WEBVTT - What procrastination can teach us

0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:07.520
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:13.200
<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:16.639
<v Speaker 1>This is the fifth episode in my five part series

0:00:16.720 --> 0:00:22.160
<v Speaker 1>about procrastination. Today's tip is to get curious about procrastination.

0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:25.360
<v Speaker 1>You can make big breakthroughs in life if you figure

0:00:25.400 --> 0:00:29.200
<v Speaker 1>out what procrastination might be teaching you. We tend to

0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:32.400
<v Speaker 1>think of procrastination as a bad thing, and generally it is.

0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:36.360
<v Speaker 1>As we've discussed this week, the definition of procrastination is

0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:39.760
<v Speaker 1>to delay, even knowing that you'll be worse off for

0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:42.720
<v Speaker 1>the delay. It's no problem to put off work that

0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:45.239
<v Speaker 1>doesn't need to be done in the first place. But

0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:47.760
<v Speaker 1>studying for an exam that's critical for whether you'll get

0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:52.360
<v Speaker 1>into grad school, that's a different matter. We've discussed why

0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:56.440
<v Speaker 1>we procrastinate, and we've discussed strategies for making progress. But

0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:59.600
<v Speaker 1>today I want to raise a different possibility, which is

0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:03.640
<v Speaker 1>that some times our procrastination is teaching us something. We

0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:07.800
<v Speaker 1>can reach real insights by getting curious about why we're

0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:11.959
<v Speaker 1>putting something off. Sometimes we delay because things are boring

0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:16.440
<v Speaker 1>or unpleasant. Sometimes we delay because we're feeling bad about ourselves.

0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:19.840
<v Speaker 1>We don't want to try our best and risk still failing.

0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:24.959
<v Speaker 1>But sometimes we delay because we know deep down that

0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:28.720
<v Speaker 1>a particular project is not the right direction for our

0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:33.280
<v Speaker 1>careers or our lives. The reason you are resisting is

0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:37.399
<v Speaker 1>not that you have no self discipline. It's that your

0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:43.080
<v Speaker 1>wise inner mentor is saying, no, this is not what

0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:45.919
<v Speaker 1>you are meant to be doing. There are other things

0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:50.640
<v Speaker 1>that are more worthy of your precious time. Now, I'll

0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:53.320
<v Speaker 1>admit that it's not always easy to tell the difference

0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:57.400
<v Speaker 1>between mere delay and an epiphany. I've put off writing

0:01:57.400 --> 0:01:59.880
<v Speaker 1>scripts for this show because I got sucked into something else.

0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:03.480
<v Speaker 1>But I truly love doing this podcast. Usually I just

0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:05.680
<v Speaker 1>need a break and a snack and I'm good to go,

0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:10.600
<v Speaker 1>But sometimes it's something else. About a year or so ago,

0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:12.480
<v Speaker 1>I was asked to take on a project, and I

0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:16.480
<v Speaker 1>tentatively agreed set about doing some work for it. Then

0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:19.960
<v Speaker 1>I kept finding other things to do. I returned to

0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:23.880
<v Speaker 1>emails promptly. I cleaned my desk, and if you know me,

0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:27.280
<v Speaker 1>you know that cleaning my desk is usually the last

0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:30.840
<v Speaker 1>thing on my priority list. Around the time I found

0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:33.560
<v Speaker 1>myself daydreaming about how I might pay someone else to

0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:38.120
<v Speaker 1>take on this project. I realized No, it wasn't a

0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:43.120
<v Speaker 1>prison sentence. I could extricate myself. Of course, I couldn't

0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:45.880
<v Speaker 1>extricate myself immediately. I still had to do the part

0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:49.040
<v Speaker 1>that I'd agreed to do. Likewise, if you realize something

0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:51.720
<v Speaker 1>isn't the right direction for your life, that doesn't mean

0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:54.160
<v Speaker 1>you can get out of doing it, but you can

0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:56.640
<v Speaker 1>ask yourself how you can make sure that in a

0:02:56.720 --> 0:03:00.519
<v Speaker 1>reasonable amount of time, say the next few weeks or months,

0:03:01.040 --> 0:03:05.160
<v Speaker 1>you can make sure you're no longer doing it. Sometimes

0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:07.760
<v Speaker 1>that question can actually be the nudge you need to

0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:12.600
<v Speaker 1>stop procrastinating. You realize that all that is standing between

0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:15.480
<v Speaker 1>you and a future where you aren't doing these types

0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:20.040
<v Speaker 1>of projects is getting your immediate deliverables done. Then you

0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:23.480
<v Speaker 1>can volunteer for different things, or ask to be reassigned,

0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:27.560
<v Speaker 1>or whatever it takes. What have you learned by getting

0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:31.919
<v Speaker 1>curious about why you're procrastinating? Have you ever realized after

0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:34.720
<v Speaker 1>putting something off that there was a really good reason

0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:38.040
<v Speaker 1>you weren't doing it? If so, please let me know.

0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:42.160
<v Speaker 1>You can email me at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart

0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:45.960
<v Speaker 1>media dot com, and if you have feedback on this

0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:49.040
<v Speaker 1>five part series on procrastination, you can let me know

0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:52.119
<v Speaker 1>that too. If people are interested, I might do more

0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:55.840
<v Speaker 1>series in the future. In the meantime, this is Laura.

0:03:56.440 --> 0:03:59.040
<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:08.480
<v Speaker 1>our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:11.360
<v Speaker 1>You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:15.720
<v Speaker 1>Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:20.599
<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast pod. That's b E the number four, then

0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:24.080
<v Speaker 1>Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an

0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:27.880
<v Speaker 1>email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot

0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:30.840
<v Speaker 1>com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:33.520
<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:42.440
<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio. For

0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:45.599
<v Speaker 1>more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the I heart

0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:49.040
<v Speaker 1>Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your

0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:49.760
<v Speaker 1>favorite shows.