Meet My Gremlin… Procrastination!

“Why Not?” Meet my Gremlin… PROCRASTINATION 

Procrastination is insidious, seductive, and travels with me, in varying degrees, along my path. Also known as; postponing, deferring, delaying, distraction, dragging my feet, stalling, putting off doing something I need to do…“squirrel!” At the end of the day it’s me avoiding something I don’t want to do, or more often, don’t know HOW to do.

This is especially true since I have transitioned from a full-time job to starting my own business. Working from home provides oh so many opportunities to distract myself from tasks that are important to expanding and evolving my coaching business.

Sit down to write a blog? Oh wait, I’ll just throw in a load of laundry. Creating a workshop for 12-14 year old girls? Hmmm, what do we need at the grocery store?  Organizing my paperwork? Oh look, Pinterest!!

I know my gremlin is a by-product of fear. Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of looking less than “perfect”. Pick your flavour. I’ve been in the arena with all of these at different times!

Starting a home-based business and evolving from one version of myself to a more authentic, expanded version, puts me squarely in the unknown. And that’s a super uncomfortable place to be. When those negative feelings start to take hold, it’s so much easier to default to something that feels better.

I know that I have a habit of using procrastination as a strategy. Waiting until the bitter end forces me to complete the task. And I always do. Sometimes with good results and sometimes not. The problem is that I am always stressed out getting there. And that never feels good. And is probably not appreciated much by those around me.

When I catch myself playing with my gremlin, I’m finding that it helps to acknowledge that I am procrastinating. I even say it out loud, “Kirsten, you are procrastinating.” That’s my cue to sit down, take a few deep, cleansing breaths, and tap into the feeling that’s coming up. WHY am I resisting?

Usually it comes from a perfectionist mindset. I want to do my very best. I don’t want to disappoint others I have given my word to. I’m scared to ask for help because I don’t want to feel “less than”. (Hmmm, that last one still has some juice to it). 

Even bigger yet, what if I fail? No seriously, WHAT IF I FAIL?!?!

I know thoughts like this are not helpful. They only create more of the same. I ‘know’ this intellectually but sometimes the emotional spiral gets the better of me. It also keeps me from tapping into my Intuitively-Inspired, Creatively-Focused BADASS Self! It keeps me from being the bigger, better, expanded version of myself that is always calling to me. It also keeps me from accessing all the incredible support there is available from the wildly talented people who excel in the areas that I do not. 

So, instead of fighting the gremlin, I will acknowledge it, make peace with it.

And keep reminding myself that;

I am a capable person and it feels good to get things done. 

I am a perfectly imperfect human. 

Even when things don’t turn out the way I think I want them to, there is always something valuable in the lesson. 

Things often turn out even better than I expected!

When I hit a roadblock, I have so many people and resources available to help me over the hump, I only need to ask. 

Written by: Kirsten Frey; Transitions Life Coaching