I hesitated to use the word “suffer” in the title for fear of turning everyone who might read this post away.
However, I think it is important for me to address ALL issues relevant to Procrastinators and not just the cute ones.
In my experience, Procrastinators, myself included, associate a feeling of suffering with doing work. The project due on Friday won't be done until we face the ugly feelings that work can bring:
- uncertainty
- fear
- frustration
- feeling unprepared
- feeling unknowledgeable
- feeling unready
It makes sense that we would begin to associate work with dread and dread with work. We are too smart to walk towards activities that cause us to feel dread, and so we walk away. Or if you are like me, you run away as fast as you can.
That, my dear friends, is where the suffering comes in. We start out feeling relieved, but then find ourselves going in two different directions at once — thinking about the work we left behind while trying to do something else going forward. The longer we stay away from our work, the more vulnerable we are to self-attacking thoughts, feelings of embarrassment, and lots of other negative experiences. We turn away from those around us, and suffer privately, and seemingly constantly.
Let's not suffer anymore, shall we?
Take a look at your own emotional signals. Are they firing like crazy when you think about doing work? Are you in emotional overdrive every time you walk into your office or drive to work or open your notebook?
There really is no need to be in emotional chaos just because you have work to do. You can focus and be productive and make changes without feeling burdened.
Work does require the work feeling, a feeling that tends to be heavier than the kind which comes when we are headed to get ice cream. But we need to learn to tolerate that initial rush of frustration, fear, or dread. It's just your body gearing up. You don't run out of your car at the sound of the engine revving up, even though it's a loud noise. When we run away from our cars, it becomes extremely difficult to drive. Don't run away the next time you need to start up your work. Try it today. Figure out your destination and start heading there.
Nobody wants you to suffer. Especially me. Now go and have yourself a great day.
News to Share:
I recently started the Procrastination Coach Facebook Group. A small group of people interested in working towards greater calm and productivity and I are co-figuring out how the group will grow and feel. If you are interested in being a pioneer member, please send me a request to join here.
