Bart Rademaker, MD
Is procrastination just a sign that we are not doing enough to be happy What is the net result of procrastination – not completing or proceeding with something we decided we were going to complete. Many strategies and reasons have surfaced to help us with this very problem. I invite you to look at it differently. We know that our beliefs and values drive us to either avoid pain or gain pleasure. Gaining pleasure is our path to our happiness and fulfillment. Could procrastination simply be the signal that we unconsciously believe that we are not doing enough to acquire a certain thing in our life that will result in our happiness? Could it be that we procrastinate because we are investing much thought energy into wanting something that is currently out of our reach? Without having the answer to specifically acquire this, we procrastinate on all other things that we have decided we would do. Why – because we are still working on that one thing we really want and obsess about getting it. In the pursuit of happiness towards something that is seemingly unattainable now, distracts us from attaining the wants/needs in other areas of our lives. And whilst we seemingly sit around doing nothing or nothing or nothing of importance – our minds are desperately trying to find a solution to the other area of unfulfillment – mostly unconsciously. Our lives are meant to be in balance in whatever the various spheres we deem are important. Whilst a balanced life has these areas being of equal importance, we tend to make some areas (spheres) more important than the others. When we are really dissatisfied in an area that we choose to focus on – we then try to save our energy to accomplish or fulfill our needs whilst we fail to satisfy the others – so we procrastinate. We all want to be happy. It is our own responsibility to be happy. There are many different and very effective ways to obtain our happiness. If we also focused now on what is really working and celebrate this success, then perhaps this vibration will naturally carry over or affect those other areas and create more fulfillment thus absolving the procrastination effect. 