Why do today what you can put off for another time?
This cute saying may ring true, but persistent procrastination is a bane that thwarts many an individual whose intentions to be productive and responsible fall victim to this insidious habit.
I remember a patient who sought my help for his chronic procrastination. During our interview, I asked him why he thinks he procrastinates. After a long silence, he replied, “Can I tell you at our next session?”
Procrastination is the habit of postponing (delaying, deferring, putting off) actions necessary to address the fulfillment and accomplishment of tasks.
We all procrastinate at times. It’s natural to avoid tasks or situations that are unpleasant, arduous, complicated, and that may present confusion, difficult decision-making, or expectations that the effort required will induce feelings of frustration, anxiety, ineffectiveness, or results that are unsatisfying. Procrastination also occurs simply because other activities and preoccupations are more rewarding than digging in to accomplish what has been avoided extensively and is perceived as difficult or unrewarding. These feelings, thoughts, and behaviors occur (at varying levels of conscious awareness or deliberation) despite the overriding sense of guilt and worry about not doing what needs to get done.
For many people, longstanding procrastination leads to debilitating consequences in work, relationships, financial integrity, physical health, and reliability and trust. Procrastination can have a devastating impact on confidence and self-esteem.
Chronic procrastination is essentially based upon avoidance or phobic responses to tasks that are perceived as overwhelming, unrewarding, or aversive. It is a response set built upon the fear of/anxiety about making decisions.
Procrastination can also reflect obsessive-compulsive tendencies. The anxiety stirred up from making many decisions about what to do with each item indicates possible obsessive worries. I’ll get to it tomorrow or next week implies (existentially) a better or more comfortable future.
This characterization may seem novel or odd, so let’s dig deeper. We accomplish many tasks, routine and complex, throughout each day. Even when tasks require effort and perhaps some degree of unpleasantness, we plow through them. Why, then, is procrastination different? Why is it an insidious problem for many? In chronic procrastination, the individual avoids the task because they know that starting it will flood them with overwhelm, stress, guilt, and other negative feelings. In addition—importantly—at most steps along the way while tackling the long-dreaded task, they will have to make decision upon decision to get to the next step. For example, to organize a room full of papers or to clean out the garage requires multiple decisions about what to discard, what to keep, where to file or put each item. This can be agonizing (at first). Thus, the anticipation of making many small decisions and the anxiety this brings on results in the avoidance. It is essentially a phobia about decision-making. A phobia is an irrational fear that, despite the phobic person’s knowledge that there is no actual danger or rational basis for the fear, persists anyway. Chronic procrastination involves a phobia of minute decision-making. My observation in working with procrastinators is that they have inordinate trouble making each small decision necessary to sort, organize or throw out items. Thus, when challenged by a task (or even thinking about it), a series of negative thought fields emerge that make them avoid, due to the intense anxiety.
For many inveterate procrastinators, there may also be a skills issue: some planning and mental organization is required. On top of that, deciding where to put items necessitates having a place or repository for those items. If lots of stuff crowds the space or if there is no available space (like a filing cabinet or other suitable storage), then the sorting and organization becomes impeded and overwhelming, causing even more disarray and anxiety. Getting rid of things causes panic for many people. It’s simply hard to let go, even if you haven’t used that item in years and probably won’t ever. The what if’s can be paralyzing: what if I throw this out or give it away and then regret it? Again, it’s fear and anxiety, rarely based in any logic or reality.
Sometimes tasks are procrastinated because they require documents, receipts, research, calculation, and organization. Taxes are a good example. Or homework. Making up homework induces awareness (and possibly shame) about how far behind one has fallen. If the avoidance involves people (“I really should call…”), there is often fear and guilt or trauma involved. It boils down to anxiety, the phobic response, and the fear of having to make sudden, unexpected, or multiple decisions. Thus, the inertia and avoidance continue.
The consequences can be unhealthy, inconvenient, or severe. Failing to take out the garbage, delaying bill payments, or avoiding doctors’ appointments may make life harder. Procrastination feeds upon itself; ir raises the likelihood of more procrastination.
Because procrastination is anxiety-based, it is amenable to treatment using Thought Field Therapy (TFT). This is a well-validated treatment based upon identifying negative thought fields, diagnosing the perturbations in those thought fields, and eliminating the perturbations that result in the reduction or elimination of the anxiety and avoidance response. The application is done by strategic and targeted finger tapping on neurological portals—the skin surface for energy meridians—that send signals to the brain and nervous system to collapse the perturbations. This process essentially separates the problem thought from the negative feeling tied to it. It deprograms the previous upsetting connection.
Overcoming procrastination means that you vanquish it, not that it never happens.
Success means that you recognize, confront, and take effective counteracting steps so that the job gets done in reasonable time.
These are the components of a systematic approach to effectively dealing with chronic disabling procrastination:
When I work with people to tackle procrastination, the first step is to help them list why accomplishing the task is worth it: what are the rewards and what are the costs/consequences of continuing to procrastinate? For example: rewards—“I’ll feel relieved about finally getting this done, I’ll feel good about myself.” “My grades will improve.” “I won’t be afraid of repercussions about not filing taxes or paying this bill.” “I won’t feel awful every time I look in the garage.”
This is an important prelude to building motivation. When done with a mentor, it has an uplifting effect.
The next step is to identify reasonable, doable steps for getting started. Procrastinators get stuck anticipating having to do a whole lot at first. So I encourage structure and focus by asking, “What exactly do you think you could accomplish in just one hour?” Then I have them write it down as a reference. I ask questions about specifics, based on what they tell me. “Okay, so you’ll sort through the two piles of papers on your desk, sort into piles to discard and file. And where will you put the papers to file? How long will that take you?”
Most people have not thought out the simple sequential steps; it all blends into nebulous overwhelm. They need guidance and clarity and limits with this. The first day should be limited in scope and time. “Can you really deal with that box in the garage in one hour, or should we divide it up into several sessions?”
Once we have an initial plan, I treat them with Voice Technology (Thought Field Therapy). This phone treatment takes about fifteen minutes and eliminates the stress, anxiety, and fear in the thought fields that have stalled them for so long. After this treatment, it’s remarkable and reliable that they the great majority can accomplish the initial task. That’s because the negative thought fields and self-sabotage evaporate. When they tell me (almost always) they think they can do it, I ask for a specific commitment: When? “Okay, you will do this later this afternoon? What time will you start?” This is called contracting. I ask them to call, email, or text me within a day about the result. No judgment, no criticism; just follow-up, evaluation, possible troubleshooting, and motivation for the next step.
If there is a how-to issue or a materials issue (they need to get certain things or investigate something in order to complete the task), then we re-assign the task. We might do another treatment, and then nail down the commitment to time and date with another promise to get back to me about the outcome.
This step-by-step guidance—powered by eliminating the phobia of multiple decision-making in addressing each step (where to put this item; can I really throw this one away…) is fruitful the vast majority of times. The procrastinator feels successful and empowered, gains confidence, and changes avoidance to adaptive, do-it-now and get-it-done behaviors.
Thought Field Therapy is a proven tool for overcoming procrastination.
Below is a primer and summary of Thought Field Therapy.
Thought Field Therapy (TFT) is a powerful yet simple treatment for dealing with psychological disturbances by manipulating how energy flows in the body. When applied to a psychological problem an individual is experiencing, TFT provides a code that eliminates “perturbations” in the thought field that are the fundamental cause of all negative emotions—the process is similar to reprogramming a computer task by revising computer codes. A disturbance in the encoding of information that connects a thought with a feeling is called a perturbation. By finger tapping on specific energy points in a particular sequence, the TFT process causes these perturbations to collapse, and renders them inactive.
TFT has wide-ranging applications for the relief of all types of negative emotions, as well as symptoms of physiological distress and psychological self-sabotage. The technique works fast with remarkable efficacy. And self-help versions of TFT are easy to use, convenient, and contribute to self-control and self-empowerment.
To begin to fathom how and why TFT works, we must remember that nature uses various codes to operate, signal, and modify the world. Humans use codes, consciously and biologically, in many ways.
Thought Field Therapy: A treatment for psychological disturbances that provides a code that, when applied to a psychological problem on which the individual is focusing, will eliminate perturbations in the thought field, the fundamental cause of all negative emotions.
Thought Field: A field is an invisible, nonmaterial structure in space that has an effect upon matter. A thought field is a connection between cognitive awareness and emotions that generates a field that may contain perturbations.
Perturbation: The fundamental cause of all negative emotions, perturbations are the physiological, neurological, hormonal, chemical, and cognitive events that result in the experience of specific negative emotions.
Nature overflows with secrets and mysteries contained in codes. From DNA to language, symbols, and relationships, the world is embedded with information about how life unfolds. Managing life requires the detection, translation, and enactment of the codes that encapsulate this information. We use codes for analyzing and synthesizing data, formulating concepts and logic, testing hypotheses, evaluating options, and generalizing from our individual and collective experiences the characteristics, resources, and courses of action that help us survive and live better.
Codes sum up the rules and messages about these processes. For example, when driving, we respond to traffic lights at an intersection. We use social codes to indicate our receptivity and availability, and we react to the green/red light messages that tell whether it is okay to proceed on a course. We are attuned to people’s facial expressions that convey whether to advance, back off, or wait. Codes communicate when the airplane bathroom is vacant, the degree to which a social gesture is welcome, when a boundary has been violated, and even when a partner might be interested in sex. Formally or informally taught cognitive codes that are reflected in expressive language, grammatical conventions, spelling rules, mathematics, and economic principles allow us to communicate our ideas and exchange goods and services.
Nature imparts information by means of environmental and biological codes. Examples include barometric pressure that indicates when it is likely to rain, cramping or bloating that indicate when a menstrual period is coming, and fatigue and stress that signal the need to rest, retreat, and recover.
Codes embed information and are akin to shorthand. They are shortcut methods for abbreviating, storing, and communicating information. In a sense, they are like our Social Security number and the many PIN codes and passwords we create that identify us and we use to access private information. For example, when you click on a computer link, you may be asked to enter a code before entry is granted. Though we may not be consciously aware of it, information we hear or see is also in code.
The English language contains twenty-six letters that can be combined to form words, sentences, and limitless ideas. When we read or listen to information, we’re decoding the words in accordance with accepted rules of phonetics, pronunciation, and grammar. If we understand what the decoded words mean, we can process and assimilate the encoded information. If the information is represented in numbers (e.g., the balance of our checking account) and we’ve mastered the meaning of these number codes, we are then able to respond accordingly.
Biological data can be decoded, and by breaking the codes, beneficial alterations in human response patterns can be achieved. We can essentially replace harmful or distressing codes with those that are beneficial and healing. TFT allows such “replacements” to occur. For many people, this is a radical concept to consider: that the body and mind store coded information that keeps emotional and physical problems in place, and that by decoding and reprogramming this information, negative feelings and problems can be alleviated within minutes.
Think of the function of the codes that our body stores as a kind of emotional alarm system. The alarm is set within us by reactions we have to traumas, upsets, and even to foods and medicines. TFT works by deactivating the internal alarm and by offsetting the signals that trigger the alarms. We accomplish this by tapping with our fingers on specific points on our body in a specific order. The tapping sends energy signals throughout our nervous system via meridian points and pathways. These signals disrupt the perturbations that are causing the distress, and they essentially reset our system back to normal for the particular problem that was upsetting us.
To grasp the concept of how pressing with our finger can create so much impact, think of a garage door opener. Or better yet, think of how tapping several numbers into a phone can send specific messages over a great distance with great speed and impact.
Once the negative emotional charge is removed, we can think clearly about the problem, but it will no longer bother us at all. Poof!
The application of TFT is done by a process of finger tapping on meridian points on the upper body when experiencing the negative emotion or urge you want to eliminate.
When applied at the appropriate junctures in the correct sequences, the tapping transduces (converts and sends) the slight physical/kinesthetic energy into signals to the brain and nervous system, which changes information and reprograms the linkages between thoughts and feelings. This allows people to eliminate negative emotions and empowers them to change behavior.
This concept is easy to recognize in its application to many other operations we take for granted. For example, garage door openers work on the same principle: a slight touch on a remote sends a signal that transduces radio waves into mechanical energy, causing a physical change that is disproportionate to the energy applied. The programming of an alarm is similar, where tapping in the appropriate code will disengage the alarm.
This is how TFT works. And this is why TFT is so powerful and consistent in the elimination of negative emotions such as anxiety and addictive urges. TFT uses our body’s natural wisdom to store, manipulate, and unlock codes that affect our conscious and subconscious thoughts, feelings, and behavioral motivations. The locations and sequences of tapping points are determined by codes; and the process of decoding the disturbance (caused by perturbations) comprises the diagnostic aspects of TFT. Certain eye movements as well as humming may be used at some points in the process.
When the mind and body are in distress, the thought field is connected to a negative emotional state by a code, and the appropriate tapping breaks the connection with the embedded code that set created the disturbance in the first place.
Chronic procrastination is debilitating to self-esteem and functional productivity. It can be handled.
Overcoming procrastination means that you vanquish it, not that it never happens.
Success means that you recognize, confront, and take effective counteracting steps so that the job gets done in reasonable time.
Strategically pairing anxiety-free states (lack of perturbations and negative thought fields) with a structure of sequenced steps, time-based accountability, contractual commitment, and planned follow-up and evaluation is key to successfully overcoming procrastination.
Eliminating anxiety is the critical and pivotal step because recurring anxiety serves as an antecedent for reinforcing patterns of avoidance and justification.
Here is a step-by-step flow for addressing procrastination:
— Mark Steinberg, PhD
