Great to see you again! 😊
By now you are already a master of Kosmik Keys, essentialism, and visualization. With these tools at your disposal, do you still see yourself procrastinating at times? The bigger the task, the stronger the urge to procrastinate. Is it pure laziness or is there more at play here?
“I will do it later,” is the most common identifier of procrastination. In this, we postpone a task to a later time, even though we know that we should be doing it right now. And not just once, we push it to later again and again until it is a do-or-die situation. In the end, either it is too late to do it, or it is done in a sub-par quality. If, by chance, the quality does not suffer, then sometimes we may even tell the whole world how little time we had (and implicitly, how smart we are).
Procrastination can show up in any form, like pushing the exam prep from today to tomorrow or delaying a tough conversation with a friend. But in essence, we want to give the task less time or avoid it completely. But why?
A Game of Worth
As we saw in the Star of Spirit, it is a fundamental human need to seek self-esteem and respect. And our mind has two options to maximize our self-worth:
Preserve: By running away from the situations which can degrade our worth
Grow: By doing tasks which can increase our worth
Let us look at the first case. In preservation, we try to avoid any task which can reduce our status in society. This is a strong feeling and forms the basis of the “Self-Worth Theory of Procrastination.” According to this theory, we procrastinate because we are afraid of performing poorly in the task, and fear that it will degrade our sense of worth as a person.
Imagine, your exam is one week away, and you know that you should start preparing now, otherwise the hope of a good score will reduce with each day. But next thing you know, the first day is already gone, and all you did was organize your books. So, you tell yourself “I will start tomorrow.” This goes on until there is just one day left. And now you have no option other than a 24-hour studying spree. But even though this seems stressful, somehow you do this every time. Why does your mind take such a risk?
Great expectations and fears!
As per the self-worth theory, your mind knows that one week is enough time to score 100% marks in an exam. But it fears if you get only 90%! Are you not capable of achieving great things like 100% marks? Are you inferior to others? Within a moment, the unconscious mind labels too much time as a risk to self-worth.
So, the mind engages you in distractions, like cleaning home, binge-watching a new TV series, and so on. It does whatever it can to keep you safe from the possibility of both failure and 100% marks. As per your tolerance level, these distractions can continue until there is just one day or one hour left to the exam. And now, finally, it lets you study.
Because now you have “valid” a reason to score less than 100% and still be above failing cut-off, you can tell others proudly how you scored well despite studying for just a few hours. The ego gets a boost, and the worth stays preserved.
The games our mind plays… simple, yet so complex! But what is the solution?
The Truth Will Set You Free
Essentially, here your brain is telling you the lie that your performance is equal to your self-worth. Nic Voge of Princeton puts this lie into an equation like this: Performance = Ability = Self-Worth (P=A=W, or PAW). And only the truth can help us break out of procrastination.
To overcome procrastination, apply these steps:
Grow awareness: Just being aware of your mind’s game solves half the problem. How does it make you waste time when you are escaping an important task? Start noticing the distractions, like checking emails, watching new shows, cleaning home, or even getting drunk! Remember, these distractions can often feel productive but in the end, they are still distractions from the essential activity
Start action: Start action without overthinking. We are momentum animals, and it is easier to continue something than to start a new thing. The more we wait to start a task, the more likely we are to procrastinate. So, if you have to study, just open your book and sit at the desk within a second. Since you already overcame the starting barrier, now your momentum will make it easier to continue studying
Break the PAW belief: You need to tell yourself that your worth is not solely dependent on your performance. Your true friends and family will always value you regardless of your score. Your worth derives from being human, and a human is more than mere marks!