procrastinating? use self compassion

where to start when you need help

Are you a procrastinator?

I am.  I put things off no matter how often I beat myself up over waiting to the last minute to pack for a vacation, book a flight, get to work or file taxes.  I struggled with deadlines.  I kept repeating the same pattern over again.

If you’re ready to finally beat procrastination and get ahead of the game, you’re in the right place.

Throughout a series of blog posts, I’m going to share my best tips and strategies for overcoming procrastination and setting up an inspiring morning routine. I will show you how I learned to look up at the sky and find my true North star.

I will share with you my suggestions, and we start today with learning about self-compassion. I know it seems like an odd place to start, but it’s an important first step because self-compassion can overcome procrastination.

Self-compassion is noticing that you are suffering and showing warmth and kindness to yourself.  Instead of ignoring your pain, you comfort yourself right at that moment.  You stop criticizing yourself, and you start understanding yourself better.  It is about forgiveness and being able to let go.

There’s nothing you can do about the past except to learn from it. Beating yourself up about not following a plan you made or reaching an unmet deadline does not improve the situation.  Needless to say, it aggravates it even more since it can cause undue stress. Yes, not all stress is bad. Stress can motivate you if you think about is as a challenge. But for some of us stress leads to excessive negative self-talk and feelings of judgement which reinforce your habit to procrastinate even more.

Next time you find yourself procrastinating, tell yourself that it’s okay. It’s not the end of the world. Say it out loud and then give yourself the opportunity to try again. It is okay to sometimes fail.

Even famous entrepreneurs learn how to fail.

In a recent Masterclass, Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, told the story of how her father asked her about her failures when she was a child and how they celebrated each one of them. It made her a stronger person and built character for her to reach her goals.

Trying is the most important part here. You’re working on mastering a new set of skills and changing an existing habit, which takes practice, time, and of course, failure. It’s part of the learning process.

You may feel frustrated at times about your lack of improvement. It’s normal; tap into that frustration and use it to motivate you going forward.

Vow to try again. Look at your mistakes.

What caused you to procrastinate this time? Learn from it, and you will start to realize that you are able to accept who you are regardless of the outcome.

There’s always something new to learn whenever we fail at something or slip back into an unhealthy habit. At the very least, we figure out that something isn’t completely working out for us.

Show a little self-compassion!  Forgive yourself for procrastinating so you can move on and practice some more.

Congratulations, you completed the first step in beating procrastination. Join our email list below to learn more.