In Praise of Procrastination
By: Jennifer Sneeden
Tags: Success, Success Mindset, Goals, Procrastination, Successful Entrepreneurs

Photo by Pedro da Silva on Unsplash

There’s this myth that procrastination is your enemy, and that you’ve got to muscle through it to “get the job done” no matter what. That advice could actually be blocking your progress.

I get it. Everyone is telling you to stop procrastinating. Summon your willpower. Do whatever it takes. So its easy to start believing that procrastination is wrong or bad, or even weak. You can start to see yourself as somehow lazy or having this character flaw.

But procrastination as a sign of weakness or laziness is a relatively new thing. The whole idea that procrastination was bad started in the US with the Puritans.

Until that point, people like the Greeks and Romans had embraced procrastination. They would sit and think until they were ready to take action.

Think about that for a moment. Maybe the things you are blaming yourself for procrastinating are really those things that you’re not quite ready to take action on yet.

When you’re trying to stretch out of your comfort zone and grow, you’re going to have to do things that feel a bit scary. That doesn’t mean you should push yourself to take action before you’re ready for it.

When you push yourself to take action before you’re ready, you won’t get the results you want. Let’s say you make a video when you are really self-conscious and full of nerves. That video will not reflect your best work. That isn’t what you want to put out in the world, is it? Energetically, that video does not represent the best of who you are.

Procrastination is a way to prepare yourself to take action. When you stop blaming yourself, you can turn this procrastination phase into a powerful tool to prepare yourself for the outcomes you want.

Instead of calling yourself lazy or unmotivated, think of procrastination as a phase in the process of getting ready:

First, you make a decision to do something, like make your very first video.

Next, you get your thoughts, actions, and beliefs aligned with the video you want to create. During this time, you move yourself out of fear and doubt. You start to get excited about what you have to offer. You get clear on what you want to say to have the biggest impact.

Before you know it, you WANT to do this video. You can’t wait to get it out in the world. NOW you’re ready to record.

Here’s how you make procrastination work in your favor: When you find yourself procrastinating, don’t push against it. As you push against it, not only does it get stronger, but here comes all that negative self-talk, right?

Instead of pushing against procrastination, see this as getting yourself ready. Say, “I’m getting ready to do this.” Now here’s the critical part: Visualize yourself doing that thing perfectly, and enjoying it while you are doing it. Imagine how much fun you’ll have making the video. Imagine how easily it flows. See it going out into the world and making a big impact for your clients and your business.

As you visualize these results, you’ll become so eager to take the action, that nothing can hold you back. You can’t beat procrastination by fighting against yourself. You embrace the important purpose it has and use it to inspire your creativity.

This is how you stop pushing yourself to take action before you’re ready so that you can live your highest purpose through your work.