Procrastination does it actually exist?

A lot of people procrastinate but does it actually exist. The people who have it will no doubt say yes and I thought I had it too until I read a report describing what it really is. And that did make me think about my "procrastination behavior. I will briefly explain what was in that report and what the solution to procrastination is

Procrastination

When you went hunting very early on you faced dangers of course. You could be attacked by predators, there could be fire from lightning and more dangers. Still, you went out because you had to have food.

Imagine you're doing that and suddenly a big tiger comes along. Then what's the first thing you're going to do? Exactly, you go and hide because, of course, you don't want that tiger to see you. Then if he does somehow discover you, you are going to run, flee or maybe climb a tree.

When the tiger does catch up with you and there is nothing else to do, you will fight the tiger. You will then have to...

You respond to danger in the following ways.

1. Freeze (freeze, hide, I pretend he doesn't see me and I hope it works)
2. Flight .
3. Fight

In that order, too. It has everything to do with self-preservation. You're not going to try to fight the tiger, you're going to try to hide and flee first. After all, you want to survive.

And so it is with procrastination....

Look, we've pretty much got the tigers all locked up or exterminated. Terrible, of course, but that danger no longer exists in our lifetime. But we have created other tigers in their place. This is the way our brain is set up. We need danger, as it were, and if there is none, we are very creative in creating it.

We respond to these dangers exactly the same way we did before. Imagine you have to do your tax return. For very few people, this is the bright spot in their existence. For most it is rather the proverbial hell, so how do you respond to it. You do that in the following way first:

Freeze
You don’t have to fill it out right now, do you? Of course not—you put it away, maybe even hide it. Some people don’t even open it, and you try to forget about it. That might work, but the opposite won’t. The tax office will send you a reminder eventually. You know that, of course, but you still hide it away for a while.

This is often the first response.

Flight
The second response is flight. This is characterized by doing all sorts of things that are important (or at least seem to be). You do everything else just to keep yourself busy, just to avoid filing that tax return. After all, you have a lot to do; you really don’t have time; there’s so much that needs to be done…

You are currently running away, but you have an excuse for yourself. It has to be done, right?

Fight
The time for excuses is over. It’s the tax tiger’s turn—it’s caught up with you, and now you have to fight it whether you like it or not. Otherwise, there’s a penalty, a fine, and you don’t want that. You have to get to work on it, and you’re going to get started…

This is the latest response and only out of sheer necessity will you reach for this. That is why so many things are still waiting for you, waiting for you to fight with them. And that is how it often feels, a fight.... Pffff

Do you want to keep fighting?

You don't have to fight with "the danger. Procrastination is "hardwired" in our brain and has to do with self-preservation. It uses this strategy, which means it has to hurt a lot before you will do anything. This is not always very convenient.

You also see it with people who want to make more money, for example. They want that because right now they don't have enough money to eat, dress or afford everything and of course they want that. They want to get away from that pain. When they manage to do that and they can buy food and clothing, then they are not motivated all of a sudden. So they have to go back to the pain to motivate themselves. Doesn't sound very convenient do you think?

Better to apply a different strategy. What you can do is the following.

• How would you feel if your tax return was all filled out and sent in? Probably very good. I want you to hold onto that feeling.
• Start with that feeling and make sure that the more you fill out that declaration the stronger you make that good feeling.

So you start with the end feeling and create a different strategy that works much better in many cases.

Want to win?

In the hypnotherapy practitioner, you discover how to install this very quickly in people, for example. You can win that training now by doing something creative.

For example, take a photo or a video that shows you really want to win the training. It's a chance and the most creative entry wins. Well don't delay and get started with this. Leave a comment what you think of this article.