Stop Procrastination- -Now!

Never do today what you can put off for tomorrow. Better yet, never put off 'til tomorrow what you can avoid altogether!

I don't know who coined these phrases, but they must have been a depressive. The symptoms that we face, such as fatigue and hopelessness, make it so easy to say to ourselves, "I'll just put this off until tomorrow when I feel better". Before we know it, that deadline is creeping up on us and we're starting to panic. What's the best way to deal with panic? Hide your head in the sand and hope it goes away! Not really, but procrastination an easy habit to fall into and as the panic mounts, so does the depression. The more depressed we get, the more we avoid reality.

Why We Procrastinate

Why do we fall into the procrastination trap time after time? Because procrastination becomes a way--no matter how maladaptive-- of coping with the emotions and physical symptoms that accompany depression. It may bring some temporary relief, but we eventually wake up the following day and find that no brownies have dropped in overnight and done our work for us.

Which style of procrastination fits you?

Organizing thoughts and actions and keeping on track with plans is difficult. (People with ADD/ADHD may fall into this category.)
Tasks seem overwhelming so it's futile to even try.
Hostile feelings towards someone cause you to want to punish them by putting things off.
Routine and schedule causes you to feel rebellious.
You fear disapproval.
These procrastination styles can overlap in one of four themes:

Self-Doubt - These people feel there are rigid standards about how thing ought to be done and they fear they will fail. They second-guess themselves and delay taking action.

Discomfort Dodging - This person avoids activities that will cause them distress, discomfort or anxiety. Rather ironically, the act of dodging the activity doesn't make it go away so tensions mount because of this avoidance.

Guilt-Driven - The person feels guilt over tasks undone, but rather than correct the original lack of action continues to procrastinate in order to not face up to the guilt feelings.

Habitual - The person has procrastinated so many times, it becomes an ingrained response. The person no longer thinks about why they do it, they feel it's just a part of themselves. It becomes an automatic response to say, "This is too hard", "I'm too tired", or to laugh it off as a character flaw.

Once you recognize your style of procrastination, you can take steps to stop it.

Time Management Tips to Beat Procrastination

One of the most important things you an do for yourself is to get organized. Make lists, take a class in organization, or purchase an organizer. Do whatever works for you. One word of advice: follow the KISS principle (Keep it Simple, Stupid). If your organization system is too complicated, it will become just another task to avoid. Here's my own system. You are welcome to use it if it works for you.

Make a list of what needs to get done. This can be listed in no particular order and will give you a handle on just what you need to accomplish.
Prioritize these. My way of doing this is by deadlines. I arrange them in order of when they are due. You may also choose to rank them by how important it is to get them done. For example, paying your bills on time may be more important to you than cleaning out your closets. Do that first.
Get yourself a calendar with room to write notes in. I personally use a bound notebook and write in dates as I go. I make pages with dates for long-term planning and also keep a separate list that I transfer my short-term goals to.
Take what's at the top of your priority list and determine how long it will take to accomplish it. If it's a quick task, put that down to be done the current day. If it will take a longer time, divide it into smaller tasks to be spread out over several days. Write this in your calendar with specific dates for accomplishing each. Include your deadline for completion of this task on your calendar as well.
Keep filling your calendar until you have a time set aside to do each item while still meeting your deadlines. Be careful to not overbook yourself and allow plenty of time for delays. This will allow you to feel confident that you can accomplish all you need to in the time you have. Now you can relax and work on one item at a time without feeling you have to do it all at once.

Bite Off Only What You Can Chew

Ever notice how broken up large shopping malls are? Lots of twists and turns, levels, and side corridors? There's a very good reason for this. If malls were laid out straight we could see just how far we are really walking. If we actually knew how far apart stores are, we would probably leave the mall, get in our cars and drive from store to store. By having our view broken up into small chunks, we feel as if it's a smaller distance. This same psychological trick can be used to help us overcome procrastination. Break large projects up into smaller tasks. For example, doing your taxes can be broken up into: pick up necessary forms, get records organized, fill in forms, double check forms for accuracy and mail. It won't seem nearly so burdensome if you take a small bit at a time.

Just Do It!

Next time you catch yourself saying, "I can do this later", think Nike. Just do it! Push on through the feelings and do it now. The feeling you get when you finish will be so much better than any relief you get from putting it off.

Schedule Reward Time

As you go work through your tasks, you may find your mind drifting off to all the activities you'd rather be doing. You will find it much easier to concentrate on your work if you know that you have scheduled time for these activities. Tell yourself, I will work hard today accomplishing my goals because tomorrow is Saturday and I have scheduled time to go fishing. Knowing that you have finished your tasks will also make it easier to relax and enjoy your leisure time.

Anxiety Busters

Does the thought of performing a certain task fill you will anxiety? First, try this:

Inhale deeply while counting five heart beats (you may check this easily by feeling your pulse).
Exhale as you count five heart beats.
You should notice after each breath that your heart rate is actually slowing and you are feeling less tense. Now, do something, not matter how small. Just make a start. The very act of accomplishing something will ease your anxiety.

Change Your Expectations

Perfectionism and feelings that things should be a certain way, can be stumbling blocks to beating procrastination. Next time you catch yourself using language like "should" or "must", evaluate if these are only restrictions you are imposing on yourself or they backed up by the reality of the situation.

Perfectionistic thinking: "I must get an A on this paper or I'll be a total failure. There's just so much work to do. I'll wait until tomorrow when I am feeling better and can do a better job."

Reality: Not doing your work now will lead to a sloppy, rushed job just before your deadline and will leave you feeling too anxious and depressed to do a proper job.

Coping Strategy: Look at why you are procrastinating. Does the thought of failing make you feel anxious? Take deep breaths, replace your negative thoughts of failure with thoughts of your previous academic successes, and select a smaller task (such as preparing a bibliography) to begin chipping away at.

Mental Tricks to Give You Momentum

If you have several small items to do which are directly related to the project at hand, do these first. Even though you have some larger tasks left, psychologically it feels as if you have less to do when the list isn't so long. It gives you a feeling that you have accomplished something. Just remember, it must be a task that is relevant to accomplishing your goal. Raking the leaves may be a quick and easy task, but if what you really need to accomplish is a big term paper, you won't be helping yourself.

When you have accomplished a task, mark it out on your list with a pen. It gives you visual confirmation that you are getting somewhere. Again, this gives you a psychological boost. Sometimes I feel as if I'm getting nothing done, but when I look over what's marked out I see I've actually done quite a bit. I'm just constantly adding new tasks.

The Best Laid Plans...

Remember, if something can go wrong, it will. Allow yourself more than adequate time to finish each task. If you do not need all the time you've allowed, you will be able to progress ahead of schedule. This will be a psychological boost to you. At the very least, you won't be left rushed to finish.

Don't panic if you get behind schedule. If you've allowed yourself extra time each day, you will simply shift everything forward until you catch up. The key is to leave yourself room to be flexible.

What if you really don't have time to finish everything? Get creative. Request extensions on deadlines, get help from friends and relatives, delegate tasks to others, drop non-essential items from your schedule (the world won't end if you can't redecorate before your mother-in-law visits), or hire outside help. I haven't found a situation yet that couldn't be solved somehow once I let my expectations change about how it should be.

De-fusing Anger with yoga

Anger comes in several forms, including outrage, frustration, jealousy, resentment, fury, and hatred. It also masquerades as judgment, criticism, and even boredom. Like all emotions, it is a complex, ever-shifting state involving thoughts, feelings, and bodily changes.

Yogis understand anger as an energy existing, like all emotions, halfway between a physical and mental experience. Like heat or other energies, anger wanes naturally, if we don't hold it back with psychological defenses—say, denying or repressing it: "Anger tends to arise in a very visceral wave. It arises, crests, and then passes away."

In yogic theory, asanas, pranayama, and meditation comprise a comprehensive toolkit for freeing up blockages at the mental, physical, or energetic level. Yoga, particularly therapeutic forms like restorative yoga, has proven to be a valuable method of cooling hot-reactives down. Asanas may be in fact the best yogic antidote for anger "because asanas allow you to move the energy."

The fact that anger manifests differently in each person, and must be treated differently as well. Some of us get so revved up by our catecholamines that we can't think straight. In those cases, experts have found that methods such as deep breathing, moderate exercise, or walking away from a provocative situation are the best way to lower the arousal level. But for those who are milder by nature, awareness can accelerate anger's rush through, and out of, the body. Yoga helps people stay with the wave of anger all the way to the other end,

The first step at anger management is - do not resist and do not ignore the cause of anger. Experience it fully. Try and develop an attitude of an observer or a witness. Learn to change your role from being the subject to becoming a bystander. See how the anger is operating. See what it is doing to your mind and how. When faced by an anger causing action, immediately get into the mode of exploring and rationalizing with the "whys" and "more whys".



You will start seeing some wonderful perspectives. You start appreciating that it is not necessarily the desire of the person to hurt you - getting angry is YOUR response. You realize that a person is seeing the situation from his point of view to the best of his intellectual and emotional capability - he may not be quite 'capable enough' to appreciate your point of view. This is only natural - because individuals are built in different ways. After all, aren't you showing similar traits when you are getting angry!

Advertise Here


Yoga Asanas to overcome Anger


All postures should be performed while doing deep, quiet breathing



The Shoulder Stand (Sarvang Asana)

Benefits

Effective for Excessive anger or hate, Migraine headache, Liver disorder, hemorrhoids, Anemia, Hypertension, Indigestion.

The Shoulder stand invigorates and rejuvenates your whole body.

Description of the asana
Lie down on the floor with your legs together and your hands, push down, by your sides. inhaling, push down on your hands and raise your legs straight up above you.
Lift your hips off the floor and bring your legs up, over and beyond your head, at an angle of about45°.
Exhaling, bend your arms and support your body, holding as near the shoulders as possible, thumbs around the front of the body, fingers around the back. Push your back up, lift your legs.
Now straighten your spine and bring the legs up to a vertical position. Press your chin firmly into the base of your throat. Breathe slowly and deeply in the pose, gradually trying to work your elbows closer together and your hands further down your back toward the shoulders, so as to straighten your torso. Keep your feet relaxed.

Caution


Shoulder stands should not be attempted without a qualified teacher.

Any one suffering from breathing difficulties or pain in the upper spine should not attempt these postures.



The Half Bow (Ardha Dhanurasana)

Benefits

Half bow energizes and strengthens the entire body, and especially builds core body strength. Half bow stimulates the kidneys, adrenals and reproductive system.

Description of the asana
Lie on your belly, with the legs together or a few inches apart. Bring the chin to the floor and slide the right arm along the floor, over your head with the palm facing down.
Bend the left knee and reach the left hand back to hold onto the left heel or ankle.
Inhale and kick the left foot into the arm to lift the left leg, head and chest off of the floor. Keep the neck in line with the spine, looking down at the floor. Lift the right arm off of the floor, keeping it parallel to the floor.
Breathe and hold for 2-6 breaths.
To release: slowly exhale and lower the leg, arm, head and chest down to the floor.
Repeat on other side.
Avoid: Recent or chronic injury to the legs, hips, neck or arms; pregnancy, recent abdominal surgery.




Hidden Lotus Pose (Gupta Padmasana)

Benefits

This asana corrects postural defects of the spine. It may be used as a relaxation or even a meditation pose as it induces peace, stability and emotional balance.

Description of the asana
Sit in Padmasana. Place the hands on the floor in front of the knees. Leaning on the arms, raise the buttocks and stand on the knees. Slowly lower the front side of the body to the floor in the prone position. Rest either the chin or one cheek on the floor.
Place the palms together behind the back. The fingers may point downward, or upward in Universal Spirit. If possible, touch the back of the head with the middle fingers. Close the eyes and relax the whole body.
Return to the starting position, cross the legs the other way and repeat the asana.
Hold the position for as long as is comfortable. For complete relaxation, the hands may rest on the floor beside the body with the palms upward.

Note: The Sanskrit word Gupta means 'Hidden'. In this asana the feet are hidden under


Advertise Here

The Corpse Pose (Shava-asana)

Benefits


The goal of the shava-asana is for the body and mind to be perfectly still and relaxed. Not only should the body be motionless and at ease, but the mind as well should be quiet, like the surface of a still lake. The result will be a deep and stable relaxation that will extend into your meditation or be felt through the activities of your daily circumstances. If find yourself getting drowsy while in the shava-asana increase the rate and depth of your breathing.

Description of the asana
Lie flat on your back with your legs together but not touching, and your arms close to the body with the palms facing up.
Keep your eyes gently closed with the facial muscles relaxed and breath deeply and slowly through the nostrils.
Starting at the top of the head and working your way down to the feet, bring your attention to each part of your body, consciously relaxing it before proceeding on to the next.
Remain in the shava-asana for between 3 and 5 minutes or longer. If you become sleepy while in the shava-asana begin to breath a bit faster and deeper.



"Antar mouna" meditation

Developing this observer attitude is NOT difficult. Yoga also has some very powerful tools in the form of "antar mouna" meditation techniques that help you cultivate this attitude. Moreover, as you start reaping the wonderful fruits of such an attitude, such a behavioral pattern only gets reinforced.

Over time, with such an attitude, you will see that not only do you get angry less often, but also each brush with an unpleasant situation provides a remarkable opportunity to know your subconscious mind in a better way. Every such insight brings you one step closer to the supreme goal - that is, Enlightenment (perpetual Bliss)

Antar mouna is the technique of inner silence, also known as witnessing. It is divided into six main stages which can be divided into three basic categories. The first two categories are passive, where we sit and observe our mind and our process of evolution, of change in our inner nature, without engagement. We simply observe that tendency to suppress things and to grab onto things and to lose ourselves within our mental process. We do not try to change anything. We simply develop what is called a sense of self. A sense of self is very grounding and calming. We feel a greater sense of safety and trust the more we develop it. So the first stages of antar mouna are simply passive, learning to witness outside sounds or sensations, learning to witness thoughts without getting engaged in suppression of thoughts or involvement in the process. These are the two main states, grabbing onto a thought and pushing it away. Of course, the awareness is the antidote to ignorance.

Once we have that capacity, we go into the next two stages. These are active, to develop mental muscle, like doing mental push-ups. We consciously try to grab onto a thought, to exaggerate the process of grabbing. Then we consciously let it go. One stage is to create a thought, grab it and then throw it away, and the other state is to grab a spontaneous thought as it comes up and then throw it away. So we are developing this internal capacity to deal with our thoughts, feelings, emotions and inner states with greater clarity. In the third category, which is divided into two groups, we throw out any thought that comes into our mind, until we achieve shoonya or emptiness, a luminous emptiness. It is not a dark, tamasic emptiness; it is an emptiness which is full of peace and love.

Antar mouna is one of the most important techniques that we can learn in order to maintain the path, in order to maintain an awareness of duality and polarity, and to be able to hold the negative as well as the positive experiences.