The Mistake You're Making That Means You'll Always Procrastinate

Procrastination affects everyone from time to time, there’s no way to completely eliminate it from our lives.

There are, however, ways to drastically reduce the limiting effect it has on your creativity. Unless you learn how to avoid one major mistake though – a mistake that we all make – you’ll be forever in the grip of procrastination.

What commonly happens with procrastination is one of two things:

1. Denial. This is where you just carry on creating – or not creating – and pretend that procrastination doesn’t exist.

You turn a blind eye to that ten minutes you spent earlier cleaning your kitchen worktop again. That hour taking all your clothes out of your wardrobe, off their hangers and back on again because they weren’t quite straight. And the 3 minutes out if every 10 minutes you spend checking your email or favourite websites in case something crucially important has just come in.

The problem with denial is that usually you’re in denial of being in denial. Translating that into something easier to understand, it means you don’t notice you’re procrastinating because the whole concept of denial is about not noticing – or choosing not to notice.

2. Over Analysis. This is, in some ways, a step on from denial. But it doesn’t help reduce procrastination. In fact it usually makes the symptoms worse.

Because you spend so much time and mental energy trying to work out WHY you’re procrastinating, this just adds even more to the time you’re not creating. It’s just another trick that wily old fox procrastination uses.

“Maybe I’m procrastinating because I’m afraid of failing. Or maybe this just isn’t the right project so I’m not motivated enough? Or it could be that I’m not confident I have enough knowledge and experience to attempt this kind of creative project yet?”

BOTH of these two situations – denial and over analysis – end in the same result: More procrastinating and less creating!

And that’s the mistake you’re making.

The outcome is the same – or worse – however much you deny that you procrastinate, however much you try to analyse WHY you procrastinate, you’re always going to get the same outcome: More procrastinating!

So what’s the alternative? Is there a way to avoid this deadly mistake?

Thankfully, yes.

The first thing you need to do is shift your focus and energy from the WHY to the WHEN and the HOW.

Read that sentence again, and let it sink in, it's absolutely crucial.

What does this mean in practice? It means admit you do procrastinate – as everyone else in the world does – and stop trying to work out why.

Instead, notice WHEN you procrastinate. And notice HOW you procrastinate.

It’s only then that you have the awareness you need to take action, to take the next step to overcoming procrastination habits that have blighted your creativity for so long.

For more on recognising and overcoming the kind of things that stop you being more creative, I invite you to download your free copy of the powerful and practical "Explode Your Creativity!" Action Workbook at http://www.CoachCreative.com

If you’re ready to beat procrastination and set your creativity free in the next 21 days, check out the powerful ecourse “7 Steps To Freedom: How To Beat Procrastination And Set Your Creativity Free” at http://www.HowToBeatProcrastination.com

From Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin