Procrastination: Problem or Process?

Dear Soul Sisters 

It seems like I ALWAYS wait until the last minute to start work and meet deadlines. While I do eventually get things done and on time, I'm wondering what this pattern is about? Is it something I should look at or just the way I am? 

Thanks! 

"There is a way which is supremely effective. Just look at yourself as you are, see yourself as you are, accept yourself as you are, and go ever deeper into what you are." --Nisargadatta Maharaj 

Dear Procrastinator,

Thanks for your question! It sounds like you got it in just in time! ;) As we work with the mad rush here too, we're happy to help you unpack procrastination "problem."

You ask if this is something you should look at or "just the way I am?" We would answer, "BOTH." Our personality traits and peccadilloes come from who we are and how we have reacted to what's happened in our life. So this tendency is a part of you and may also have been nurtured and fed by the path your life has taken.

So first things first, we'd invite you to celebrate with some self-love! We know, we know. It's more "fun" to spend some time beating yourself up. But, from here, it sounds like you've got a lot on your plate. And, since you say you do meet your deadlines and aren't shirking any responsibility, we'd urge you to give up seeing the way you work as "wrong." Your process is YOUR process and the last minute might be all part of the Divine timing at work in your life. Give yourself a big hug of love and pat on the back for getting 'er done! 

If this is hard for you, spend some time working on getting to acceptance and self-love. In the words of Sidney Madwed “At any moment each person is always doing the VERY BEST he can..." Find a quiet place and say to yourself loud and clear and with confidence: THIS IS WHO I AM, THIS IS HOW I AM and THAT IS GOOD. Then sit with this for awhile. You may be surprised by what comes up. You may discover that many of your gifts have come from this tendency to procrastinate. You may find compassion for the person you have been and for the stress this pattern has caused you. You may find love and acceptance for yourself in a way you did not expect. Accepting ourselves as we are is the first step towards true self-love, and with love, anything is possible.

Next time you're in meditation, we'd suggest that you spend some time on this issue. Ask your heart what you need to know about your procrastination. See if there are any old tapes playing from childhood that are keeping you locked into seeing your process as a "problem." Often times the way we do something is very different from our parents, sibling and friends and we can take on their beliefs that their way is better than ours. The magical mirror of this is, of course, where the learning begins. See if anything comes up in terms of judgment about YOUR way of doing things being more correct. This might be a most divine opportunity to practice some forgiveness!

At the same time, it sounds as though, while this pattern has worked for you in the past - "I do eventually get things done and on time" - you are poised and ready to make a change. And that is great news! When the spark of an idea is put into us, it's often a signal that we are ready to act upon that spark. So get ready, because you ARE ready to make some changes in your life. WOOHOO!

Here's a process to try that may help you work with this pattern and do things a bit differently in the future:

We're big fans of making lists so we would suggest starting with one project you are working on right now. Make a list of all the tasks that go with that project. Then get out a calendar and write down all of the deadlines you are currently working under relative to this project. Make a note on the deadline day, but also on the day before, the week before, two weeks before, etc. This will help you to remember when planning your time, to set aside some time to work on that project. So often we know a deadline is looming, but we fail to take it into account when planning our daily activities. By over-scheduling ourselves, we don't leave time for what really needs to get done.

Now take each individual task that needs to get done to accomplish this goal and meet your deadline and assign it a block of time that you think it will take to complete the task. It's a strange fact, but true nonetheless, that very often we humans have a false sense of time when it comes to how much we can get done in a given period of time. Most of us are off in our "guesstimations" of the time it will take to complete a task by a factor of at least 50%! And we can be off at times by up to as much as 400% or more. That means a task that you think will take one hour to complete, will in reality take 1 1/2 to 2 hours OR MORE depending on how off you are in your personal "guesstimation" process.

For one week, track how long you think it will take to get things done versus how long it actually takes you to get things done. Then find the average amount of time you were off on all tasks in the week. This is your X factor (how off you are in your estimations of the time it will take to complete a task). Once you have your number, take a look at the list again and increase each guesstimation by your X factor (ie. If you guesstimate that it will take 1 hour to complete a given task, but you have found that things usually take 3 times longer than you think they will, multiply every guesstimate by 3. A one-hour task will in fact most likely take you 3 hours to complete.)

Once you have a list of how long it will take you to complete this project and make your deadline on time, schedule the time you will need each day until the deadline. Be sure and give yourself a day off now and again to rest and gather some creative energy to put into the project. Often a break is just what is needed to spur us on in the next session. Even when we aren't actively working on something, our heart, soul and mind are mulling it over inside. We love how dream teacher and author Robert Moss illustrates this in his book, The Three Only Things. Moss gives real life antidotes of great minds like Einstein coming up with solutions to big issues in their dreams. So, while you might think you aren't actively producing results, we'd speculate you're actually achieving far more than you realize during your "down time." To see this at work, we'd invite you to keep a dream journal AND a list of ideas that "spark" out of nowhere, those amazing flashes of insight that come as you make your way through life. We're willing to bet it's a biggie!

Be sure and leave some time (a day or two) at the end of your deadline for those unexpected delays and changes that always seem to occur with any project. Schedule to be finished a day or two ahead so that you have time to deal with anything that comes up unexpectedly. In other words, pad your last minute! Then, as you move forward in your life and take on more projects, put what you have learned through this exercise to use. Apply what you have learned about how you work with time and what tricks work for you to make your next project even easier and more stress-free.

As you hone your skill at managing your time and correctly estimating how long a project will take, you may find that your procrastinating days are behind you and you quite like being some one who gets things done on time and without the stress and pressure of a looming deadline that feels impossible. Or, you may find that you still procrastinate in some ways, but that managing your time more effectively takes some of the pressure off those days when you are facing a deadline. Whatever the case, find a way to love and accept yourself just as you are right where you are.

We see you surrounded in light and all in Divine order!

Peace, oneness, love & light,

Lara & Jennifer

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