Beating procrastination

“I’ll get around to it one day…”

“I know I should, but I just can’t get started.”

“Every time I think of doing it, I just freeze.”

“I find a million other things to do, rather than doing ‘it’.”

Do any of these statements ring true for you? Procrastination is an all-too-familiar problem for many people.

You might be procrastinating about

• Starting an exercise program
• Improving your eating habits
• Leaving a job you hate
• Quitting smoking
• Starting (or finishing) a school or university essay, assignment or thesis
• Finishing your home renovations
• Ending an unhealthy relationship

or a thousand other things!

Procrastination can manifest as

• Putting off starting an unpleasant task;
• Finding yourself unable to complete something even though you’re nearly there;
• Distracting yourself from what you need to do, by eating, cleaning, talking on the phone, shopping, surfing the ‘net…. (believe me, I’ve heard it all!)
• Telling yourself you can’t get started ‘until…’

Most people assume they just need to try harder, exercise their will-power, and tough it out – just MAKE THEMSELVES do it!

But there’s a much better way… and it just happens to be easier, faster, and a lot more fun, too.

Procrastination almost always reveals an inner conflict about whatever it is you’re putting off. Part of you wants to get the job done, while another part is hanging back. But why would that be? Here are some common inner conflicts underlying procrastination:

• Fear of criticism. Your work might get judged by others once you complete it, but if you don’t, you can always fend off criticism by saying, ‘Well, it’s not actually finished yet.’
• Fear of success – in particular, other people’s reactions to your success. If you lose the weight, quit smoking, or go for that job interview and land the job, it’s possible that not everyone you know will be thrilled to bits.
• Fear of failure – what if you try your hardest but still don’t succeed?
• Belief systems and comfort zones. For example, blocking yourself from getting started might reinforce your belief that you are a procrastinator who never gets anything done! This stops you from even getting started, so you stay in your comfort zone.
• Fear of increased expectations – if you succeed at this task, will others expect even more of you?

There are many more sources of internal conflict that contribute to procrastination. My approach to all of them is to use EFT on the underlying feelings driving the conflict: fear, shame, guilt, self-doubt and so on; and the past events in your life that cause these feelings to pop up now.

Isobel’s procrastination break-through illustrates perfectly how our feelings can keep us stuck in a pattern of procrastination, and how targeting EFT at those feelings gets us unstuck, quickly and easily.

"I wanted to let you know how I went after our session, when we worked on how I'd been procrastinating about preparing for my husband's relatives to come and stay with us.

I had been feeling so overwhelmed by all the things I had to do to get the house ready, that I just couldn't get started with anything.

Well, as I drove home after our session, the whole plan for what I have to do, just popped into my head! I was itching to get home so I could get started. I couldn't believe it, because I've been putting all of this off for weeks.

I think the thing that helped the most was doing the EFT on how annoyed I was with my husband for starting home renovations just before his relatives were due to visit. As soon as I got over that annoyance, I got unstuck.

The other thing that helped was doing the Choices EFT on letting it be easy to come up with a creative solution. That's exactly what happened - I came up with a creative solution to the sleeping arrangements for all the relatives, and I didn't even have to try!"

- Isobel, Sydney

I use EFT and Matrix Reimprinting extensively with my clients, to help them overcome the procrastination habits that hold them back from being happy and healthy.

If you would like to learn more about how EFT and Matrix Reimprinting can help you overcome procrastination and achieve your health and life goals, apply for a Roadmap to Optimal Health Consultation.