From Procrastination To Productivity

The cruel fact of being a human is that every one of us procrastinates. Not even a single person on this planet is safe from this cruel fate. Everyone procrastinates.

Doesn't this make you feel better? It is just a fact of life, and if it is something that is universal, it can be worked upon. It isn't something that is linked into our DNA, something that we have to live with, like our eye colour, or height. 

Procrastination can be worked upon, and in this course, I teach you how to do that.

But first, I have to share my own story. 

Okay, so why do I procrastinate and how? I procrastinate when I feel frustrated and impatient that things aren't happening fast enough. So instead of working on the process of my projects, I get distracted by the future. I start dreaming about the future when I will have reached my goals, and when it seems just so far away, I start procrastinating. It seems to be an easier use of my time at that point, because I'm in the what's-the-point mode. 

I procrastinate using two techniques. I watch Korean soap operas, which fulfills my desire of being loved, desired, and accepted. And, I roam around on social media - Facebook news feeds, and Instagram, being my choice of weaponry.

Using the shadow work that I speak about in this course, I have gotten more aware of when I feel like procrastinating, and I have been able to reduce the incidents quite drastically.

I hope this course helps you do the same.

Life is about connection and connecting, feeling a part of the whole and a process of re-connection, but we distract ourselves from that connection with ourself and the unique perspective we have and the gift we have to offer because to go there we have to open ourselves up to vulnerability/shadow, etc.

When we cant hold that space within ourself because its too scary, we find other things to do to distract ourselves.

Procrastination is a fear of connection and intimacy with ourselves, the deepest parts of ourselves.

The parts of ourselves that we dislike, or even hate. Those parts are relegated to the deep, dark shadows, so that we don't have to deal with them on a daily basis. Not knowing that by pushing them into the shadows, they come up, popping up like a balloon pushed down into the water, bouncing up with such force that it can completely disrupt our lives.

My course is all about dealing with those shadows, so we can deal with procrastination in the right manner. I want you to connect with your shadows, so they don't pop your focus bubble, causing you to procrastinate.

A lot of my friends tell me that they believe Procrastination is a disease they have, and it's something they cannot get over, because it is a part of their personality, a permanent part. 

Whatever you believe, persists. Whatever you resist, grows bigger.

Procrastination isn't a disease. It isn't something permanent. It is fixable, and easily so. All you need to do is face your shadows. For some of the shadow workers, healers, and light workers, this is easy work. They do it on a daily basis.

For most of the rest of us, it is hard, so hard, that we would rather have a unfulfilled life due to procrastination, rather than deal with it.

I hope after this course, you will start thinking differently about procrastination's permanency.

I believe that the things we distract ourselves, reflects the shadows in us, the parts of ourselves that we don't like, or hate, or have buried deep within, to avoid forever.

We do not procrastinate because we are lazy. Most of us want to accomplish great things with our lives, but we fall into the same old patterns of procrastination over and over again.

Until we deal with that shadow within ourselves, we will never get over procrastination. It isn't just a matter of being stronger than our urges. The urges are subconscious. They are deeper than we can ever get to, just through willpower.

So we need to figure out our shadows. We need to figure out what feelings we are trying to bury, when we are procrastinating. What is the situation we are trying to avoid? What part of ourselves are we trying to run away from?

Once, we face our shadows, the procrastinating aspect of ourselves will naturally fall away.

But if we don't go deep enough to our shadows, it will keep on showing up over and over again. The never-ending cycle of procrastination, and shame will continue until we die.

It's linked to the inability to spend time with yourself and connect with areas within the self that bring up vulnerability, sadness, shame etc.

Procrastination is a way to shine a mirror on the areas we need to work on too. 

For example, I have a big disconnect with my feminine side, because she was always ostracized by everyone in my life when I was younger. Being a sensitive, and highly intuitive person was frowned upon, both qualities that my feminine side embodies. I wanted to be loved by my family, so I kicked my feminine side to the shadows. Now whenever she pops up, I procrastinate. I don't want to deal with her. I don't want to see her. I ignore her. My procrastination habit is giving me a sign and signal to something bigger than myself. I can either take the sign and use it to become bigger and grow, or I can stagnate, and shy away from the message.

Another example, is when I used to be obsessed with sex, and porn. It was because I needed to connect with my self-image, shame, and love my body. But instead of integrating that side of myself, and becoming whole, I procrastinate. 

Once, I can integrate my shadows, and become whole, that procrastination will dissipate.

Most people on this planet have no idea how to be alone with themselves. We distract ourselves with music, television dramas and shows, Netflix, unnecessary drama, travel, work, and so much more. Instead of being with ourselves wholly, even with the parts of ourselves we don't like, we shy away from it.

I believe that is one of the main reasons people procrastinate. It is easier to find a million other things to do, than be with ourselves, and create by doing work on the project that contains our unique gift.

I do this exercise with lots of people who tell me that they procrastinate and they don't know why. They feel like it is a sort of compulsion that pulls them away from themselves, and causes them to take actions without even knowing they are taking them.

First of all, sit down in a quiet place in a meditative posture. It doesn't need to be cross-legged, but it needs to be relaxed. 

Once you feel relaxed and in your body, through some breathing techniques, or other mindfulness techniques, ask yourself the following questions. 

What do I feel when I procrastinate? Why do I procrastinate? What am I running away from when I procrastinate, besides the work? What happens in my body, and mind when I procrastinate, both before, during, and after?

Think about the last time you procrastinated, perhaps quite recently and try to analyze the situation in this lens. Ask the questions, and answer them. 

Or if you can't remember, wait for a procrastination episode to creep up on you, and then go through the process of asking superior questions as the ones above.

Instead of lamenting about how terrible you are, or how lazy you are, use the questions above to gain insights.

Of course, procrastination causes us to lose precious time that we will never get back again, or prevents us from working on our projects.

But another much more terrible side of procrastination is that when we procrastinate we block our gift (and the giving of it). We block our unique perspective.

It is ultimately a withholding of our gift. Our uniqueness.

The world deserves us in our wholeness, and fullness. Procrastination prevents that by giving us permission to only present certain liked parts of ourselves to the world. If we want to truly be alive, we need all of ourselves. 

The good and bad all go together. Our shadows and gifts are so intertwined together that it is impossible to kill one part of ourselves, without dismantling the other. So when we bury our shadows, we bury our creativity and gifts as well.

All of us, the good and bad, makes up the whole.

The light and the dark always go together. We cannot have one without the other. This is such an important learning that I want to reiterate it over and over again.

It's absolutely crucial for us to maintain this learning in the face of all the different mixed signals that come at us, telling us that one thing is bad, and another is good. If we cannot have one without the other, in reality, everything is good.

It is quite interesting to me that everything always comes down to love. More and more love. Everything is all about love.

Dealing with our shadows is about love as well. We have to learn to love all parts of ourselves, all the good and the bad. Once we are able to integrate ourselves in such a manner, we can reduce procrastination. 

The great thing about being human is that we are forever and always improving, and growing. We are never going to achieve perfection, and we are always going to have parts of ourselves that we dislike and become shadows. We can never eliminate all of our shadows. It is impossible. New ones are always popping up, as we are alive and living in this world.

So we can never eliminate procrastination completely either.

I now use procrastination as a sign post or a valuable messenger from my subconscious. 

My subconscious has so many gifts within it, but it doesn't speak to me in a normal manner. It doesn't pipe up and tell me what's wrong. 

It causes me to procrastinate, and I have to be aware enough to be able to use that as a message from my shadows, and subconscious.

Without this awareness, I wouldn't get the valuable lesson, and I would be ignoring a major part of myself.