The Only Procrastination Advice You’ll Ever Need

Alarm goes off at 5:30am. You have every intention of going to the gym.

You open your eyes, take one look at the clock, and just as you’re about to take off the covers, out of nowhere you get an unexpected visit from that suspicious little voice in your head.

“Stay in bed another 15 minutes. You’re too tired.”

“It’s too early to get up.”

“It’s so comfy in here. What’s another half hour going to do?”

And just like that, you hit the snooze or turn off the alarm entirely.

You skip the gym or the run and instead of feeling awesome for getting that extra hour of sleep, you’re mad at yourself for putting it off again and failing at what you set out to do.

Not a motivating, inspiring, or positive way to start your day.

Over time you train your brain to expect failure. You hammer into your thoughts that setting personal goals isn’t meaningful.

What’s even more terrible about procrastination is that avoidance doesn’t lower anxiety – it delays it and makes it worse.

I’ve been there a million times and yet the cycle continues.

Not too long ago I was introduced to a very simple thought that has helped tremendously in breaking the procrastination habit. I can’t remember which self-help person or book I heard this but it has stuck with me and it works.

Stop talking to yourself.

I’m willing to bet that 99% of the time you procrastinate it’s not because your spouse is saying: “Don’t put those clothes away right now. Watch some mindless tv instead.”

Or because your child is saying: “Leave those dishes for the morning. It will feel so good to wake up to them.”

No siree Bob. Most of the time there’s only one LOUD voice in the room. And it’s YOURS.

Whenever I catch myself putting off something I know I should be doing (which is pretty much all the time) I literally tell my inner demon to “Stop Talking.” I recognize that I am the only one talking myself out of doing things and so really, I need to shut it.

There are times when I shoo it away with my hand or just say out loud, “Stop Talking.”

Or if you’re really struggling (and are at my maturity level) you might stick a finger in each ear and repeat out loud, “I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you!”

No judgment here. Do whatever it takes to turn off the noise.

It’s amazing how the voices in our head overcome our senses with such ease. Wanna know why?

Procrastination protects you from the higher expectations and greater responsibilities that may come with succeeding.

For example, in order to get healthy, you have to get your butt up, put on your work out clothes and get to the gym. And that can be really challenging.

Procrastination keeps you safe from facing your real limits by avoiding challenges and putting things off. (It’s sneaky like that).

But with the debilitating noise dialed to “OFF” you aren’t competing with opposing thoughts and self-sabotaging echoes.

When you stop talking to yourself you are left in silence. You can focus. You have clarity. You get moving on what you know you should be doing.

I’ve put off writing about this for a while because it sounds so crazy. But now that I’ve been using this technique more often (everything gets easier with practice) I’ve seen a major decrease in my frequency of putting things off.

It feels amazing. And I’d love nothing more than for you to feel the same way.

So go ahead, embrace the cray-cray.

The next time you find yourself procrastinating (which will likely be in the next 24 hours), stop what you’re doing, say out loud “Stop Talking!” as many times as you need to put a halt to the noise and get back to what you know you should be doing.

Feeling accomplished is the key to motivation. Motivation is power. It’s the energy that keeps you going when everything around you says give up.

And deep down inside, you’re not a giver-upper.

I can’t wait to hear how this goes for you. Let me know in the comments below.

Here’s to getting more of the right things done!

XO,

Mridu