Procrastination - for the win?!
Embracing Strategic Procrastination
Who would have thought right?!
Seems contradictory: Strategy and procrastination in the same sentence - but hear me out. When strategic (intended but not chronic!); procrastination can be super beneficial.
Yes, you heard that correctly!
Recent Neuroscience (thanks Mr. Urban!) research, suggests that delaying certain tasks can in fact stimulate creativity and ultimately result in better outcomes when executed under time pressure. So, if you find yourself staring at the screen, look up, take the work wedding ring off. You my friend are likely in a toxic marriage with your work - likely ok in small doses - freaking counterproductive and toxic as all hell in large ones.
So with this thought in mind, I reflected on the reality that…
Throughout the course of each week, I often found myself having not gone for a walk for extended periods of time (any more than 60-90 minutes is how I tend to classify “extended” in this sense). Attempting to gain and maintain health - I set up little 90 minute alarms to prompt me to get up (NO MATTER WHAT) - for this very reason. Are they annoying - yes. Are they beneficial - heck, yes!
Now I should add - I didn’t land on 90 minute alarms initially - nope. I impatiently set 15 minute alarms initially - not surprisingly (how good is hindsight, lol!), I wasn’t consistent. For the first few alarms - I was superwoman. I got up and went for a walk. Move forward a few days and I found myself hitting snooze…ALOT! Have play! xo
I suggest you trial something similar in the event that you’re not doing so already.
It sounds straight forward and yet more often than not - when asked, my new clients haven’t created the healthy habit.
SO - SCREW THE REST OF THIS BLOG - IF YOU DO NOTHING ELSE, SET SOME NASTY ‘GO WALK’ ALARMS OR STOP PRESSING ‘SKIP', ‘IGNORE’ OR ‘SNOOZE’ ON YOUR TECH WATCH - STTTTTOOOOOOPPPPP IT!!!
Learn to establish a habit where you actively push ‘pause’ on all the things you ‘should’ or ‘could’ be doing. And yes, I’m going to get repetitive - “Go for a freaking walk, my friend” - procrastinate away (and no, I’m not saying go make a habit of it!)…but I am saying - get comfy with giving yourself permission to get up - in the heat of peak overwhelm and GO FOR A WALK!
Yes - that very moment where you really don’t have time, I wouldn’t understand, no one does, you’ve got so much on your plate. As a Behavioural Scientist and Executive Coach with nearly 20 having worked as a HR practitioner, advising People Managers - I’ve heard all these remarks and more.
UNLESS YOU’RE KEELED OVER IN BED - THEN YOU MY FRIEND DON’T NEED TO MAKE TIME - YOU HAVE THE TIME!
Chances are if you’ve got a task to do and have sat at your screen longer than 30 minutes without a morsel of productive output then - you my friend are ruminating and that, well that is dangerous territory.
When you ruminate you’re often excessively focused on negative thoughts.
If you find yourself wondering what this looks like, well look no further my friends, you’d be dwelling on problems, regrets, or perceived failures without actively seeking out solutions or a resolution. Aaaannnd, there’s no shame here - we’ve all been there. For the first half of my career - I went there, lots…too much and looking back, I wish I’d invested in a mentor to help me understand the importance of putting a stop to it and exactly how to effectively do this in a way that was sustainable. Add two Executive coaches, a mentor, sitting on a board, being promoted to the C-suite, an MBA and qualifications in Law, lots of binged Netflix series, copious amounts of chocolate, some counselling and tens of thousands of dollars in myself and you’ve got a proudly ruminate-less (lol, that definitely doesn’t seem like a word - and yet, I love it!) human.
From a neuroscience perspective, rumination involves various cognitive and emotional processes. Neuroscience studies show that in individuals who ruminate, the amygdala can become hyperactive and resultantly overreact to negative stimuli. Frustratingly, this then leads to a heightened emotional response and sadly an amplification of your negative emotions.
If you’re looking for one word that best describes this, it’s DWELLING!
If you’ve ever started thinking about something you need to do and not long after find yourself overwhelmed with the stressful feeling that you should have done it, well that’s likely your active lil’ amygdala.
Thanks. No thanks.
And don’t get me wrong, it’s helpful to have some degree of reflection and introspection (we can’t all be narcissists after all, lol!). While it can be helpful for problem-solving and self-improvement, rumination is generally considered to impair your productive lil’ problem solving abilities.
PUT SIMPLY, MORE TIME THINKING ABOUT WHAT SUCKS, ALLOWS LESS TIME FOR WHAT SOLUTIONS MIGHT HELP.
As for whole-body impairment don’t even get me started: from a fast beating heart to that yucky jittery yet heavy feeling in your gut. Yeah - no one likes that. Plus, it’s not freaking sustainable. Ask me, as a Leader at the top of my field for one of the top 500’s for years - I learnt the hard way! Invite a little procrastination in!
Chances are you’ll return from your walk refreshed and a little nervously excited about how much you have to do in such little time - and - in these circumstances getting down to execution often happens smoother, faster and more productively. Time Management sorted - thank you ‘mam!
If you’ve tried this but are looking for a little more structure and accountability then reach out and learn the ways you can choose to work with me.
