You know you need to call your dentist to make an appointment to get your teeth looked at. However, weeks and even months….and yes, even sometimes years go by before you finally make that phone call to make that appointment. The phone call literally takes 2 minutes, and it’s over before you even know it. Does this scenario sound familiar to anyone? The topic I’d like to touch on today is the topic of procrastination. Why do we procrastinate? And how do we stop doing it?
This particular scenario sounds extremely familiar to me….because I’ve lived it! And actually, if I’m straight up honest….I still haven’t made that phone call. I haven’t been to the dentist in over 10 years! Now, I’ve been doing other things to help my teeth and have been trying to take care of them on my own during that time. However, this isn’t a blog on natural remedies for teeth. This is about procrastination!
What is the underlying cause for that natural tendency to put off doing those important things? I’ve read different articles and listened to podcasts, and the common theme seems to be FEAR. Wait a minute…my laziness is linked to fear? It makes sense once you start thinking about it. Once I make that phone call, I’m going to have to face the possibility of having cavities and what other problems they might find. If I never call, I don’t have to find out the problems in my teeth!
I’ve been a hardcore procrastinator my whole life. I was that kid that would start a 10 page English paper the week before it was due. My room was always messy, and it would take me forever to start a task such as writing an email, making a phone call or even scheduling a time to get together with friends. Once I was married though, my procrastination habits were really starting to wear on my husband. Dinner was always late, laundry wasn’t done until all the socks were gone out of the drawer, and I was always running late everywhere I went.
Now, obviously some of this was due to poor planning, bad management of time, or straight up being lazy. I started to make changes because I was now living with another person, and I needed to consider his needs as well. But the longer we’ve been married, the more I started wondering why procrastination is such a struggle for some and not a struggle for others. Part of it has to do with how you grew up and the habits you accumulated over the years. Sometimes it might just be a tendency you have because of how your brain functions. And sometimes, I’ve learned that it’s because there’s something else getting in the way of us being productive. That thing is fear!
Think of different scenarios in your life that you have a tendency in which to procrastinate. A couple examples might be, an important phone call, responding to an email, filing the necessary paperwork for a task like, starting a business, or writing a resume. The list goes on. Once we finally do these different tasks, we realize that it didn’t take much time at all. So what was holding us back? Think about it…Perhaps one reason we don’t make that phone call is because we’re nervous about what that other person will say. We might not be able to hear them clearly. It might be really awkward. It might take too long and we won’t know how to end the conversation gracefully.
Why would it take someone forever to write a resume? Well…the purpose of a resume is to get an interview. What if we don’t get the job? What if the interview goes horribly? Or consider that end of the year term paper you should have started weeks ago. Once we write that paper, it has to be graded. What if we don’t get the grade we needed in order to pass? Or what if we disappoint our parents?
One thing that has been helpful for me is to acknowledge that fear. Obviously some of my lack of organization has to do with me having 3 kids in 4 years. My time is limited and children make lots of messes. However, I always struggled with procrastination, even when I was single. Now when I find myself procrastinating on particular tasks, I take the time to ask myself why. What’s holding me back?
Now when I can tell I’m procrastinating, I identify what I’m nervous about and then just go finish the task. If I want to invite people over for dinner, sometimes I put it off because I’m afraid my meal will be disastrous, and I’m worried that the conversations will be awkward or I won’t know what to say. There! I acknowledged it and we can move on. Take extra time to plan your meal out. Think of conversation starters and go send that invite to the couple you’ve been meaning to get together with!
There’s a solution to any problem you’re in. After all, God does say to fear not, and his grace is sufficient for us. He says this multiple times in the Bible. Take some time to sit down and sort through the different problems and situations you’re in. Ask the Lord to give you wisdom, then come up with a plan. Get up and go do it! For me, 9 times out of 10, the task was way easier than I thought it would be, and all the horrible, imaginary scenarios I dreamed up, never happened. The more time you push that task off, the more space it’s going to take up in your brain. Don’t allow these things to control your life anymore.
Go get a piece of paper, and write down all the different tasks you’ve been putting off. See how many you can get done today! And find someone you can admit these little fears to, and see if they would be willing to encourage you and keep you accountable. Take it from a hardcore procrastinator…there is hope! Set a 15 minute timer and get started right now!
Till Next Time,
Abby
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