I can see the laundry sitting there. It needs to get done but a little voice in my head whispers....
"Just do it later". And so I do, and then the next time I go to do the laundry it seems to have build into a huge mountain right before my very eyes.
What happened? How did it get so bad? I know you know the answer...
It's called procrastination! I know I am not alone in this diabolical situation. Because, the truth is that we are all human, and were guilty of putting things off even though we subconsciously know it will be worse if we do.
So, why do we do it?
That voice whispers again... "You are just lazy". I've got some good news for you. That little voice is wrong!!! Procrastination is all about avoidance. And not just the avoidance of the task at hand. When we put off things like the laundry, cleaning the house or even going to the gym is because we are usually trying to avoid a certain feeling.
We might want to avoid the feeling of stress or feeling overwhelmed. And if your me, you put off the gym because you want to avoid the feeling of being out of shape.
Sometimes, we even fear that we might fail if we try so we avoid trying all together by putting off further and further into the future. And we move onto something else that might give us instant gratification or a false sense of relief.
What makes it even worse is when we turn our focus onto other things that might drive us in another direction. For example, instead of getting in my gym clothes and pack my gym bag, I open TicTok and get loss in the sea of funny videos.
So.... what should we do? How do we stop ourselves from procrastinating?
If I am honest with you, the truth is that you probably won't stop 100% of your procrastination. And that is okay. Sometimes, its what you need in that moment.
That being said, there is a time and place for everything. And the laundry needs to get done.
I want you to try this simple tool to help you move forward with the task at hand.
It's called the 1 minute rule.
All you have to do is 1 minute of the task at hand. That's it.
Tell yourself, I am just going to do this for one minute. Then set a timer and start to fold for one minute. Odd's are that after the timer is up you will fold a littler longer. Maybe, you don't fold all of it. Maybe you do. The point is that you moved forward with something that needed to be done and you will feel better because you did it.
We don't have to over complicate it. Just start small and praise yourself for the job that you do.