I especially like this quote – “Clearly you don’t absolutely need to do those things in your life that you’re procrastinating about. How do I know that? Well, YOU’RE NOT DOING THEM…” :)

I think a lot of why people procrastinate or put things to the side is because they don’t like to change – change brings on discomfort and so they would rather delay it and feel comfortable in the moment. We may think that by doing this we are free, but it’s counter intuitive. We are never free unless we are taking action. Doing so then helps us become free of procrastination.

Thanks for this wonderful post.

Thanks all!!!

And thanks Tim, for the opportunity.

I will definitely try to explore my emotions deeper the next time I feel like putting something off, to see if I have some inner resistance to doing it.

//sami

But I want to tie Bill’s point back in, because what I’m reflecting on today, is the realization that what we CALL it determines a lot. And calling the avoidance “procrastination” is, I believe, actually reinforcing an identity as someone who “can’t” do it. And that’s just going to be one more road block.

Thanks Tim for inviting this post and thanks Bill for provoking this fascinating discussion!

“But with desires and longings, it seems that sometimes we need to be with them for a while. We’re not always ready to jump right in, because they could result in big changes in us and our lives.”

It sounds like we need to differentiate in our language between procrastinating and deferring.

Procrastinating is avoiding a task because of an underlying doubt, fear or other resistance. Deferral is consciously choosing to wait to complete a task because there is a valid reason why it would be best to do it later (see my third question, above). It might be what you mention about being with our desires and longings for a while.

It’s kind of like the technique sometimes used to deal with phobias: exposure therapy. If there is an action you’re thinking of taking that feels like a big leap, you can desensitize yourself to the fear of doing it by having it sit beside you for a while, getting used to the idea, and planning for it.

It only becomes “procrastination” when you never actually take action. I guess the trick is knowing how much time is reasonable and when we’re in avoidance mode.