“I’ll mow the lawn tomorrow.” Those are my husband’s words. In my head I thought, “He just wants to get back in that warm bed and snooze a little longer.” Normally I’d just keep my thoughts to myself, but we were going to have company over the weekend and there were few windows of time available to get that task done. So, I responded, “ But, it’s supposed to rain tomorrow!” We checked online and sure enough, rain was expected. The lawn got mowed.

As I thought about that interaction with Bob I realized that he two or more ways of rationalizing away doing something in the moment. One of them is to push the task out just a little further on the timeline of his life. My favorite is to look at my calendar and find another open block of time to schedule something I really need to get done. If I can reschedule it, I can postpone it.

What is your preferred procrastination process?

Do you

• use illness as an excuse?
• lose track of the items you need to get something done?
• use the weather as an excuse?
• convince yourself that there just isn’t enough time to get the task done?

If you want to learn to procrastinate less you must first take a good hard look at all the mental games you play with yourself. Watch yourself for the next week. Notice every time you put off doing something. What procrastination processes do you use? Make a list of them.

Then catch yourself using them. When you recognize yourself going for a tried and true procrastination process, first laugh at yourself. Self-castigation hasn’t been found to be an effective method for changing ineffective behaviors. Then, make a different choice. I promise you will experience different results in your life like increased productivity, increased self-awareness and increased self-esteem.

By the way, I’d really appreciate it if you’d send me a copy of your list with permission to share it with my readers. We procrastinators can be creative folks. It would be fun to see how it’s expressed in procrastination processes.

The word procrastination does not have a positive connotation. All of us do it. All of us know that procrastination can cause stress. So, why do we do it? There are probably many reasons: fear, going for immediate gratification, passive aggression, self-sabotage, lack of confidence. The list goes on and on. One reason I find particularly interesting. Self-stimulation.

The kind of self-stimulation I’m referring to is brain stimulation. Putting off doing something that you know you need to do can create a tension, anxiety, a heightened state of arousal. Some people, particularly those who struggle with Attention Deficit Disorder and the right brained folks among us who get bored easily, have difficulty making themselves do certain tasks when there is no pressure, no one breathing down their neck, no deadline. For them procrastination serves as a method for creating pressure. When getting a task done becomes a time crisis, their brain comes alive and they go into action.

Are you creating time crises in order to tackle certain tasks? Perhaps it’s your way to get your brain in gear!

We all have a need for down time. We need time to do whatever we want to do–rest, read, play on the computer, visit friends, anything that is pleasurable and gives us a break from the many essential tasks of living. I have a hunch that if we don’t make enough time in our busy schedules to take a break, we find ways to take it anyway or we pay for not doing it by being only halfway present for essential tasks.

What may look like poor time management could really be an expression of insufficient down time. You fritter away an afternoon at work, spending more time than is necessary on email and surfing the web. You are exhausted and what you really need is a mental health day. Instead you show up and take the time anyway, procrastinating doing essential tasks, instead playing on the computer.

Imagine having worked for weeks with no quality down time. It’s time to put together an important proposal. How well are you going to be able to work? The part of you that is committed to your survival is going to wage war against the dutiful part of you. You may not procrastinate by wasting time, but it’s quite possible that you will only be able to attack the proposal with half the energy and focus that you would give to it if you were really rested. And, the proposal may get done, but its quality may be half what it could have been–the price you pay for not scheduling sufficient down time.

Have you heard the saying, “We teach first that which we must learn?” I’m writing about this challenge as much for me as for you! It’s time to make down time as essential as going to work!

Today I finally whole heartedly dove into planning the seminar I’ll be giving on February 12, entitled “Organizing for Productivity and Success.” I’d done some preliminary planning last weekend and during the week. As I usually do with something new and overwhelming, I chipped off small bites of the big project so I could get it to a size I could handle mentally and emotionally. Because I’d done that prep work, I was able to pin my butt to my chair and worked diligently on all aspects of the preparation–the slide show, the handouts, props, and the outline of the speech. When I finished I felt really good about my effort and my results. And, I felt good about me.

That got me thinking about procrastination. When you procrastinate, you put off doing something that needs to be done. You may be having a great time doing something else, but somewhere in your subconscious the task is nagging at you. With it there you are unable to fully relax, fully enjoy the present moment. And, you aren’t able to fully feel good about yourself. A part of you knows you are avoiding something important. That part can often be abusive. It sends you messages like, “What’s taking you so long to get started on _______?” “You always wait until the last minute and when you finally get going the results are just mediocre.” “What a slacker!”

Procrastination about those really important tasks, the ones that could launch you into a new career, that could free your energy to access your creativity, that could heal a rift with a significant person in your life, or that clear the decks for new adventures, costs you the most in terms of self-esteem. Likewise, when faced, those challenges bring the biggest rewards.

Are you procrastinating about an important task, one that could be life-changing? What is holding you back? Fear of success? Fear of failure? Fear of the unknown? Not doing the task is worse than doing it and struggling. Your efforts will feed your feelings of self-worth. Do it now as an act of self-love and as a commitment to ceasing self-destructive behaviors.

It is a good rule of thumb to immediately do tasks that take less than two minutes to do. It’s a way to clear “little task” clutter. I’m talking about making that quick phone call to the hotel where you left a personal item to ask them to mail it back to you. Or, taking items all the way up to the attic instead of letting things accumulate at the bottom of the stairs. Or, filling out a form that needs to be sent back to school with your child.

If it’s a good rule of thumb, why did the little pile of the last Christmas decorations sit on a table annoying me for a week before I finally pulled down the attic stairs and put them away? Hmmm. . . .

I think I procrastinate on tasks that I think will take more time than they actually do. In my head pulling down those stairs, climbing the stairs and putting those items away seemed like a lot to do. The whole task took less than a minute to complete when I finally made myself do it!

I also procrastinate when there’s something I need to do before I can actually complete the action. In the case of the Christmas decorations, I really needed to get a plastic bag to put them in so they won’t get covered with attic scum. Just having to do that one simple, easy step before I could complete the task kept me procrastinating. Amazing!

And, finally, I procrastinate about things where there is a possibility of discomfort. In this case, the attic is very cold right now. I don’t like to go into cold places. That was the icing on the procrastination cake for me.

Wow! There were quite a few barriers to me getting those decorations to the attic! Time, an extra task and discomfort barriers. It wasn’t just one thing.

The next time you find yourself procrastinating about doing something that really should not be a big deal, take a moment to see if you can identify the physical, perceptual, emotional or psychological barriers. The first barrier I addressed was to get the plastic bag. That was easy! Once I did that and everything was ready to go, it was much easier to deal with my thinking about how long it might take to do the task and my dread of the cold. Often if you can make yourself take the first step, just removing the first barrier will give you the momentum to finish the task.

What two minute task are you procrastinating about? What’s the first step you must take to get it done? Just do it! Clearing “little task” clutter will allow you to more clearly see what really matters and make better decisions in every area of your life!

© 2012 Clutter Clearing Community | Debbie Bowie

“Author, Organizing Expert and Feng Shui Practitioner Debbie Bowie, is a leading authority on clutter clearing to attract more of what you want in your life. If you’re ready to finally clear the clutter from your life and move your life forward, get your FREE TIP SHEET, “Feng Shui Tips for Instant Success” at http://www.clutterclearingcommunity.com.

Is there something you know you need to do but it never gets done? What’s the barrier? What is standing between you and getting that task done? Have you even taken time to identify the barrier? Once you identify the barrier, you can determine a way to eliminate it and move forward. Here’s my story of a barrier identified and eliminated.

I had known that I needed to keep in touch with people on my email list for years. I just never got it done. I had the list. I had the content. I even knew that Constant Contact is a the service I could use for this purpose. Still I kept dancing away from getting started. Yes, even compulsive professional organizers procrastinate!

When I finally got real with myself I realized that my discomfort with all things technological was the barrier between me and getting my news tips out to my list. To address that barrier I made a few feeble attempts to figure out this Constant Contact thing, but, as I expected, I was totally baffled.

So now the barrier had changed from discomfort with all things technological to truly not knowing how to take the steps necessary to get the job done. Once I got clear about that barrier, I sought help from my good friend and fellow professional organizer, Cara Kinning. She showed me the basics of Constant Contact, helped me set up my list and got me started on developing the template for the newsletter you see today.

Had I not taken the time to stop and identify the barriers to getting my newletter out, I would not be having the bi-monthly pleasure of communicating with you. Got an important task that you keep avoiding? Identify the barrier and eliminate it!

© 2012 Clutter Clearing Community | Debbie Bowie

“Author, Organizing Expert and Feng Shui Practitioner Debbie Bowie, is a leading authority on clutter clearing to attract more of what you want in your life. If you’re ready to finally clear the clutter from your life and move your life forward, get your FREE TIP SHEET, “Feng Shui Tips for Instant Success” at http://www.clutterclearingcommunity.com.

Every week I send thank you notes to new clients. Today I watched myself squirm around getting to that task. When I looked at my resistance I realized that my resistance wasn’t about expressing the sentiment. I really wanted to do that! Where I was dragging my heels was in pulling the whole task together. I’ll show you what I mean.

Sending a note requires many steps:

• remembering who to write
• identifying the appropriate card for each note
• addressing the cards (this can require searching for new addresses that aren’t yet in my database)
• stamping the cards
• adding a return address label
• writing the note.

This whole task is made MUCH simpler if the notes, stamps, addresses and return address labels are all located in close proximity to each other. Fortunately my desk is set up so all those supplies are at my fingertips. The only reason I’d have to leave my desk to complete the task is to search for an errant address.

If I’m all set up, why the resistance? I think it’s all those steps! Experience with clients has taught me that all those steps really do trip you up in the process of getting cards sent. It’s quite common for me to find a note a client began that’s months old, and in some cases even a year old. It wasn’t sent because the address hadn’t been added,  the note hadn’t been completed, or the postage was missing.

I’ve learned that if I can plant my butt to my desk chair and make myself address, stamp and add the return address label first, so the card is all ready to be sent once the note is written, I am more successful at getting mail out in a timely fashion. All those little steps can feel overwhelming. Once they’re done, writing the note is a breeze. Once the note is written, I’m done!

Try it!  Tackle those tiny steps first and enjoy writing notes to warm the hearts of people that matter to you.

What makes you run away from something you really need to do? Today I watched myself squirm as I began the task of writing up copy for a webinar I’ll be doing on June 18. I had to lasso myself to my chair to make myself do the task. I really wanted to run! Why? Because it was something I’d never done before and I felt out of my element. 

Avoiding a task because it requires traveling into unknown territory is a common reason for procrastination.

The reality?           Once I got started I found that the task was not as hard as my brain had me thinking it was. 

The lesson?            I can survive discomfort, do the task and reap rewards!

The rewards?       The good feelings of relief and pride that came from the sense of accomplishment for tackling and                                                        successfully completing a challenging new task.