Hello,
Unique learners!
This is Yvette from Right Way and you are listening to a meditation about reducing procrastination.
This is the first session of the Reduce Procrastination series and includes a quick introduction,
A grounding exercise and self-enquiry questions about procrastination.
In this series we will discover what your procrastination is all about,
What it serves and what strategies might help you.
For this session it might be useful to have pen and paper at hand as we answer self-enquiry questions.
So let's get started.
Get comfortable,
Preferably sitting straight and if you haven't done so already,
Close your eyes if you like.
Feel your feet touching the ground.
Give them a rub on the ground.
Release your body and try to take a deep breath in through the nose.
Hold it and breathe out slowly through the mouth.
And the key is to focus on those moments between the in and the out breath,
The silence there.
Now breathe in through the nose,
Hold it and breathe out more slowly.
One more big breath in through the nose,
Hold it and you can make a dramatic sigh outwards.
How does that feel?
What emotions are you feeling?
Sadness,
Anger,
Fear,
Happiness?
Label them but don't dwell in them.
And now place your right arm if you like on your left arm and put your left arm on your right and give yourself a cuddle.
Now about procrastination,
This voluntary delay of an intended task which usually results in a lot of anxiety.
Did you know that procrastination is actually a form of self-regulation failure?
We give in to feel good.
We put off doing a task that feels aversive,
We don't want to do it and to avoid the negative feelings associated with the task,
Like notice the feelings you listed when we did the grounding exercise.
We trade in temporary relief for longer term problems.
Try to not give in to feel good but step on what you should.
And easier said than done right?
So the first step in reducing it is becoming aware of it.
Notice when you have an intention and don't follow it through.
Notice and record what your thoughts and feelings were about the task and the excuses,
The permission giving thoughts you have about putting the task off.
This is the first step towards change.
The next tragedy is to identify the cause of procrastination.
List all the cause,
What it has you do and not do,
Which are disadvantages for you.
And what has it thinking and feeling about yourself,
Your life and your future.
And also try to list the benefits of acting in a timely fashion.
Making change takes effort and clearly identifying the cause of procrastination and the benefits of change can help you to maintain your motivation as you make these changes.
And now I would like to close off with some helpful intention setting.
For example the intention,
If I feel negative emotion about the task at hand,
Then I will stay put and not stop and not put off the task or run away.
Another helpful intention can be,
Feel the blank negative emotion and do it anyway.
For example,
Feel the fear and do it anyway.
Using a mindfulness tragedy to acknowledge the emotions that you have wanting to put the task off and then moving your attention to something that will help you feel motivated can be helpful and I recommend to actively access more positive resources from your inner landscape,
For example curiosity,
Desire to succeed,
Etc.
So rather than to get stuck in your negative emotions associated with the task,
You can now focus on your inner purpose.
So yes,
Unique learner,
This meditation has come to an end and I wish you well and would like to thank you for listening and participating.
Namaste.
