How To Overcome Procrastination Through Meditation
Procrastination is one of the greatest time wasters that the most of us will need to deal with in our daily lives. It’s those moments where we know what we should be doing that’s going to benefit us for the future, yet for some reason, we don’t end up doing it.
What Exactly Is Procrastination?
It’s the action of neglecting or delaying those things that are less pleasurable or urgent until a later time. It’s also when we put off doing those things we know are going to help us out in some way to have a better quality of life, yet we still find a way to avoid them.
We all know when we are putting off something that we know we should be doing. The only difference is that we find a way to justify to ourselves why we don’t take action. That’s called making an excuse. It doesn’t matter why we put things off, it matters that we are being honest with ourselves so that our excuses don’t become a way of life.
How Does Procrastination Show Up In Your Life?
While we might justify that putting things off that are important to us is okay on some level, the reality is that the longer we put things off, the less likely it is that they will ever happen. As time marches on it gets easier to continue to not do something than it is to move forward.
The real challenge with procrastination is that it can quickly become a habit in your life. Once it’s a habit, then it becomes your default behavior when faced with making a decision to take action on something or not. The way that this show’s up in your life is that you become a person that lacks self-discipline.
The downside of lacking self-discipline ranges from feeling unfulfilled in your life to experiencing poor health and disconnected relationships. When we make excuses for why we don’t take care of those parts of our lives that are important to us like our health, happiness, love, and finances, then how can we ever be fulfilled?
Why Do We Procrastinate?
There are many reasons why people procrastinate. They range from wanting to escape tasks that are overwhelming or unpleasant to wanting to protect a weak self-image or avoid change. The bottom line though is that it’s a natural reaction to things we don’t want to do.
Most of the things that we plan to do, that we don’t take action on, is because they are future based. This is due to your brain constantly seeking instant gratification for something you can do right now such as surfing the Internet or watching TV. Most of our plans have long-term payoffs, not immediate gratification. That’s why it becomes easier to delay taking action on our goals.
One of the ways to overcome this tendency of the brain is to learn to resist the pull of instant gratification and instead become comfortable with delayed gratification. Every time you resist the urge to get an immediate payoff by not doing something, you are training your mind to value long-term payoffs instead.
How To Overcome Procrastination With Meditation
Here are 3 ways that you can beat procrastination with meditation that can be used anytime and anywhere.
1. Be mindful of your thoughts and actions.
There is a moment that happens between when we have a thought and we decide whether or not we are going to take action on something. When the decision arises as to whether to take a step towards your goals or stay comfortable with what you know – make the right choice for your future. Your future life always starts now so choose wisely.
2. Let it go.
If you notice that you are constantly putting something off that you say is important to you yet you never seem to get it started, then perhaps it’s time to let it go. Sometimes we are kidding ourselves that we are going to follow through with that diet, exercise, or health plan. If that’s the case for you then stop putting pressure on yourself to change and just let it go.
3. Meditate before you start anything new.
It’s not actually doing the work on your goals that is hard, it’s getting started. Once you get started then procrastination has no power over you at all. That’s why it’s important to develop the habit of meditating before you get started with a new behavior. Even doing a 2-minute meditation before you get started on something will help you to center yourself and make moving forward easier.
Meditation is a powerful tool that can help rapidly overcome procrastination. Because meditation is like giving your mind a gym workout it starts to transform your limiting beliefs and habits from the inside out. Then it becomes so much easier to make decisions and take actions on what matters most in your life.
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Michael Atma
Meditation Dojo Blog
Skype: michaelatma
Email: Michael@MichaelAtma.com
