The Procrastination Cure

7 Steps To Stop Putting Life Off

Jeffery Combs

• Publisher: RWW Career Press
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781601636270
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Time Management

What kind of procrastinator are you? Get to the root of the problem with this practical guide that pinpoints the causes—and the cure. How do you let go of procrastination? First you need to recognize and defuse the feelings that lead to it, which can be very different from one person to the next. Then you can develop the ability to both produce and relax without guilt. In The Procrastination Cure, you'll discover: •The root causes of procrastination (it's not merely a time-management issue)
•The six types of procrastinators: the Neurotic Perfectionist, the Big Deal Chaser, the Chronic Worrier, the Rebellious Procrastinator, the Drama Addict, and the Angry Giver
•Key strategies, practical solutions, and real-life examples for overcoming each variety of procrastination From a success coach and popular speaker who's a recovering procrastinator himself, this is a book that can put you on the path to getting things done—and living a better life.

Chapter One

An Overview of Procrastination

Early in my entrepreneurial career, I became aware of a prevalent tendency toward procrastination that was built into large sales teams around the country. People would attend my rallies, events, seminars, conventions, trainings, and mastermind groups, and they would leave inspired and excited. Then they would return home, back to their familiar surroundings, and procrastinate rather than produce.

These individuals joined what I call the Witness Protection Program, meaning that they would not return my phone calls or respond to my e-mails—I would never hear from them again. At first, this used to baffle me; I was shocked at the small number of people who actually followed through on their intentions. They would intend to create the action required, but they wouldn't actually commit.

Eventually, I learned that this was normal behavior for most of society. A large percentage of the population seeks change, yet these individuals fail to take action because struggle and hardship have become their identity, so change and success would contradict their very selves. To date in 2011, I have personally coached and mentored around 6,000 individual clients. This adds up to approximately 60,000 personal hours spent mentoring and coaching people to understand the way they feel so they can change those feelings in order to change the way they act. Predictably, 80 to 90 percent of my clients are stuck in procrastination.

These days, I'm passionate about assisting individuals to understand not only the reason they feel the way they feel, but also to recognize the events that created those feelings. If all you do is address the effect, you'll never get to the cause—and the cause is where you learn to live in the solution. If you live in the effect, you'll continue to live in the problem.

Take diet and exercise, for example. If food is a situation that affects you, going on a diet and beginning an exercise program are going to be components of releasing weight. But in the end, they're only the superficial cause that creates the effect. If you first begin to address the reasons you overeat, then you can get to the cause of your procrastination and resistance to weight loss. Many of us start a diet in late December or January, yet somewhere around March and April the luster wears off. We go to the gym in January and February, but then enrollments drop in March and April. The sun comes out, the weather gets nicer, and we lose sight of our goal.

A Short History of Procrastination

Procrastination has been around as long as humans have been in existence, even though, in early societies, a late crop could lead to starvation. Going back to 800 BC, the Greek poet Hesiod equated procrastination with sin or sloth. As society moved into the industrial age, it became easier to procrastinate because machines allowed people to perform less work.

Today, in the era of technology, procrastination is thriving. Not paying attention, getting ready to get ready, surfing the Web, playing computer games, watching the electronic income reducer (that is, television), are just some of the ways the vast majority of the population avoids doing what they intend to do but are never fully committed to achieving: their dreams, their objectives, and even some of their commitments. Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media have created a whole new way to stay connected—and a whole new way to procrastinate.

“I'm going to prospect on Facebook,” you say to yourself. Instead, what happens is that you catch up on all the posts, but you don't do any connecting because you get seduced into avoiding the pain of rejection you perceive. This is a great example of being busy rather than productive. The seduction of social media allows you to put off what you should do while spending more time doing what you merely want to do. Succumbing to these enticements can absolutely be costly. It can cost you time; it can cost you money. More importantly, it can cause you to experience guilt and shame, the lowest level of feeling that we transmit to others telepathically through our emotional vibrations. Some of the highest levels of feeling from which we can vibrate are love, serenity, and bliss—I believe you can agree that these are challenging emotions from which to operate while in the midst of procrastination!

The Financial Costs of Procrastination

Financial experts estimate that 40 percent of our population has experienced a financial loss due to procrastination—and in many cases, the losses were severe. In 2002, America overpaid $473 million in taxes as a result of rushing and creating costly errors. Each year, a large percentage of the population waits until the last minute to file their tax returns. An alarming number of people file extensions and then operate in a panicked rush to meet the extension deadline. Keep in mind that this is in addition to those individuals who put off filing taxes altogether and fall years behind.

I once coached a client who hadn't paid taxes in 15 years. She was so anxious about the repercussions of her situation that she couldn't file her taxes for fear of the unknown, and she was unable to sleep at night. She knew eventually she would have to face the music. Now, this woman wasn't a tax protestor, and it wasn't that she didn't want to pay her taxes. She wasn't dishonest or disloyal to our country. She was simply a chronic procrastinator.

Occasional Procrastinators

There's a huge difference between someone who procrastinates occasionally and someone who procrastinates chronically. We'll cover the chronic procrastinator a little later in this book. For now, I'm going to assume that most of you who are reading this book are occasional procrastinators. You're average procrastinators. You're not addicted to procrastination, but there are areas where procrastination hinders you.

Take a look at your bank account. Does procrastination hinder you there? Take a look at your physique and your health. Does procrastination hold you back there? Take a look at your desk. Is it piled high with papers that you can't let go of? Is your house a maze of clutter? How about your closet? When you open the door, does everything fall down on you? Or maybe you're one of those people whose garage is so filled with stuff that there's no room for the cars. Now that's procrastination!

Key Questions to Ask Yourself:

• What is the byproduct of my procrastination?
• Does procrastination cause me guilt and shame?
• Do I feel overwhelmed when it comes to the process of change?
• Do my abandonment and rejection issues keep me from using the electronic income creator (that is, the telephone)?
• Does procrastination keep me from avoiding production?
• Does the perceived pain of producing hinder me?
• Would actually producing liberate me?

Perfection—or Mastery?

No matter what you do, you will never be 100 percent. This isn't about being 100 percent anything. This isn't about being “the best.” This is about being your best. You will always have challenges. You will have ups and downs. However, your ability to bounce back will determine whether you are barely in the game or whether you master the game.

You are brilliant. You are already perfect. Your soul is having human experiences. You are exceptional. You have what is required. You have the guts. You have the juice. You have the G-A-M-E, baby. Most of you just haven't played it yet. You haven't committed, and you haven't decided. The good news is that each and every day you are granted a new gift called “time,” and that equals 86,400 seconds, or 1,440 minutes.

When it comes to production and procrastination, one liberates you and one intoxicates you. The liberation from production—from a task well done; from receiving a reward, a paycheck, a payment, an override bonus, or a big check; from a task accomplished; from walking across the stage, getting an award, getting a hug from a teammate or a family member—is exhilarating to experience. On the other hand, the intoxication we derive from procrastination—the guilt, the shame, the overriding feelings of unworthiness (“I'm not good enough,” “I can't believe I've done it again,” “It's so big I can't possibly start”)—is one of the biggest challenges.

Procrastination Is a Left-Brain Issue

What's fascinating about procrastination is that it all happens in the left side of the brain. The left side of the brain is the egotistical mind, the mind of control. It's important to understand that procrastination is nonphysical. Its results show up physically, but it all starts out emotionally. This is where the left brain kicks in. It begins to release dopamine, and you begin to feel bad. The left brain controls your self-talk, telling you what you can't do. It starts talking about the pain that might be created. “I'll probably fail at this,” “There's no way that will happen,” “If I do this, that might happen,” “They probably won't,” “I'm not even going to go,” “It will rain”—this is all the egotistical mind talking. This is the self-talk of a body that continues to stay in pain.

By contrast, a body that is experiencing pleasure releases a whole different biochemical called seratonin. This is the feel-good factor. If I could give you just one insight that will allow you to begin releasing seratonin, it's this: Start with a simple smile—a genuine smile. This small action will create some warmth in your body, allowing you to say, “I am enough. I am lovable. I am capable.” Affirmations are powerful, but they must be followed by action, because words without action are just empty statements. Affirmations without follow-through are just another set of statements that will lead to disappointment. Accomplishing your objectives begins with positive self-talk combined with affirmative action. This pattern repeated consistently and diligently in time will always lead you forward in every aspect of your life.

Beyond Motivation

What will allow you to overcome procrastination? Two situations:

1. Understanding why you procrastinate and why you do what you do
2. Creating reasons, goals, purposes, and objectives that are bigger than your procrastination issues

You must develop something in your mind's sight, something in your vision—something that's clear, something that motivates you.

But beyond motivation is inspiration. Inspiration is that fire in your gut. It's that passion in your core muscles, in your groin. Inspiration resides in the lower half of your body, where all your emotional, etheric energy is. It's the white-light energy called charisma that others around you can feel. They sense it, and they want to be a part of it.

Inspiration is a silent power that will carry you through your challenges. It will allow you to get back on a horse when you've been thrown off. It will allow you to get back on course when your brain's reticular activating system, otherwise known as your emotional Google search engine, has taken you off course. No matter how good you get, you will still procrastinate in isolated areas. Procrastination is an effect you can learn to address so you can eventually discover its cause.

You Are Not a Procrastinator

Here's the key to understanding how cause and effect works: You think thoughts that become feelings...feelings become moods...moods become your identity. This is the beginning of understanding that you are not a procrastinator. So many people say, “Oh, I'll be the first person to buy that book! I can't wait for Jeff's new Confessions of a Recovering Procrastinator CD to come out, because I'm such a procrastinator.” Procrastination has become that individual's identity.

Instead, practice saying to yourself, “I procrastinate in isolated areas that I: (1) don't understand, (2) am learning to let go of, and (3) perceive pain.” Instead of calling yourself a procrastinator, affirm that you are a recovering procrastinator. It's the 12-step program to liberation, wealth, and joy.

The most valuable commodity you possess in this life is time. The key is turning your time into value, into service, into results, into joy, into relaxation, into production, into connection. We spend our time in two primary ways: relaxation and production. When you spend time experiencing either one of these modalities, there is so much more to gain when you are guilt-free.

Procrastination has a huge effect on both health and wealth. Have you ever put off going to the dentist or doctor? Most of us have because of the perceived anxiety of the outcome. I must admit, I procrastinate about going to the dentist. Just the thought of it is enough to keep me from making the appointment. Even though I have a really awesome dentist, that's still not enough for me to schedule a checkup. Once, I waited 12 years between dental appointments! When I finally went, I had to have a root canal and a crown; that procrastination cost me about $5,000.

Address Your Emotional Addict

The University of Windsor in Ontario reported that adult procrastinators had higher stress levels and more acute health problems than individuals who completed their tasks in a timely manner. A person is more prone to procrastinate if the task at hand seems dull, tedious, or painful. Let's face it: Who gets ...