Procrastination. I’d love to, but…

When a good friend asked me to contribute a little something for her newsletter it seemed like a great idea. When I cleared the decks and sat down to write it seemed a great time to color-code my closet or whip up a crab casserole. As an enthusiastic writer, who has nevertheless had writing blocks in my life which have lasted longer than some World Wars, this business of avoiding doing something that I really want to do used to mystify me.

When I trained as a Life Coach, I learned that the classic coaching take on this was that I probably have an agenda other than actually writing and finishing a piece. I am avoiding doing something I think I want to do because I don’t really want to do it. I think this is partly true.

Certainly, if a client ‘fesses up to not taking actions which are so clearly needed in their lives I might ask them

“What do you really want?”

“What would happen if you didn’t take the action?”

But I would also ask a much bigger question.

“What is your expected outcome?”

It’s occurred to me more than once that my foot-dragging over an activity directly correlates to the attachment I have to its outcome. If I don’t have much energy invested in how something turns out I can either do it or not do it. If something is important to me, especially if it reflects something about me or gives an impression of myself to the world (like writing or keeping a sparkling clean house), I leave the door open to creating avoidance or stress around it.

So the Constructive Living lesson for today is this.

When you find yourself putting something off, notice what you are doing. If you’re procrastinating, be aware that you are working with something which is important to you. Be grateful that you have things to do in your life which are important to you. Put all else aside and do it immediately to the best of your ability.

Then you can go back to matching your socks and alphabetizing your recipes.