Are You Choosing Procrastination or Empowerment?

According to Dr. Tim Pychyl, professor of psychology and member of the Procrastination Research Group at Carleton University in Ottawa,“Procrastination is an emotion regulation problem, not a time management problem.”

In a 2013 study, Dr. Pychyl and Dr. Sirois found that procrastination can be understood as
“the primacy of short-term mood repair … over the longer-term pursuit of intended actions.”Put simply, procrastination is about being more focused on “the immediate urgency of managing negative moods” than getting on with the task,
Dr. Sirois said.

But it might also result from deeper feelings related to the task, such as self-doubt, low self-esteem, anxiety or insecurity.

Staring at a blank document, you might be thinking, I’m not smart enough to write this. Even if I am, what will people think of it?
Writing is so hard. What if I do a bad job?

All of this can lead us to think that putting the document aside and cleaning that spice drawer instead is a pretty good idea.

So next time you find yourself procrastinating, instead of turning away from possibly outdated beliefs or imprinting, choose to turn inward.

Allow yourself to go further, to go deeper and leverage that newly discovered awareness and power. In the end, you may just feel empowered and super productive.

And if you’d like a partner to support your growth and progress, get in touch here.