Hi, I’m Jena & I’m a procrastinator.

I’ve been procrastinating since I was a little kid and somehow managed to fly through school, including college, doing everything at the absolute last minute, including writing final papers the morning they were due. So, I’ve basically been practicing at procrastination all my life and after 30 years have become darn good at it!

But, in all honesty, I’m sick of being good at it. I’ve been making so many positive healthy changes in my life over the last year, shifting bad habits into better ones again and again, but it feels like procrastination is the hardest habit of all to break. And I think it’s at the root of most of my source of stress these days, and I don’t want it anymore!

The Oh So Many Ways that I Procrastinate, Daily:

• I’m late all the time, to almost everything, on such a regular basis that if I miraculously show up on time somewhere, people are surprised (myself included.)
• I read emails and rarely respond right away, and then all too often never get around to responding or do it far after a respectful grace period has gone by.
• There’s always something else that I feel like I “should” be doing because there’s always so darn much to be done! So I still find myself trying to multitask, which really just feels like chaos. I’m often trying to do so many different things at once that none of them actually get done.
• I’m pretty good at ignoring the piles of laundry, dishes and dust-bunnies when there’s work to be done, but when I have a really big to-do list ahead or a big project that needs to get started, suddenly cleaning house becomes of utmost urgency. Not a bad way to procrastinate, per se, but an avoidance tactic all the same!
• I’m a research-o-holic. I love the research/analyzing/planning phase of things so much that I can get stuck in analysis-paralysis and delay actually doing the thing I’m learning so much about! Every time I have to kick my own butt to jump out of analytical mode and into action mode.
• I get caught in little loops of checking my email & social media accounts over and over again thruout the day- not interactively, like actually responding or posting- it’s like I’m just checking to see if anything is new! Over and over, all day long. I think it’s a subconscious habit and such a time waster.
• I give in far too often to the “I don’t feel like it right now” way of being. It’s like if doing “the thing” doesn’t feel energetically aligned with my deepest desires at the moment, I feel I have a legitimate excuse not to do it. Problem is, there’s a whole slew of things that I need to get done everyday whether I feel like it or not (hello exercise, emails, cleaning the cat litter, getting out of bed, feeding myself, etc)
• I’m a last-minuter with everything- I’m writing this post the morning it’s going up, per usual. I’ll get all my other stuff done by the skin of my teeth right before it needs to happen the rest of today too. It’s like the pressure is the only thing that compels me to action. I can crank out some decent stuff under pressure, but I can’t imagine what I could create if I gave myself more time!

For me, procrastination is all wrapped up in my perfectionist tendencies. I think when I feel like I can’t do “the thing” perfectly right now, I push it til later. I honestly can’t think of the last thing that I did “ahead of time”- that phrase is not even in my vocabulary. But that needs to change because last-minute living is a stressful place to be!

My todays are spent catching up with yesterday and delaying things til tomorrow.

That is so not here and now. So not present. And that’s what I want most in my life- more than anything else I’m striving for presence, I’m striving to live in the NOW!

I’ve spent hard-earned money on books, e-books and even self-hypnosis mp3s that all claim to help get you out of procrastination station and back moving on the track of life. Of course, I’ve started them all but haven’t finished any, haha!

I was joking with Jen, how is a procrastinator ever supposed to get around to learning how not to procrastinate anymore? Well it’s a paradigm I’m about to conquer, one step at a time, with help from as many resources as it takes cause life-long ways of thinking are a toughie to change!

It’s time for Project: Kick Procrastination’s Ass.

The most effective remedy for my procrastinating ways so far has been accountability, and for me, that means putting it “out there” on my blog! I’ll be sharing my journey of gaining control back from this nasty habit and all the tips I learn along the way over on my own blog, starting tomorrow! Hah, just kidding- I’ll have my first post up today, in fact, I’m gonna do it NOW after I hit publish on this baby!

And in the meantime, I’ll try not to be so hard on myself because the guilt of not doing the things is worse than the procrastination itself. And I’m not going to call myself a procrastinator anymore- from here on out, I’m a do-it-now-er, in training!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Check out Jen’s post, Practicing Procrastination- she’s not a procrastinator typically, but takes it for a spin and shares her insight!

Share your thoughts/tips/struggles around the idea of work/life balance on your blog too, and we’ll post a link right here for our readers to check out!

READERS SAY:
Emily from Goodness Greenness shares how she’s curing her procrastination one headband at a time

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Do you struggle with procrastination in your life? How do you deal? Where do you think it stems from?

If not, have any tips to share with a chronic do-it-tomorrower?

I’m all ears over here and would love to hear your stories and tips!

Tweet