The Now Habit does not accept that laziness, disorganization, or any other character defect is the reason you procrastinate. Procrastination is not a character defect, rather, it is an attempt at coping with the often-incapacitating fear- fear of failure, fear of criticism, fear of being imperfect, fear of impossible expectations, fear of judgement.
If these underlying fears are allayed, the learned tactic of procrastination can rapidly be unlearned.
In most cases you are the one who confuses just doing the job with testing your worth, where one possible mistake would feel like the end of the world. When you believe that your self-worth is determined by your performance, you focus on psychological self-protection from fear of failing, rather than just doing the job. Procrastination allows us to resist being judged by our production because we never make a complete effort that reflects our full ability.
You will make significant progress in your ability to work with concentration, serenity, and creativity by creating safety and compassion for your human imperfection.
“Finishing” is in the vague distance, a long way from where you may be now in terms of skills, confidence, and perspective.
- Replace “I must finish” with “When can I start?” This focuses energy on what can be tackled now.
- Replace “This is so big” with “I can take one small step”.
A project, as a book, can’t be done all at once, it is a sequence of small steps
Keep on starting, and finishing will take care of itself.
Only work will diminish your anxiety.