PROCRASTINATION
SOLUTIONS

By Lael Johnson  

 I’m assuming that you have encountered some form of procrastination in your life. For those of you who don’t struggle with procrastination. Congratulations!  I find procrastination especially frustrating to handle, when it disguises itself as irritability, confusion and anger, pointing my heart and mind away from where the real causes lie.

Procrastination is a temporary solution to cover or push away intense feeling during the creative process.  Some creatives feel anxiety before starting a project.  Others feel depressed in the middle of creating a project. Still others struggle being unable to finish a project, especially one that comes closest to the realization of part of their artistic vision. They don’t want to face the unknowns of exploring a new project.  Procrastination is a form of self-sabotage.  I call it a short-term last resort. If you let procrastination go, it can take over your life.  In the following exercises, I can increase your awareness of how procrastination may be interfering with your work. Remember to choose  to work one exercise at time.  Take your time when you write. Be patient as you start to react to these two exercises. Let your mind and heart gently guide you toward deeper awareness and desire to change.

TO-DO LISTS: Lists are easy to write in your journal.  If you can write a laundry list, then you can write a journal list.  Feel free to choose organization tools that work best for you. My preference is to use a combination of my calendar, some goal files (pc), index cards and my memory. When I’m creating lists, I like having access to both flexible tools(cards and memory) and a workable structure ( past lists and some goal files).   Remember to write a clear, easy to read, and detailed to-do list.

CHOOSE  ONE AREA: Choose one urgent “procrastination” area.

To help your focus answer the following questions about your situation:
Purpose: Increasing your awareness of your
resistance:
What part of this activity, that I don’t want to do? (answer in specifics)
What am I feeling about working on this activity? (There may be more than one feeling)
What would I rather be doing?
What is so attractive about resisting this activity?

Purpose: Increasing  your awareness of your motivation:
What part of doing this creative project do you like? What are  your feeling about this creative project? (any  feelings)
Summarize your resistance statements and your motivated statements
Look  for any similarities and differences (use this information to answer the next question)
Look for ways to increase your motivational actions and decrease your procrastination actions.

When you’ve  chosen your new goal.
Start working on it now!!
No more procrastination!

 
Lael Johnson, owner of Writer's Eye Advisory Service, offers creativity coaching services and additional writing resources. This article may be reprinted as long as the text is unchanged, the resource box is included  and the author is notified placing the title of the article in the subject line.(c) 2005, Lael Johnson Writer's Eye Advisory Service. All rights reserved.