YOUR RESULTS ARE IN!
Your Self-Limiting Habit is… Procrastination!
Are you always racing the clock? Do you ride the edge of tension with deadlines and social engagements? Do you tell yourself you perform better under pressure? Chances are pretty good that your self-limiting habit is procrastination.
Don’t feel bad; every single human on the planet struggles with this at some point.
When you feel overtired, stressed, and mentally drained, the last thing you want to do is finish your project, pack for your trip, or clean the whole house – so you put it off until later.
However, “later” becomes “now”, and sometimes, it even becomes “too late”.
If you find that there’s always too much left to do when “later” arrives, its time to address the root of the problem and figure out why you always wait until the last minute to get things done.
Research has shown that people who describe themselves as chronic procrastinators often experience higher levels of stress, anxiety, and even depression.
So if you find yourself always giving into the lazy meh feeling of putting off the things you know you’re going to eventually have to do anyways, the time is now – not later – to uncover why you keep leaving things your current self doesn’t want to do, and let them pile up so your later self still has to do them, only with less time
Procrastinating may feel good in the moment , but can lead to feelings of failure and inadequacy when you can’t complete the task well, and the results are less than idEAL.
This can result in not wanting to do the next task that comes along, because you didn’t do so hot on the last one. Do you see that self-fulfilling cycle ready to repeat itself?
Luckily, there are some ways to retrain yourself from procrastinator to proactivator.
1. Recognize when you’re procrastinating
If you start an important task, only to stop immediately for a coffee break, or put off doing something until you feel motivated to do it, or even pack your schedule with other easier but less important tasks that you’d rather do… then you’re procrastinating.
2. Dig deep to figure out WHY
Are you dreading starting a task and looking for anything else to do?
If you put things off because you’re afraid you won’t finish them perfectly, it’s time to look at the self-sabotaging beliefs behind perfectionism.
Remember – Finished is always better than Perfect.
If you’re afraid that completing a job successfully will only come with the reward of more hard work and the expectations of success, then you need to look at why that success scares you.
3. Work on Anti-procrastination
First, forgive yourself for your previous procrastination patterns and work towards the Get It Done mentality to help you overcome them.
Commit to your tasks, create accountability by sharing your schedule with others and encourage them to check in on your progress, and set up a reward system for when you’ve completed something on time.
Who doesn’t love a decadent treat when they’ve done a Grown-Up job?
Of course, the easiest way to not put things off is to do them as soon as they hit your To-Do list. Turn off all distractions and knuckle down by telling yourself that you choose to do it now instead of you have to do it eventually. Give yourself power over the task, and crush it – before the deadline.
Strategies to Overcome Procrastination!
If you want to stop the self-sabotage and finally get out of your own way, the key is understanding why you’re doing it — what need is it filling?
Then, apply a little creativity to identify healthier, happier, and more productive ways to meet those needs.
Here’s a simple guide to help you begin the journey of rewriting your self-limiting beliefs and habits:
-Improve Self-Awareness
Reflect and get curious about your self-sabotage.
- What does your self-sabotage look like?
- How does it typically start?
- Are there any unhealthy patterns?
By reflecting and noticing any repeating patterns, you can more easily recognize when it’s time to take over and kick those traits to the curb. You can then take a moment to pause and get familiar with what’s happening in your mind and body – what’s triggering them and how it feels physically.
-Challenge the Beliefs and Habits
Once you’ve spotted your self-sabotaging habits, it’s time to challenge what they’re actually doing for you.
If you want to stop procrastinating, you first need to realize that it’s helping you deal with your fear of success. If you want to stop over-committing, you need to recognize that it fills your need to feel useful by ignoring your needs.
So ask yourself what your self-limiting habits ‘do’ for you – and then do the harder work of uncovering some underlying issues you need to work through. Whether it is childhood trauma, feelings of inadequacy, or daily struggles in life, they can all lead to self-limiting beliefs and behaviors.
-Create a New Pattern
This is the fun part where you get to choose your next adventure!
Once you’ve spotted your negative self-sabotaging habits and rooted out their cause, you can do the fun work of making a new pattern, one that serves your end goals and helps you grow with confidence and healing.
Think about who you really want to be – and start aligning your actions to that potential. Use affirmations to help ease your negative self-talk, so the next time you find yourself turning to your old self-sabotaging ways, you can confidently choose your new, self-affirming solutions.
Most importantly, be compassionate. Old habits die hard, and routine patterns are hard to change. Just stop, recognize that you’re trying, and remind yourself of why these patterns didn’t actually work for you before – then give yourself the opportunity to do better.
You know, procrastination and perfectionism often go hand in hand, and it’s a combo that can ruin your productivity and relationships.
You know how this goes: you keep putting things off because you’re afraid you won’t do them perfectly or say it just right. Then, your anxiety rises, which causes you to feel less confident, so you hold back and keep waiting to start or delay responding or turning in a project until you “tweak it some more” or the “time feels right.”
I see you– I know how this goes!
That fear of not being good enough, of not meeting those lofty standards, keeps you stuck.
Where does this all come from? Often these behaviros and thoughts are rooted in self-doubt. You doubt your abilities and worry about not measuring up, so you delay starting or finishing tasks unless you’re sure you can nail them. This just leads to more stress and missed opportunities, and you end up feeling even worse about yourself. It’s a tough cycle to break, but recognizing it is the first step to overcoming it.
Learning to become more consciously aware of these thoughts, feelings, and actions takes work, but the reward is successful work, relationships, and better health.
For more strategies to support you on your journey to change your habit of perfectionism and procrastination check out the Free guide on Becoming Imperfectly Perfect.
For a deeper dive into how to change Perfectionism and Procrastination habits, learn to overcome your chronic self-doubt, which is often the source of these habits.
Remember, self-doubt is not just an annoyance; it can harm our health, relationships and our dreams.
This is our ONE life–Let’s not let Self-Doubt and Fear hold us back!!
If you’re interested in learning specific strategies based in science and informed by my decades of experience working with thousands of women, check out the course on Overcoming Chronic Self-Doubt.
JOIN us inside the REAL Women’s Collective™ to not only learn the strategies but receive ongoing support from me and a community of like-minded women!!
Hey there!
I’m Dr. Lori, clinical health psychologist, women’s empowerment coach, author, speaker, TV contributor and creator of REAL Women’s Collective™ a private community filled with tools, strategies, courses, Live Q/A and a community of supportive women.
In my 35 years of practice as a psychologist, I have learned that at the core of almost every struggle is fear and self-doubt.
The First Step is SELF-AWARENESS.
Learning yourself better involves bringing the unconscious into conscious awareness to stop living on auto-pilot and actively engage in successful, authentic living.
Challenge Your Old Thoughts and Behaviors and Learn a NEW way of Authentically Living!
1. Follow on Instagram for helpful tips and strategies for holistic health, growth strategies, and authentic living. Step out of self-doubt and fear and stop wasting this life Click Here @dr.lori
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Get To Know Yourself 👠
“Self-destruction and self-sabotaging are often just the start of the self-resurrection process.”
― Oli Anderson
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