Procrastination refers to the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of lower priority, or doing something from which one derives enjoyment, and thus, putting off important tasks to a later time. It is normal for us to procrastinate to some degree. We are delaying an action that has created some negative emotion and is surrounded by fear or requires such a demand on our time that we keep putting it off until we have more time, which never seems to come. According to Freud, the Pleasure Principle may be the reason we procrastinate, because we naturally do not prefer negative emotions and postponing stressful task until later is more enjoyable.
There are so many different reason we procrastinate. Each as individual as we are. However, allowing procrastination to create guilt, stress and a sense of crisis and loss of personal productivity are thoughts that have been enforced through ideologies of negative thinking based on social disapproval for not meeting your responsibilities and/or commitments.
Because we are a task oriented and labor results based society we may be considered lazy for task-aversion or seen as having no willpower or lack of ambition. We are not lazy because we procrastinate in most cases, nor are we neglecting our responsibilities or commitments. We are actually processing the goal so that we can commit and lock down on it in the right timing.
Procrastination is a voluntary delay of an intended course of action despite expecting to be worse off for the delay. This is a conscious decision that we make, which in most cases we imposed upon ourselves. In most cases, we have put something on our table that we are not really ready to attack or handle because we are not mentally prepared for it. We have not isolated the timing in mind to dedicate to the task itself. Procrastination then becomes a coping device that allows us to move through our fears, anxiety, timing, or even negative thoughts associated with doing something that may seem to be insurmountable in the moment.
Many times we set goals that simply are not attainable because we have too much on our plate, we are to tired, we do not have the time to invest into it or we simply are afraid that if we invest the necessary activity into it we may lose something or not accomplish something in the long run. The reason for our procrastination are numerous. However, procrastination is a tool that helps us to move through the process so that we actually come back into that which is necessary to be completed in the proper timing.
When we resolve in mind that we are prepared and determined mentally to complete the task we are prepared to commit to making it happen. For example: we may want to diet, but we put it off because we hate exercise and we don’t want to curb our appetite. Then one day we all of a sudden get up and take action to do it. Mentally we are now prepared for the challenges that come along with the task at hand.
There is no reason to feel guilty about procrastinating on a task. This is societal shame and has no bearing on your necessary process to prepare for that which you are embarking on. You are in a preparatory process training mentally and charging your motivation to accomplish the goal. The key is to not allow ourselves to feel guilty and ashamed about not starting or completing our objectives.
We all know when we are procrastinating on a particular project. Thus, when we are aware of our procrastination we can contemplate the reasons we are not taking action on something and sit with it and explore the depth of it in totality. We will find at the bottom of this process our fears and doubts about being able to accomplish the goal in a certain period and our reasons for putting it off, which we can then address within and even determine if the goal itself still should be a part of our targeted list of accomplishments we wish to achieve. We then can use procrastination as a tool to take advantage of the opportunity to grow into deeper levels of our POWER. It can also be used to find insight on ways to take pleasure in the task we have postponed as we come into a new commitment to stay the course to complete a certain objective.
Procrastination of itself is not bad. It has been sold to us as counterproductive, needless and delaying of our good. Your good is not delayed by not doing something. Something is always happening even in the periods of no action. L.I.F.E. is never stagnant. Only our mental capacity can stagnant. But even when you are not doing something there is a certain growth that is happening within. You are coming into an awareness of truth of self and your desire to do more continues to push you out of your comfort zone until you get up and begin to work on the task you have at hand.
You are moving through a process and growing into the ALLness of BEING. Procrastination is a time-out device that allows us to recommit to a task as we begin to align our mind with the necessary work to achieve a certain goal. You are not lazy because you are procrastinating. You are actually moving in a Divine Timing that is putting all in order to allow you the necessary thought and mental capability to complete the task that may require more from you.
You may not be fully ready to take on a certain task you have given yourself. To cope with your Spiritual learning curve and growth you may procrastinate until you win, which is coming into the full awareness that you have the POWER to accomplish that which you are attempting to do and you buckle down with the fortitude to do it against all odds. It takes time for us to come into certain determinations to win. Once we do, we are moving freely into that which we set as a bar to meet. Love yourself through procrastination and use it as a tool to win. Abort all negative thoughts that you are lazy because you are in procrastination and see it as timing-out until you are ready to mentally meet the challenge to take baby steps to complete all your task. One thought at a time, one step at a time, we win in all we do.