Understanding Procrastination

I have an uncanny ability to put off the ‘important’ things in life. I do this regularly. It can be very  frustrating - seeming to take two steps forward and 1,2 or even 3 steps back. I can spend a lot of time thinking and judge myself for not actually moving taking action. This is Procrastination! This Blog is about understanding it and exploring ways around it. The War of Art is a book that looks at this very subject and I’ve interpolated a lot of this blog from that book. The book begins:

Overwhelmed?

“Many of us have two lives. The life we present to the world (which looks dandy) and the and lived life within us. Between the two stands ‘resistance’. We have all left something gathering dust in the loft, hobby or sport we were determined to start but never really did. Late at night you have experienced a vision of the person you might become, resistance stops us from embracing that future.”

Sometimes I think of myself as a big cat - they spend a lot of their time sleeping. They are built to ambush, so this is understandable. Am I like that? Is it okay? Can procrastination be useful, relaxing, even productive? Or am I just avoiding producing a lot of published material?

WHAT DO I WANT?
​This question is always a useful starting point. What I actually want is to live an integrated life - one life - to relax my facade and be real. So I have my own practices, including a morning routine full of meditation, gratitude and journaling my thoughts. I make a list of the things I really want to get done and even priorities them in terms of importance vs urgency. Despite all this, sometimes, when it comes time to work, I sometimes don’t. I do anything except the top three items on my list. This blog explores why and how we can overcome this. It will be split into 2  parts -  understanding the enemy and befriending the enemy.

LIFE AS AN ARTIST
Personally I lived many years following the advice of others, in the rat race, and I got ‘fed up’. I no longer live my life in survival mode. I’m done with that. In 2012 I decided to live from love and joy, otherwise what is the point? I believe an artist is simply someone who chooses to create from their higher mind - in touch with their highest joy - in service to an inner calling. This can often be an unpopular endeavour, because the world is run on fear. That fear can make it dangerous to be an artist. The War of Art compares the rat race to a bucket of crabs: “The highest treason a crab can commit is to leap for the rim of the bucket. If you see yourself as an awakening artist then you must be present and strong willed.”

​SHARING AND SELFISHNESS 
I know that, for myself, only once I have latched onto the rim (analogy for your leading edge of self-actualisation) then I can reach back and help others, if I wish to. And I do - I like to have people join me on my journey of growth. I like helping others. But that cannot be my primary aim, or I will fail - because I’m focused outwardly and not leading from my core. It is generally a good idea to decide what you are for before engaging in things - otherwise you might fall for anything. 

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“Self-awareness is not self-centeredness, and spirituality is not narcissism. 'Know thyself' is not a narcissistic pursuit.” (Marianne Williamson)

ARTISTS FACILITATE
Creative work takes time and patience. It is not a selfish act or a bid for attention. It is a gift to the world and every being in it. The book requests: "Don't cheat the world of your contribution. Give us what you've got."  By sharing yourself fully – you are seen fully in your growth, you are daring greatly. This can feel vulnerable. Brene Brown says that "vulnerability is the biggest indicator of courage." For me I choose to practice trust, rather than courage. Artists may conduct themselves flamboyantly in public, but alone they work in humility, by trusting themselves and the process - they know they are not the source, they only facilitate. They are willing and skilled instruments.​​

​RESISTANCE CREATES A FOG IN THE MIND
Resistance feels like a low-grade misery or anxiety pervades everything. We become bored, stressed and restless. Eventually this will lead to craving for relief from the tension - which can lead to addiction of a vice… or to ‘Ad-vice’ . Resistance encourages this tension by focusing on the negative potential consequences of what will happen if you have the gaul to teach, or put your half-baked opinions into the world. The mind says to you: “Don’t be so egotistical - you might hurt people!” There is a fear that you might then add evidence to the beliefs of how crap you judge yourself to be.  This is the FOG of Fear, Obligation and Guilt.

What looks like 'play' can actually be 'work'.

Professionals come in all shapes and sizes.

FORGIVE
What will convince you to go ahead, in the end, is knowing that you will be unfulfilled if you do not go for it. If you’ve hit this point you know what you need to do.  We hardly ever regret doing things, but we very often regret not doing things. To overcome this practice forgiveness - to yourself and to others. This will help you relax your hold on mistakes.

RESISTANCE IS FEAR
Because resistance needs forgiveness - like all sensitive parts of you - They need TLC  (including tough love). Resistance is fear, but so cleverly disguised.you won't even know it hit you – resistance counjoured up this ninja in the dark recesses of your mind to protect you. YOU trained it, by indulging your fearful thoughts, to stop you feeling vulnerable - to stop you chasing your dreams. Real resistance is far too cunning to show itself as naked ‘fear’.It shows up as ‘rationalisation’, - the self-deluding spin doctor, presenting us with a series of plausible, rational justifications for why we shouldn't do our work. 

PROCRASTINATION IS THE RATIONAL CHOICE
Rationalisation can breed victim mentality (it can also be very useful in life). The way out of victim mentality is to take personal responsibility for your life and be the change you want to see in the world, despite the odds - because you know the destination is not the point. It is the process and the being seen as inspiringly vulnerable in that process. Over time you will relax into that vulnerability. It will expand your comfort zone.  

Procrastination is easy to rationalise. We don't tell ourselves – I'm never going to write a symphony – instead we say – I'm going to start writing my symphony tomorrow. Procrastination comes from the Latin 'Pro' (forward) 'Crastinate' (belonging to tomorrow). It literally means ‘the repeated forwarding on the belief that this endeavour belongs to tomorrow’. To defeat this we realise that ‘tomorrow never comes’. We remind ourselves - “This moment, right now - this second - we can sit down and do our work – and take the first step in changing your habit.”

PROFESSIONALISM
The opposite of Pro-Crastinate? Pro-fessional. Professional comes from 'profess' (to declare openly) and 'fateri' (past participle fassus "acknowledge, confess,"). Hence it is the going into honest, open declaration of something inner.

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Your creations can keep inspiring you - only if you share them

RUN TOWARDS TROUBLE 
Trouble and strife, stress and cruelty – these could also be resistance shrouded in or as external stimulus. The professional will not tolerate or be distracted by the threat of trouble - professionals prevent these things from interrupting their flow. They learn how to respond to inevitable, uncontrollable stressors and cut out stressful situations and people from their lives, as much as practically possible.  This means when they do procrastinate they rename it as 'creative exploration time.'

YOU ARE NOT ALONE
If you think your alone - don't worry, you're not alone in this concern. As an individual we fear that if we embrace our dreams we must prove worthy of them. That scares the hell out of us – we think we might lose friends and family and wind up even more alone. Even though this is possible (but not likely) you can choose to convince yourself that you are never alone. Each of us is tapped into an unquenchable, inexhaustible source of wisdom, consciousness, and love. Sometimes we lose some friends, but we find different friends, sometimes in places we never thought to look and the best place to look is inside, seek inside long enough and you will find not only a body of trillions of cells each working to help you but also a highly creative imagination - this can become your best friend or your worst enemy in times of trouble. Also, the more we become our true selves and express that, the more we attract the people that really like the true us, instead of the facade, and repel the ones that are not right for us.  Overall I suggest cultivating friendship- both within and without as the start of your process. 

By now we are beginning to understand the enemy within - fear of being alone, fear of not being good enough and of causing trouble - all dressed up as rationalisation, procrastination and inner resistance. The next Blog will reveal some of the specific skilful approaches to befriending the resistance by starting our work skillfully. ​

Can you decide to be a pro?