Exploring the Question of “Why I Can’t Stop Procrastinating”
In the Western world of productivity and industry, the subject of mastering motivation is a popular subject. We all want to get more done, more accomplished, and more achieved. The world still has much suffering and pain that must be alleviated, so we have no time to waste. We want that one technique. That quick fix instantly dispels all our procrastination. We want that switch to flip when we can’t stop procrastinating to drive us to productivity.
The truth of the matter is mastering motivation is a dynamic and lifelong process. It means constantly negotiating and working with your subconscious mind to bring it on board toward your goal. The emotional state we refer to as ‘procrastination’ is a state of rebellion by the subconscious mind. While the conscious mind might be trying to move the body toward a goal, the subconscious mind believes the task is not valuable enough for the time and energy involved. Therefore, it tries to stop you from doing something detrimental by robbing you of the energy and sugar needed to do the task.
First Reason: Can’t Stop Procrastinating, Because Of Lack Of Value
The first reason the subconscious mind rebels is, because you are doing something that doesn’t align with your values. Maybe, you got the idea from a friend. Perhaps, you are being required to do it by an authority figure. You could be just pretending you are into it to be accepted into a social group. Whatever the reason, you can’t lie to your subconscious mind. It’s way too powerful for that.
Taking a pad of paper and writing down “Do I really want to do this?” is a great place to start. Write down the “Yes” or “No” that pops into your head. This is the answer from your subconscious mind. If the answer is no, then repeat the process with other questions to explore the reasons your subconscious mind doesn’t want to do this. It could be because the subconscious mind can’t connect the activity to something of greater value than it wants.
Once you get the subconscious mind on board with value, then it will stop directing your focus to how boring and painful the task is and instead become focused emotionally on the reward at the end.
Second Reason: Procrastinating, Because Of Past Trauma
Maybe, your subconscious mind is on board with the value, but it’s afraid, because of past trauma. When this occurs, the experience is different than in the first scenario. In the first scenario, it’s common to be unmotivated while the mind flashes images and thoughts of how undesirable the task is. When it comes to trauma, the subconscious mind is often conflicted. It might imagine the reward at the end and create some feelings of drive, but then it may play memories of the old event. These memories usually come with the fear that overrides the motivation of the reward.
In this case, when you can’t stop procrastinating, it’s because the mind is saying “Prove to me we won’t fail again.” You may need to allow yourself to experience the fear and accept what the mind has to teach you about the last event. After that, you may need to practice. You could need to form a new plan. There could be a course or degree or training program you need to take. Learn from the fear the subconscious mind is creating. Once you have taken action to prevent the mistakes of the past, the fear will fade and more motivation will take its place.
Third Reason: Limiting Beliefs Can’t Stop Discourarging You
Okay, now, let’s say your subconscious mind does believe the activity is valuable, but you’ve never done it before. There is no trauma getting in the way, but yet, the fear is still too much. If you can’t stop procrastinating for this reason, then it may be time to see a hypnotherapist about limiting beliefs.
See, the subconscious mind doesn’t like the unknown. It wants to make it known. The main way it does this is by filling the unknown with things it knows from its past. It’s why people project abandonment into the meaning of someone not responding to a text message. It’s why we take silence or lack of contact as someone not liking us. And it’s why we assume failure sometimes before we even try things.
All of these are examples of the subconscious mind using its concept of self to fill in the missing information. It’s doing this to make sense of the world and determine its next course of action. The mind uses its beliefs about its abilities to determine whether or not it will try something new. If you experience difficulty finding the motivation to attempt new things, then you may have what we call limiting beliefs. These are subconscious beliefs that limit our ability to do things and take action in the world. They need to be worked through with a hypnotherapist on a deeper level.
If you found this post on why people can’t stop procrastinating to be helpful, then you may find these other posts on reframing negative self-talk, lack of motivation, and learned helplessness to be useful.
