Tips and Strategies for Overcoming Procrastination

In today's episode I am talking about how procrastination affects your ability to reach your goals. I  offer tips on overcoming procrastination, and emphasizes the importance of viewing work as a gift from God to achieve peace and joy. 

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Transcript

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Hey friend, welcome to the restored mind podcast, where we are going to be talking about various life topics surrounding mindset transformations. These topics are coming from a faith lens and will propel you into a life of peace and joy. My name is Caroline, wife, mom of three, daughter of the one true king. Host of this podcast and certified light coach through the I am system by Painting Vehicles Incorporations. My hope is that this podcast brings God's light into your life and you break free from the chains that are holding you back. Friend, it is time to shift your mindset into one that will help you flourish. Ready? Let's go. Hello and welcome to the restored mind podcast my friend. How are you doing this week? Super excited to be back with you. If you are a new listener, welcome to the restored mind family at the restored mind. We are looking at mindset transformations that come from a faith lens Why? Because we're seeking a life that is filled with peace and joy. How awesome would it be that no matter what is going on in your life, you still have joy in your life and there's so much peace that is with you that you know you're going to be okay. It would be awesome, right? Well, I welcome you and invite you in on this journey and I hope that as you listen to today's episode that you are left inspired and encouraged and that no matter what you are seeing God's light and glory in your life. If you are a returning listener, my friend, thank you so much that you are here yet again to listen in on another episode of The Restored Mind. so last week we talked about the importance of understanding self discipline and why you want to build a lifestyle around that, especially through the hard days. and I know that we all have gone through hard days or maybe that's something that's, currently relevant in our life right now. And so, understanding the importance of having self discipline to continue to show up, even in the hard days, is what's going to push you even further Once you come out of this chaos that you're currently in. We also talked about the temptation of giving up, right? Giving up is so easy. To do especially when you're in the thick of whatever struggle it is that you're going through my friend. I've been there I know what that's like to Want to give up so badly because you just don't know if you can carry on to the next phase But my friend I promise you that the more that you show up and the more that you continue To choose to fight you're going to get through the other side of it and also in that episode I share with you what you can do to continue to stay on the path of success. So if this is something that is resonating with you, I highly encourage that you take a moment and listen to that episode and when you do, I hope that it gives you encouragement and that you are inspired by what the content of that episode has for you. this week we are going to talk about procrastination. I'm going to share with you tips and strategies for overcoming procrastination. Why? Because I know and I believe that this is the topic that we are all familiar with. Because we all have done this at some point in our life. Or maybe we're going through that right now. I know for a fact that there are things in my life that I'm procrastinating on. I'm definitely not perfect by any means, but I am making progress along the way. And so that is my same hope for you that you're not stuck on trying to aim for perfection. Instead, you flip the script and start going for progress because progress over time produces results. Constantly aiming for perfection over time produces pressure, and we don't like to have that pressure over us constantly. It doesn't make us feel good. And yet, somehow, my perfectionists out there will understand, we end up doing it to ourselves, right? It becomes a vicious cycle. So, yes, aiming for progress instead of perfection is going to be a surefire way for you to, you know, Continue to stay on the track so that you can reach your goal today. I'll share with you my thoughts on Procrastinating and of course, I'm going to share with you some tips and strategies as well to help you overcome Procrastinating if that's something that you struggle with. is procrastinating? It's delaying work even when you know it's going to result in a negative outcome. So procrastination typically does not lead you to you producing your best work, but does it make you feel good? Yes and no. Yes because you're not putting effort into the work that you ought to be doing in the moment and no because consciously you know that you're not showing up where you need to show up and so therefore you're going to face negative consequences in the future. Procrastination usually sounds like this. I know that I should be doing this but I would rather do that and There's always going to be a but and then the temptation of fulfilling the want of instant gratification. So, how do you know that you're procrastinating? Well from experience my friend, I believe that it is when you find yourself feeling your day or your to do list with things that are not in alignment with your overall goal. So these little tasks that you set for yourself, yes they are important, But when it comes to reaching your overall goal, they're not necessarily as important as maybe something that is directly going to affect whether or not you reach that goal. So essentially, you are purposely ignoring an important task. As a perfectionist, I used to delay my work because I did not want to do it imperfectly. I was waiting for the perfect time, waiting for me to get the perfect skill set in order to complete this test, but it became a vicious cycle. And the reason why that is, is because I was delaying the work that needed to be done. The work, my friend, does not have to be perfect. The reason why is because we learn from our mistakes. So do not be afraid to start on something that you want to achieve, even if you don't have the perfect tools, the perfect time or the perfect skill set. None of that matters in the grand scheme of things. Why? Because you'll probably pick up the skillset or the equipments along the way. And again, there's no perfect time to start your journey because there's always going to be something out of your control that happens. And so my best advice to you, my friend is just to start today and use what you have. So for the sake of this episode, I am going to refer to yourself in two forms, your present self and your future self. Cause I think that would be the best way to help you gain an understanding of procrastinating And how this can affect you later on. So your present self, when you are procrastinating, is enjoying the benefits of not doing anything productive that will result in achieving your goals. And so what happens is that your future self will end up struggling by reaping the negative consequences as a result of you not doing anything today. Typically, this happens when we know that we are going to exert more energy in the work that is required for us to reach our goal. And the reason why I say this is because from experience, I have had countless times where I would stall a workout or a house chore or something that I knew was of importance for something that could be categorized as a distraction. So the reason why you give into something that is more fun over the work that needs to be completed is because you subconsciously prefer instant gratification over delayed gratification And I do have an episode that is titled delayed gratification If that's something that you want to listen to I dive more into the reason why you want to aim for delayed gratification over instant gratification in that episode, so I would highly recommend that you take a listen to it if it sounds interesting to you instant gratification is when you are receiving something now that is going to make you feel good in the moment, whereas delayed gratification is something that makes you feel good later on. The gratification in the moment is is to live in the feel good feeling of being comfortable. Whether that be on the couch, spending more time distracted on your phone, watching tv, or doing whatever it is that you're doing that is going to make you feel good in the moment and delay you in reaching your goals. My friend, it is so easy to imagine or talk about what you're going to do, but a lot harder to live it out and actually do it. We face procrastination daily, right? Because we have to make these choices. Are we going to do things that are going to either postpone us in reaching our goals or take us one step closer in reaching our goals? Learning that delayed gratification is more beneficial in the long run can be hard to live out. At three months of my fitness journey, I really wanted to quit because I did not see a point in doing something repetitive day in and day out to get the kind of results that I wanted. I actually remember telling my husband that I had done countless curls and squats, and I only saw a very small amount of change. And in my book, that was not good enough because I was set on having this huge change happen in a short amount of time. Now looking back, I realize how silly that mindset was. Because I was expecting years of work in a short amount of time. So essentially my present self was looking for what my future self would achieve if my present self would put in the work today. So yes, your present self is going to dictate what your future self gets. And so a lot of the times when we have this image, we create this vision of what we want. We see it with our future self. And so the hard part is in the present working, taking these baby steps and making these progress towards the future of what you'd like to achieve. Another reason why procrastination happens is because in your mind the work feels more painful than it actually is So that's going back to you seeing your future self with this goal, and you are pumped to do it because you're motivated in the beginning, but then as you start thinking about it, in your mind, the work and the task seems way, way more daunting than it actually is presently. You end up delaying the work that future you would appreciate because the present you does not want to face the, quote, pain of showing up. At the end of the day, though, you get to make the choice. on whether or not you're going to reach your goal. The choices that you make presently matters for your future self. And so when you let your mind run wild with the amount of energy that you have to exert and completing this task or the difficulty level of this task, then you start to take a step back and not want to do it because you don't want to exert the energy. Why? Our body naturally wants to do what is the most comfortable, what is going to cost us the least amount of energy, we have to control our thoughts and not give into what we think is going to be painful for us because if we do that, then we continue to stay in this mindset of procrastination. And I should also mention that it might not be anything that is physically painful. It could be challenging mentally or even spiritually. And so I know I talk a lot about fitness on my podcast and in most episodes, but it's something that is a part of me. It's part of my story, part of my journey, and so I just have to share it with you. But yes, It can be challenging mentally and it can also be challenging spiritually. And so I believe that is why a lot of us struggle with wanting to grow in our relationship and build an intimate relationship with God, but not necessarily taking the steps to do that, like opening the Bible and reading it for yourself so that you can receive the truth and get to know him. It's hard, right? It's hard because we are being challenged. This is where I believe the flesh becomes at war with the spiritual, which Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 3. He says, For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. The reason why I say that is because my friend, yes, we are in the flesh, but also Our flesh fights temptation, which is something that we all struggle with. So when we are giving into the temptation of allowing our present self to not do anything productive, we're hindering our future self. In Ephesians it talks about putting on the whole armor of God. You can find this in verse 11 through 13. It says, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. For me, there's so much to unpack here, but relating it back to procrastinating. When you put on the whole armor of God, you are able to withstand against the schemes of the devil, which brings me back to temptation. It is all around us. We cannot escape it. The enemy does not want you to grow closer to God does not want you to grow closer in understanding that your work here is important. Why? Because he would much rather you be distracted with other things than to be focused on what is important, right? The greatest commandment is to first love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind or your strength, depending on which version you read it from. But Jesus also tells us to seek first the kingdom of God. And so when we put in all this work, we're essentially working for the kingdom of God, right? Because we are trying to better ourselves and not give into procrastination. Sometimes our stress level even plays a role in us delaying our work. and it also depends on our mood. in my experience, when I am angry or frustrated, I find it very hard to get into the mood. of putting in work that is in alignment with my goals. Now I know that you've experienced to some degree coming home after a long day of work and wanting to decompress and then not wanting to be bothered by anything else. And so because we are so exhausted by the end of the day, we end up delaying our work because we don't want to be bothered. I would encourage you, my friend, that if this is you, to consider breaking outside your comfort zone by simply showing up. It doesn't have to be anything that is dramatic. Relating it back to fitness again, sometimes, Stretching helps me get into a better mood because with stretching comes intentional breathing and it just helps me relieve stress and gets my mind ready for maybe a brisk walk or a very short workout. Again, if fitness is something that is not relating to you, replace it with something that is relevant in your life. But it's not always about going in and doing the big tasks all at once. Sometimes you need to break it down. Another reason why you might be finding yourself procrastinating is because you are completely out of your normal routine. Maybe you went on vacation or took a longer break than you really wanted to, and so now you're trying to get back into your routine that once worked for you, and it's not doing that for you anymore. I have an episode called How to Regaining Balance in Your Routine That would. help you with this. If you're struggling with regaining balance in your already existing routine, I would highly recommend that you take a listen to it. And I hope that as you do, that you do find something in there that is helpful for you. There are many reasons why we procrastinate, and these are just some of the few that I thought about in today's episode. So now my friend, it's your turn to to get involved. What are some reasons you find yourself procrastinating? Leave a comment on my Instagram page or join me on my Facebook group and take this conversation beyond the podcast. I would love to hear your thoughts and things that help you out. And who knows, maybe what you're saying is helping someone in that community as well. All of the contact information is linked in the show notes below. So now we get into the tips and the strategies that can help you if you are trying to not be a procrastinator or at least trying to be better at not procrastinating So it took me a while to get out of the mindset of delaying work because I had to get out of my own flesh mind and step out of my comfort zone to get uncomfortable. When I say flesh mind, I am speaking about understanding that the work that I do has been given to me and the day has been gifted to me by God. So my flesh mind liked to be lazy. Versus when there is understanding that each day is a gift and the work that you do is for the kingdom of God. That comes from a more spiritual perspective. And I think that it's important that as we are trying to grow in our mindset journey that we end up looking at the world and the things that we do from a faith lens as it helps guide us and actually ultimately helps us gain that life of peace and joy. So yes, it took me a while to come out of that comfort zone. Now, am I perfect at it? Absolutely not. Not perfect at all. There are areas in my life where I still find myself procrastinating because I don't want to be bothered doing something that I don't particularly enjoy. This mindset shift though that I'm about to share with you has helped me look at the work that needs to be done in a completely different way and it is this. looking at the day as a gift and the task that you've been given as a task from God to complete work for his kingdom. and honestly, when I've, when I've, found myself to be looking at work in that way. It has brought so much more joy. So if you work and show up as if you're working for God, there is joy in that. There's peace in it. There's so much peace, my friend, so much joy that comes from that, that even when you've had a bad day, you still go to bed. Acknowledging that you had a good day. My friend, showing up when you're excited about something is a good thing. Always going to be a lot easier than showing up when you aren't excited about something. But despite how you feel, I would encourage you to ask if the time that you have in this moment is being used wisely, if it's honoring God, or if it's being tossed away like a unappreciated gift. Yes, there are times where we cannot control our circumstances and plans change, but I'm not talking about that in this episode. What I am talking about is what are you doing majority of the time? I would even say 80 percent of the time.\ How are you accepting the gift of today? I gotta be honest and tell you that looking back, I did not take the time to be productive. I was just busy being distracted with things that were not helpful to me. And one of my biggest distraction is watching people decorate cakes. I am not a baker, nor am I a cake decorator. I am in awe of the creativity that people have with cake. And so as I watch these videos, I can find myself being distracted with them. And even if I look at the timestamp, like, Oh, this is just three minutes long and that's five minutes long. By the time I realize it, an hour has gone by and I've watched countless videos of something that is not very helpful in my life because it doesn't relate to me in the things that I do on a daily. I know that you have something in your life that you're doing right now just as I am with watching cake videos and yes it is entertaining to us but at the same time we have to think about Are we using our time wisely? There is a time and place for everything. And so if you're constantly procrastinating, you're not going to allow your future self the best opportunity to achieve the goal that you want to So how you can overcome procrastination is by one being honest, call yourself out. Don't be afraid to call yourself out, my friend. When you recognize that you're procrastinating, you are acknowledging where you're falling short, right? And when you do that, you are giving yourself the opportunity to make the necessary adjustment. That is a choice that you get to make. You have full control of whether or not you continue to be a procrastinator or that you are making adjustments to step out of that. It's completely up to you. What also helps is as you call yourself out, figuring out why you're procrastinating. Because once you figure out why, then you get the choice to make different decisions that is going to produce a different outcome. Hopefully it aligns with your goals, but if not, it's okay to go back to the drawing board. Remember, the goal is not to aim for perfection. It's about progressing. And yes small steps count small wins matter because they add up to big wins Another thing that you can do is to look at your overall goal. What is the main objective here? Usually when you delay work that future you can benefit from it's because you are again looking at the bigger picture and realizing now how much effort and work is needed for you to achieve that goal. And it can become daunting, it can become scary, but my friend, if you break this down into smaller tasks, then it means that it's going to be more manageable. Your time is going to be managed better and you're going to save some energy and you're going to feel accomplished as you complete these smaller tasks. The last thing I have for you is to know what your distractions are and put things in place to keep you focused. If, for example, reading the Bible on your phone is causing you to actually spend more time on social media or texting your friends or your families, then opt to pull out the actual book. There is typically a pattern that is created out of habits that leads to you giving into your distractions. So if you can pinpoint them, then you can make the necessary changes and it's going to keep you focused. Now, my friend, these are just a few of the things that you can do to overcome procrastination. Now it's your turn my friend to take this conversation beyond the podcast the podcast and share what your action steps are that have helped you overcome the challenges of delaying work. You can have this conversation with me in my Facebook group under today's post. Again, that information is going to be linked in the show notes. And yes I know it can be so hard to overcome procrastination because the temptation to want this instant gratification Can take over and sometimes we don't realize it until we actually realize it It's harder to work through it than it is to imagine it and speak on it. So yes, I know it's hard But my friend you can do hard things Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to listen in on this episode. I meant what I said. You can do hard things, so don't let the daily challenges stop you from reaching your greatest potential. If you are ready to take the next step in your journey and are finding that you are in need of help and would like someone to keep you accountable, call I would love to offer you my life coaching services. Click on the link in the show notes to get started there. You will also find links to my social media pages where you're able to connect with me as well. My friends, I look forward to speaking with you again next week here on the restored mind podcast. Go in peace.