If You Dont Eliminate Procrastination, You Will Never Grow

Posted by Jasmeet Singh on September 8th, 2022

Have you ever had the feeling that you don't want to do something that you had previously planned?

Think of the day when you are supposed to work on your next small business idea.

You know It is urgent, but you just don't feel like doing it.

Instead of doing the work, you are scrolling your phone and watching some youtube videos, or tiktok, until the deadline is hovering over your head.

And then happens the Obvious.

Panic!

—

You, my friend, were procrastinating!

Procrastination is a normal thing that can happen to everyone. 

You’re not alone. You’re just being a normal human being.

But just because it’s a normal thing doesn’t mean it’s good for you, me, all of us in the world, especially if you’re going to be an entrepreneur, or you have a dream to be one someday. 

You’d better train yourself to stop procrastinating.

Otherwise, as the title is written, you’ll never grow. This year is just gonna end the same as the previous year. Even next year could be worse if you keep procrastinating things.

Is Procrastination the same as Laziness?

Basically, procrastination is the action of delaying or postponing something; either it is a job, to-do list, or maybe just a simple postponement of submitting a task that you’ve done. 

This action is done consciously, and all procrastinators know that there will be negative consequences of procrastination. 

Meanwhile, Laziness is a feeling of disinterest in doing anything. Instead of deciding to do it later, we consciously decide not to do it now. 

The similarity between Procrastination and Laziness is that they are triggered by a bad mood, and by procrastinating or being lazy, it can give us pleasure so that our mood can be boosted again. 

According to Science Insider, many parts divide our brain. When we’re procrastinating, there’s a battle inside our brain involving our Prefrontal Cortex and Limbic System.

Ew, what are they? 

Well, since this page is an entrepreneurship page, let’s name them with our beloved business figures, Sergey Brin (Prefrontal Cortex) and Elon Musk (Limbic System).

Imagine we’ve got a paper to be done. Sergey will come and tell us, “Well, that is a simple paper, you can finish it by tonight.”

But then Elon Musk comes, ruining the group's work. “Seriously? Despite all the good things in the world? The TikTok? YouTube short? You know the ingrown nails removal videos that you always watch to sleep? Or the new Kardashians drama? It’s all spread on the internet and you can reach them just by a click! What is paper, dude? It’s just another lame of task that you can do tomorrow! You only live once dude!”

Then you become indecisive. You’re thinking, “hmmmm…” You look at Sergey Brin and he shakes his head to warn you, but then Elon Musk comes nearer to whisper, “Just ten minutes, are we good?”

And then, Viola! You close your book and scroll your phone. 10 minutes becomes an hour, and then you lose your consciousness. Congratulations, a day just wasted.  

How Can I Never Grow by Procrastinating?

According to a statistic shared by Solving Procrastination, , stress triggers procrastination. That is actually our natural way to relieve stress. 

Is it the job or task we’re gonna do that stresses us? Nope. 

Your financial problems can cause it, or you lose the competition you’ve been dreaming to win, or even just a simple thing that overwhelms our brain so that we’re not in the mood anymore, we’re losing motivation.

So Elon Musk actually helps relieve the stress, but it’s somehow become addicting, and we’re doing it too long.

We may have relieved the stress, but because we’re procrastinating, our thoughts are overwhelmed by feeling guilty, which actually can drain our mood again, and we’re just back to the first place, stressed.

And then the cycle repeats. 

You’re procrastinating again, until someday you realize the deadline is tomorrow, you’re panicked, and the paper didn’t finish well. 

I call this the Satanic Cycle. 

Too dark? Yeah, procrastinating is a dark system. In the end, we didn’t achieve anything unless guilt, panic, and anxiety would fill our day.  

Two Types of Procrastinating

Pardon? Do you think you’re not procrastinators, and you’ve been laughing at us who procrastinate? 

Are you sure you’ve overcome it? 

Well, it’s good for you, but what if you’re actually just another type of procrastinator? *smirking at you*

Mostly people procrastinate something because they know they can do it later, but what about when there are no deadlines? 

Do you know when you will do it?

I call this the darkest side of procrastinating, and this side commonly happens to someone with a plan. 

Yeah, entrepreneurs are included.

You say “I’m gonna save up and make a business” turns out years have passed, and you’re not even sure you’ve saved enough, because you know you spend more than you save. 

There’s no deadline, so nothing warns you except the one who cares, who mostly procrastinators just answer with “I’m on it, don’t worry” when they’ve been warned. 

Are you that type of procrastinator?

Back to the Science Insider, if we keep procrastinating and become a chronic procrastinator, we’re not only feeling guilty and anxious, but also low self-confidence, low energy even though we sleep well, and the worst is depression. 

By carrying those feelings, how do you think you can grow?

“By Carrying Feeling Guilty, Anxious, And Depression, Does It Mean Procrastinating an Illness?”

Thankfully, it’s not. According to Good Therapy, procrastination is not a mental health issue. It is a bad habit that most people have. 

So, How Do We Overcome Procrastination?

There are several ways to overcome the satanic cycle, such as:

Change our mindset

Forgive ourselves

Distract first, and do it right away!

Change Our Mindset

To resolve this problem, you’ve got to know the core of the problem first hand. Is it the job? 

Nope. 

This is a serious answer. 

Trust me, stop thinking that the problem is the job, tasks, stress feeling or anything you are having, but the habit of avoiding. 

“You are not a procrastinator, you just have the habit of procrastinators.” Quoted Mel Robbins (American lawyer, television host, author, and motivational speaker) in her seminar.

Because we have the habit of procrastinating, we’re going to naturally think that our task is something complicated that needs a good mood to do. 

Now, instead of thinking that way, why don’t we change our mindset and think that our task is concrete? 

Thinking of the moment when you’ve finished it, then the deadline, then no more chasing you anymore, so that you can be free and do whatever you want. Think of how great it is to be in that situation, and remember that feeling once you reach that situation. 

Procrastination is a habit, so that habit should be replaced with a new habit. By planting that kind of mindset, your brain will get used to it, so it’d become a habit.

Forgive Ourselves

Now the case is you’re procrastinating too much, things become more abstract and complicated, so you don’t think you can do it, or even if you know you can do it, you’re not sure how to start it.

If you feel this kind of feeling, the only thing you have to do is forgive yourself. Instead of complaining and draining yourself in your guilt and anxiety, you should get up and talk to yourself.

Admit your flaws and mistakes. 

Tell yourself that you did  something wrong. “I know I’ve wasted so much time, but I forgive you, myself. Let’s do this, we are greater than we know.”

Don’t worry, self-talk is not making you look silly. 

It's good for your health and can open a way to regain motivation. It could also calm your nerves. “Talking to yourself is a useful way to check in with yourself and organize thoughts and feelings,” quoted psychology fellow Grace Tworek. (Source: Cleveland Clinic)

Distract First and Do it Right Away!

Based on the interview Mel Robbins shared on her YouTube Channel, the step of procrastination is like Stress – Tasks – Procrastination. So the incident would be that we come to our office carrying this stress feeling, and then after we get to our desk, we know there are tasks we should do. 

There’s a gap, a short gap, before we finally decide to procrastinate. 

So, before we move on to the next phase, we have to distract ourselves first. 

Mel Robbins tells us that the easiest way is to count down from five to one, and then courage yourself, like “five, four, three, two, one, okay, let’s do it, this is easy!!” 

A little encouragement can replace the stress feeling with the feeling of excitement. By having an excitement, I believe you can do better.

So, what are you waiting for? Leave a trace, then count down from five to one! Your task is waiting to be done! Good luck!