Month: April 2020

This is the final part of Seeking Balance in Overcoming Procrastination.

Strengthen your self-concept.  Let go of your past mistakes and regrets along with your inner critic. Instead, feed the positive voice in your head that recognizes your potential. This includes acting with confidence that you can learn and develop your abilities to accomplish your goals. 

“I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:12-13

Explore your deeper motives.  Is there any passive-aggressive aspect to your procrastination, such as delaying action that someone else wants you to do?  Or do you feel overwhelmed by your responsibilities?  Are you afraid of success?  How deep is your fear of failure?  All of these things can be explored even more effectively with the help of a close friend, family member, or even a professional counselor.

“Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.  Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.” Romans 12:16-17

Evaluate your relationships.  Are you in need of learning healthy assertive communication skills?  Your relationships will suffer if procrastination is due to passive-aggressive  behavior or your fears prevent you from doing a project that is important to your spouse. Thinking about the benefits of making healthy choices that reduce procrastinating behaviors can have added relational benefits.  For example, “my wife will be excited when I finish this project.”

“Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,  leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.  Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.” Matt. 5:23-25

In the end, you want to avoid being the subject of this anonymously authored poem.

“Mr. Meant-To has a comrade, And his name is Didn’t Do. Have you ever chanced to meet them? Did they ever call on you? These two fellows live together, In the house of Never-Win, And I’m told that it is haunted, By the ghost of Might-Have-Been.”

Ideas from Dr. Frank Bruno in “Psychological Symptoms” contributed to this article.

Originally written for the Hammonton Gazette, June 2016.

This is a continuation of Seeking Balance in Overcoming Procrastination.

Set smaller goals.  These smaller tasks can be done one by one, eventually reaching the target of your highest goal.   Link rewards to these smaller goals for added power.  For example, a student may reward himself with ten minutes of a video game after each homework assignment rather than trying to do homework for five courses at one sitting.

“The mind of man plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps.” Prov. 16:9

Avoid rationalization.   Procrastination often comes with excuses to defend our non-action.  Take responsibility and focus on the task at hand.

“The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion outside;
I will be killed in the streets!'”  Prov. 22:13

Resist labeling yourself.   Labels can make you feel helpless like a victim. “Procrastinator,” “lazy,” “do-nothing,” are labels worth removing from your vocabulary. 

“Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,  namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  II Cor. 5:16-21

Change unhealthy thought patterns.  Increase your awareness of how your thoughts in the present contribute to your problematic feelings and behavior in this area.  For example, if you repeatedly return to thinking pessimistically that “I cannot read such a long book” or “I will never finish this project,” it will undermine your potential achievements.  Instead, adapt an “I can if I choose to do so” attitude.

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” Phil. 4:8

Next Week we will conclude Seeking Balance in Overcoming Procrastination.

“Procrastination is the thief of time.”

Edward Young, 18^th Century English Poet and Playwright

People delay completing tasks and assignments, put off reaching for a goal, and postpone facing the challenge of new opportunities.  When this is a serious problem, you can call it “the tomorrow syndrome.”  This can have serious consequences to our happiness and relationships with others.

Here are some principles that may help you overcome your own tendency to procrastinate without driving yourself crazy with striving for perfection.

Face the anxiety.  The desire to reduce anxiety is often at the root of procrastination.  Accept and challenge the anxiety, rather than taking the path of least resistance by avoiding it.

“so that we confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?’” Hebrews 13:6

Act, don’t talk.  Action can help you overcome your anxieties.  Taking action often can be done before you overthink and over-prepare for a project which can delay you. Talking too much about a goal sometimes can hinder you from actually doing it.  You can get addicted to the “dream” but secretly fear the reality. 

“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;  for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.  But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:22-25

Take a task-oriented approach.   Often people are time-focused, thinking about when they will do something.  Instead, make the goal the completion of a particular task.  For example, instead of planning to read that long desired book like “Atlas Shrugged” for one hour each day, plan to read until you complete simply one or two chapters at a time.

“for He says, ‘At the acceptable time I listened to you,
And on the day of salvation I helped you.’ Behold, now is ‘the acceptable time,’ behold, now is ‘the day of salvation'”  II Cor. 6:2

Next Week we will continue with Seeking Balance on Overcoming Procrastination.