Out of time...

So many things to do...

I can't get anything done...

I'll just check facebook for a minute...

I need to ___ but I have to__ first.

These are some of the things that I've heard myself say today.

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one.

We have a LOT on our plates right now. And by plates I mean our brains. Which can mean a lot of opportunities to procrastinate. And if we don't get all those things done, a spiral of defeat can show up pretty quickly.

I wonder...can we be curious about why we procrastinate instead of being judgemental? In my experience, the judgemental route isn't super helpful.

So...why do we procrastinate?

AVOIDING EMOTIONS

If you thought maybe it was just about not having enough time, this is probably disappointing to read. But...I invite you to stay with that feeling for a minute. Having a long mental list of things that we should do (lose weight, start exercising, train the dog to sit, read that book with my kid, fold that load of laundry...) can lead to a great deal of excess emotional stress that we carry around.

A study that measured procrastination in graduate students revealed elevated levels of procrastinatory cognitions among graduate students were associated with apprehension about writing, graduate student stress [and] low self-actualization. Those feelings certainly don't promote getting work done. But we might find a little relief from them if we finish this bag of crispy potato chips....

Ok. I've got some uncomfortable emotions about the things I'm not doing...now what?

Notice your breath. If we can spend even a few seconds feeling how that anxiety feels in our body, we can give it a name. And when we name it we can begin to understand it.

Here's something we can try: feet on the floor, hand on our chest. Can you notice how your breath is moving? (without much talking) From ancient yoga texts to that nice yoga teacher online, you may have heard something like this: the breath reflects the state of mind. (T.K.V Desikachar In Search of the Mind) When we are upset or stressed, we often have a shallow breath. And when we are sitting quietly, our breath is longer. When our breath is longer and less tense, we are likely using the calming parts of our brain.

When we become curious about how we are breathing, we have a place to begin. And possibly make a change that gives us a little more clarity.

Notice your self-talk.

Procrastination talk is not very friendly. At least not in my head. It sounds like many coaches from school, who wore polyester shorts and shirts and yelled the same things over and over: Faster! Do it again--better this time! What's taking you so long? (insert strong Southern drawl and stale tobacco scent here.) Maybe that's why I'm a yoga teacher now...a story for another day.

What if we listened to those words and then asked ourselves how we are feeling instead of making excuses? What if we acknowledged that we should do that thing (if indeed we should) and pick one specific thing to try and a certain day to try it? What if we talked to ourselves in that kind way we might respond to a friend? I hear you. That's a lot of things to do! I can imagine how you feel. Do you want some help or just to talk?

Now, wouldn't that make you a little more likely to something about that garage situation?

Take a small step instead of a giant leap.

A big stack of papers you need to file? Boxes in the garage--full of who knows what? Laundry baskets hemorrhaging clothes? What do all of these things have in common? Overwhelm. Even if you're a master at time management or a Konmari Method expert, some tasks look and feel big.

If you don't have the time or energy to tackle the whole thing, what if you had a little time or a bit of energy? (breaking into manageable chunks) What if you thought about how good it might feel to make a dent in the work? (motivation)

So you don't get to all of the papers in the pile...but you weeded out things that can be recycled and you maybe even found that bill that's almost due. Whew! Or maybe you fold the towels today. Or maybe you show your five year old how fun it can be to fold towels. (We both know it's not fun. They get attention from you and you get some sloppily folded towels. But hey--they're folded.) You get the idea. Less is more sometimes.

And that's totally doable.