Procrastination and Stress

Has this ever happened to you? 

You find yourself putting something off and initially you feel elated, maybe even euphoric. You don’t have to deal with a situation or task at this moment in time. Whew! But, for most of these situations, there will come a time when it needs to get done. The feeling of elation turns to panic. Then panic becomes a rush to figure out ways to handle the situation. 

When you compare this to people who don’t procrastinate, they may not get that initial surge of elation. However, they also don’t have to worry about the panic setting in. All things being equal, these non-procrastinators will not be as stressed out.

It’s proven that stress can lead to disease. The resources that your body needs to fend off disease will be diverted to handling your stress. Short-term stress is not likely to impact health as much as stress that is constant. However, people who procrastinate do it with all (or most of) their tasks. Therefore, they are likely to be stressed out longer term. They are the ones more at risk of getting stress related disorders.

Procrastination can often impact others in the procrastinator’s social circle as well. For instance, your kids may be depending on you to fill out a form for them to go to away camp. If you miss the deadline, your kids won’t be able to go to camp. Most kids will not be happy with this outcome and will question whether they can trust you.

If you don’t learn to overcome procrastination at work, it could impact others in the organization. For example, if you are responsible for a certain aspect of a project and miss the deadline, it may cause others on the team to miss their deadlines. Be aware they'll know you're the bottleneck. This puts you in an awkward position that could eventually lead to your dismissal.

Procrastination can cause you some financial pain. You may wait to the last minute to file your taxes. But, when you do so, you may not find the necessary information needed to reduce your tax liabilities. You could end up paying more than if you had taken the time to look for all your legitimate deductions, etc.

Moral of the story? Procrastination leads to stress. Stress leads to illness. Illness can lead to death. Don't die early! 

Simplify

I'm seeing a trend these days of people wanting to simplify their lives. Are you seeing it, too?

One of the key ingredients to simplifying is to take a step (or several) to eliminating disorder in our lives. 

It sounds daunting but it doesn't have to be. Disorder impacts our brains in many different ways, including:

1. Distracts you from the task you need to be focused on.
2. Keeps you thinking about future tasks that need your attention.
3. Causes additional stress by overwhelming your senses, causing your body to release cortisol, the stress hormone. Who needs more of that these days, especially during the holidays?
4. Constrains your brain’s ability to process information.
5. Increases procrastinating on taking action.
6. Decreases performance and productivity.
7. Restricts your ability to be creative or think outside the box.
8. Decreases your memory.
9. Keeps you from living in the moment, which decreases happiness and life satisfaction.
   

So how do you simplify and eliminate some of the disorder? With just a few life hacks like these:

1. Get rid of some of the physical clutter. Clean off your desk, your rarely used phone apps (don't freak out about these ... you can always download the ones again that you might miss), and clean out some closets, too. Donate to a worthy cause. You'll feel so good!
2. Block out some time to make your surroundings less distracting. We all have the same amount of time each day. Make yours count.
3. Take positive action to help you relieve stress. Meditation can be one of those actions. I use an app called Calm. Just 10 minutes of a guided meditation does wonders!
4. Don't buy stuff you don't need. If you do, it's probably going to sit around somewhere taking up precious space in your environment. If you see a shiny new gadget, ask yourself if you really NEED it. Try not to rationalize what you buy.
5. De-clutter your kitchen. How many bowls, plates, cups, etc. do you actually use? Oh, I know, you just can't part with that coffee mug from Disneyland, but you can probably live without it.
6. Write down your goals and priorities. What do you want your life to look like right now and in the near future? Read these at least three times a day. Don't worry about the how's right now. Just picture the end result. You'd be surprised how new opportunities and adventures will show up if you do this for 21 days in a row. Maybe sooner!
7. Surround yourself with positive people. This needs no explanation.

That's it for today. Hope this is useful for you. Namaste!