"I just can't concentrate until there's a fire under my ass," my client said, "I just put off my work, feel shitty about it, put it off more, feel shittier about it, and only when it's the last possible moment, or sometimes just after that point, can I buckle down and actually do my work. I get it done, but never as well as if I'd managed my time better. And of course it's not just about the work product, because this whole time I've been making myself feel like shit."

Although that quote came from one client, I've heard the same from dozens of different clients and friends (and, hell, even myself at one point).

The biggest mistake is thinking of this as a time management issue. ⏰

If I just manage my time better, I won't procrastinate and it'll all be fine. But the time management is usually just the symptom, rather than the cause. It's like taking advil to manage your headache, but continuing to bash your head against the wall. It's going to keep hurting. And the hurting will probably get worse over time.

You see, I've found that procrastination is about emotions, not time management.

That client was feeling anxious about the work, so procrastinated to manage the anxiety.

While that works in the moment, it doesn't work in the long run.

😔

Some times things that make us good at what we do end up sabotaging us when we take them to the extreme. And I'm not talking about procrastination (does that ever make us good at what we do?), I'm talking about our inner critic.

For many of us, the inner critic really helps us out. That voice got us to study, excel, make it through law school, get a good job, do well. But when you take it to the extreme, it can make us feel like shit.

Thus begins the feedback look. The procrastination promises relief like any good pusher, and the inner critic starts to shout louder.

When all this happens, we often just need a reboot. Reset, examine what's going on, and keep going.

How do we do this?

I’ve found, through hundreds of hours of coaching clients, and many more hours of working through my own shit, that jumping straight to the solution before we truly understand the problem never serves us as well as we think it will.

The process generally goes like this:

AWARENESS - you need to know what’s going on in your head, in your heart, and in your hands - in other words, what you’re thinking, what you’re feeling, and what you’re doing.
TACTICS - hard and fast strategies to make yourself more efficient, help you produce better work, worry less, and be more grateful and light in life.
FEELINGS and BELIEFS - your feelings and beliefs are going to be hidden glass ceilings that will hold you back until you learn to understand them and harness them.

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I just can't concentrate until there's a fire under my ass 🔥😬