I Procrastinate? Let Me Count The Ways” I suggested that to overcome your procrastination you need to know the ways that you procrastinate<\/strong>. I suggested that there are various ways people procrastinate<\/strong>: some delay getting started on the project, some go great guns until they near the finish, and some dawdle and dither along the way. I also discussed some other ways: second guessing yourself, dwelling on the past, beating yourself up, overcommitting, worrying excessively, and striving for perfection.<\/p>\n

In this post, I suggest that to overcome your procrastination, you also need to understand why you do it. <\/strong>You need to figure out what motivates you to put off taking constructive action to achieve your goals<\/strong> (and dreams), especially ones you fervently desire. What do you want (either consciously or subconsciously) to accomplish by procrastinating?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

To discover the reasons why you procrastinate, I offer a process that involves self-examination<\/strong>:\u00a0 1) asking yourself certain key questions about your goals, behavior, and state of mind, 2) then reflecting on your answers (which point towards your motivation for procrastinating).\u00a0 Once you know what you are trying to accomplish by procrastinating, you then 3) ask yourself certain other questions to figure out how you can accomplish that aim without procrastinating on your goal or dream.<\/strong><\/p>\n

To complicate the matter, there may be multiple reasons why you procrastinate on a particular goal, not just one.\u00a0 Here are some of the reasons people procrastinate.\u00a0 Which of these account for your unjustified delays?<\/p>\n

Sometimes we procrastinate out of laziness<\/strong>.\u00a0 We just don’t feel like doing what we need to do to progress on a project or come closer to making our dream a reality. We tell ourselves we’re too tired, we need a break to clear our head, we just want to lie around and eat ice cream or binge watch a favorite television series.\u00a0 To do something that doesn’t require sharp focus, deep concentration, or sustained effort–and preferably something that gives us immediate pleasure.<\/p>\n

Laziness is frequently offered as an excuse or explanation for why someone didn’t take constructive action.\u00a0 We all feel lazy at times.\u00a0 It’s part of being human.\u00a0 And giving in to the feeling is another way of allowing ourselves some down time.\u00a0 But if it’s more than an occasional occurrence, and is the reason we give ourselves for procrastinating most of the time on most everything, something is seriously wrong.<\/p>\n

It could be due to an undiagnosed physical illness such as Hashimoto’s disease, or an allergy or vitamin deficiency.\u00a0 It could be a symptom of mental illness such as depression.\u00a0 It could be part of the grieving process after a crisis, trauma, or loss of a loved one.\u00a0 Whatever underlies chronic laziness, it’s not just a character flaw. It’s an ingrained habit that develops from repeated choices not to do what you need to.\u00a0 No one is born lazy.\u00a0 It’s a learned behavior that, like any bad habit, can be broken and replaced with healthy behavior. And depending on what it stems from–a physical or mental illness, a tragedy or crisis–and how difficult it is to recover, the procrastinator may need to find professional help from a medical doctor, a psychiatrist, a psychologist, or a nutritionist.<\/p>\n

Another reason why people put off taking action is boredom<\/strong>.\u00a0 The new music student who is charged with practicing scales day in and day out may become bored and skip practicing them, eager to dive right in to learning to play Chopin piano concertos.\u00a0 A young child sitting through a Sunday service at church may squirm and fidget out of boredom rather than pay attention to grasp the moral of the sermon.\u00a0 Airline passengers with a long delay may read their paper, listen to several podcasts, and play Solitaire on their smartphone to allay their boredom and anxiety about missing their connecting flight. Could they allay the boredom editing their work proposal due when they return to the office? Not likely if they’ve already reviewed it many times.\u00a0 Boredom is unpleasant and makes you feel uncomfortable.\u00a0 It’s a state of mind no one enjoys.\u00a0 So when you get bored with the very tasks you need to do to move closer to reaching your goal or living your dream, you may choose (consciously or unconsciously) to do anything other than what you need to do, and thereby procrastinate.<\/p>\n

Apart from boredom and laziness, which do account for occasional episodes of procrastination, most often people sabotage themselves for a specific purpose<\/strong>, whether they realize it consciously or not. Are you one of those people?<\/p>\n

Do you know the purpose of your procrastination? What it’s meant to accomplish?\u00a0 It could be one of the following:<\/strong><\/p>\n