The Magical Art of Procrastination
Procrastination is a coping mechanism.
Whenever I procrastinate I feel a tingling in my body that causes me to feel pissed off, upset, and disappointed in myself. This turns into a loop of negativity that spirals me into a full blown comatose position on my bed binge watching mind numbing television. Little did I know that procrastination is a coping mechanism that was brought on by my stressful job.
I wanted to start off this year addressing this topic since one of my intentions for 2021 is to work towards becoming more productive in every aspect of my life. The first step was realizing that I had a procrastination problem and becoming deliberate with what I do. I found that simply making to-do lists wasn’t enough to me. I needed to schedule time in my day for certain things— at 6am I exercise and meditate, at noon I have my first meal of the day, and after work I dedicate all my time towards my craft whether it is singing, acting, or writing. Sometimes my work bleeds into my free time but something I noticed is that instead of creating a work-life balance, I have been using it as another form of procrastination. Doing work outside of work hours makes me feel like I am progressing. However, I have to remember that work in not my life.
Setting boundaries should honestly be my newest artform.
Even this entry took a little under a month to write simply because I was either procrastinating writing it or I was too exhausted by the end of my work day to “get around” to doing the things I love. So, how do we get out of the downward spiral that has been my mind?
I hate to say this but I think it’s about trying every day to be better. Some days feel unbearable. I feel so stressed out that I can’t help but wonder if I will be able to get everything done. Therefore, I decided to chunk my goals into smaller bits that I know I would be able to handle. In true Mel Robbins form, I say 5-4-3-2-1 and make the work happen.
It’s not easy. Trying to get anything in your life takes hard work that most days feel so tedious that I can’t help but wonder if there is light at the end of this mundane cycle. Instead of focusing on the billions of healthy habits that I’m trying to create, I am focusing on one at a time. In January, I made sure to read every day and now here in February, I am working on exercising on a consistent basis.
As I continue my journey into trying to get all my “New Year’s Intentions” together, the one thing I have learned these past few months is to simply be kinder to myself because at the end of the day, everyone procrastinates. It doesn’t make me a bad person. In fact, it’s what makes me human.
