5 Tips for Dealing with Anxiety-Related Procrastination
Why do you put things off that you need to get done? There are lots of reasons why people procrastinate, but it is often because of anxiety. You may not even realize you are having anxiety-related procrastination, but if you have fears behind your motivation, you are probably experiencing it. Here are five tips to help you deal with anxiety-related procrastination.
1 Take time to discover what your anxiety is really about
Think about why you feel the way you do when you are putting things off. Is it because you are afraid of rejection or failure? Could it actually be that you are afraid of success? Does your procrastinating make you feel safe? Dig deep into what the root cause is of your procrastination so you can move on to the next tip.
2 Change your mindset
Once you have figured out what it is that is keeping you from doing the things you need to do, you can find ways to change the way you think. If you know that you are afraid it will not be good enough, then you can change your thinking about what would make it “good enough.”
This is tricky, but you will have to practice thinking this way and doing it in order for it to stick. If you are worried about what might happen if you do it wrong, then change your thinking to ask yourself, “what if I do it right?”
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3 Break the cycle
The cycle begins with you procrastinating. That leads to feelings of guilt, which in turn, leads to anxiety about what will happen next. Finally, the anxiety turns into feelings of powerlessness, which then goes back to fear and then doing nothing at all.
Where can you break the cycle? Of course, the most obvious place would be at the procrastination stage, but what about breaking the cycle at feeling guilty? Ask yourself what can you do instead of feeling guilty? Then, do it, or the cycle will continue.
4 Gather all the information you need to do it
If your fear is based on not having enough information, then you will want to get the information you need to complete the task you are putting off. If you need to learn something new to accomplish that, then do it. Do not let your lack of knowledge hold you back.
5 Eliminate a stress factor
I know, that is not easy, but it is not impossible either. Write down all the things that cause you stress. Then, think about which ones you have control over and either eliminate or at least try to manage them better. Then, break down the more difficult tasks into smaller, more manageable pieces. This should help bring down the stress, which can lead to anxiety-related procrastination.
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Procrastination is not an easy thing to get over, but it can be done. The most important step to take is to find out the root cause of your anxiety, then you can move forward by changing your mindset, breaking the cycle, gathering the information you need and eliminate the stress you can control.
