Procrastination has Many Faces

Yesterday was TAPshop Tuesday, and our session was a good one focusing on the many aspects of procrastination.

As I introduced the topic and started going over the many aspects the discussion took an interesting turn.

One participant said that he had a major problem clarifying what he wanted, so, in turn put off doing anything because he had no sense of direction. 

Another member shared that her brother was on a life-long search for the “perfect” partner, so at age 70 he was still a bachelor, and she sensed that in setting his standards so high he was actually protecting himself from committing to a relationship.

At this point we discussed how lack of clarity or insisting on perfectionism might both be related to a reluctance or inability to commit, with a surface symptom of procrastination. The real issue to clear here might be that of an inability to commit, and in doing that the procrastination might disappear.

We also included a detailed analysis of Law of Attraction at this point in the call, and discussed how imperative it is to hold the feeling of what we want to accomplish, even when we do not have the specific details yet.

I believe that usually when a client presents to me saying he or she has an issue with procrastination, that this is merely the symptom and that there is usually a deeper underlying cause for putting off the decision or action in question. When we clear the blockage around the underlying issue then the resistance to take action usually disappears also and the person is able to flow forward with intentional movement.

Some underlying issues of procrastination, in addition to those mentioned before include:

• fear / fear of the unknown / fear of success / fear of failure
• perfectionism / want to do it right / need ALL of the info before starting
• just don’t WANT to do it / not aligned with the action or decision
• might get into trouble
• too much to do / overwhelm / burnout
• shifting priorities / confusion / paralysis analysis
• etc.

In your own life you may wish to identify where you tend to procrastinate, and then look deeper to see if you can discover an underlying issue creating that symptom. Is there a deeper reason that causes you to hold back on making a decision or taking an action? Sometimes this is rather obvious, while at other times it takes some insight, thought, or even an outside support person to help you to identify what the deeper issues might be. Good luck in your own investigation!

On our next TAPshop call we will continue to discuss procrastination and will hold an EFT tapping session around clearing the root causes of each participant’s procrastination issues. This will occur on October 6th, so there is still time to sign up and receive yesterday’s recording in preparation for the second procrastination call. Go to: http://www.EFT-TAPshops.com . Hope to hear you there!