Procrastination: Is It Just Laziness or Is There More to It?

So, whenever it perceives that something in our external environment—people, places, events, or actions we plan to engage with—may pose a threat, the logical brain is triggered and starts looking for ways to 'defuse' it.

𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑡—𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

At this moment, you have two 'parts' or 'voices' within your psyche: one that wants to do what needs to be done, and one that is convinced it’s protecting you from the negative consequences of the action you’re planning.

𝐒𝐨, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐲.

𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒—𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔.

When this happened to me and I listened to my parts, I realized I was afraid of losing the good feeling I had and falling into despair over not knowing how to solve the new challenges I was facing. So, I postponed them. I procrastinated.

I thought I was lazy.

Once I corrected this perception and replaced it with proof that I knew how to deal with new things and wouldn’t fall into despair, my self-confidence grew, and the conflict disappeared. No more 'laziness.' 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 😊

𝐒𝐨, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨?

Grab a sheet of paper and imagine doing the thing you are postponing. Break down the steps you’ll need to take and notice how you feel about each one.

Now, write down the perceived consequences—what that would mean for you, what might you lose, how your day/life might look or feel, and why.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭.

After identifying the threat, have a conversation where you find reasons to diminish or completely neutralize it. Maybe you’ll realize the rewards outweigh the risks, or you’ll need to consider what will happen if you don't do the things you need to do.

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨 '𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝' 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨.

This process is called 'Voice Dialogue,' and a trained psychotherapist can help you identify and work through the thought patterns and beliefs your logical brain has adopted to keep you safe—beliefs that may no longer serve you.

However, it can also be done on your own.

If you take the time to try this process, please drop a comment to let me and others know how it went. 😊

Has it ever happened to you that you want to do something, but you just can't make yourself do it? Why do you think that is? Do you think it's as simple as 'you're lazy'?

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?

For that, we need to dive a little into the psychology behind it.

Our logical brain has the goal of keeping us safe—first, from painful or threatening emotions.