Do you regularly find yourself needing to do something and putting it off, it could be that you need to write a report for work, make a call or write a blog post and you just can’t bring yourself to do it? You tell yourself “I’ll just make a cup of coffee, check my emails, look on Facebook, etc. first” next thing you know hours have flown by and the job is still not done. You may feel as though there is something blocking you, no matter how hard you try you just can’t bring yourself to do what needs to be done? It’s almost as though you have some kind of barrier between you and what needs to be done, just thinking about it hurts your head.
How Procrastination Can Affect Us
Procrastination can have all kinds of negative effects on our lives, it can affect our work and cause us to struggle to meet deadlines, procrastinating may limit your earning potential or even jeopardise your income completely. Someone with a procrastination problem just cannot help putting off what needs to be done even if that means they suffer negative consequences.
What Causes Procrastination?
Procrastination isn’t caused by laziness. Ironically because it actually leads to more stress and anxiety, procrastination is your mind’s way of trying to protect you from experiencing negative emotions and pain. You may procrastinate because perfectionism, self doubt or fear of criticism brings up emotional pain and so you convince yourself to avoid the task until you can better handle those emotions but the longer you postpone what needs to be done the worse the emotional pain is going to get. Fear of facing the emotional pain is going to trigger your fight or flight response and you may find yourself running away from the issue completely.
How Can You Overcome Procrastination?
Know what your goals are, “he who has a why to live for can bear almost any how” said Frederick Nietzche. So know what your goals are, what will completing the tasks you put off allow you to achieve? I have a goal setting workshop on YouTube which may help with this, as I say in the workshop recording you need to make sure your goals are realistic and achieving or you won’t be motivated by them. You also need to make sure you can see yourself as someone who deserves to achieve these goals because you will never be someone you don’t perceive yourself to be and this is how hypnosis can help more on that below.
Watch My Goal Setting Workshop On YouTube
Believe In Yourself
Many studies have shown that chronic procrastinators suffer from self doubt and low self esteem, self doubt and low self esteem are often caused by growing up in environments where we are being attacked, put down and criticised. As I explain in this post, negative self talk is caused when a child internalises an abusive adult. Inner child healing can help to increase self acceptance, self esteem, reduce negative self talk and much more.
Have A Regular Relaxation Practice
Studies have shown that increasing emotional regulation skills can help to reduce and overcome procrastination, having a regular relaxation practice such as listening to hypnosis, practising qigong or mindfulness meditation is going to be beneficial for chronic procrastinators. When we grow up in dysfunction or experience trauma the emotional part of the brain actually increases in size and makes us more prone to emotional regulation issues so this is another reason to heal your inner child.
How Else Can Hypnosis Help With Procrastination?
Hypnosis, hypnotherapy and NLP are fantastic for getting clear on your goals, setting goals you can achieve, releasing the emotional charge from traumatic memories, improving emotional regulation, connecting with your inner child making them feel safe and secure. Hypnosis can also improve a person’s ability to visualise and as I say in all my workshops, your mind cannot tell the difference between a real or an imagined event. By imaging yourself the way you want to be, you actually create new neural pathways in your brain. The more you visualise yourself the way you want to become the stronger those neural pathways become and the more you can start to behave the way you want to behave.
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