Procrastinating Out of Anxiety 😖

If someone had explained to me what I am about to explain to you right now, my school and uni years would’ve been so much easier.

You are not procrastinating because you’re lazy. You’re procrastinating because you are scared.

Say you have an exam in 10 days. You know full well that you could start studying this exact moment and straight up ace that test.

But you say: “No, it’s too early.” Excuse me, Miss Einstein? Is it below you to start studying on time?

Then you postpone it and postpone it and, before you know it, it’s the night before the exam and you are pulling an all-nighter praying for a pass.

❌ The reason why you procrastinate on starting to study is not because you actually believe you can absorb all that knowledge in one evening.

❌ It’s not even about your bad time management skills.

✔️ It’s because you are scared that, even if you start studying on time, you won’t achieve success.

🎯 You are scared that even the version of yourself that gives their best is not good enough. 🎯

⚠️ You, my love, are scared of failing. ⚠️

You feel like you don’t have control over your outcomes.

So you ensure your control by procrastinating.

Because, of course, when you procrastinate the outcome is completely predictable - it’s failure. ✅

_{(even if it might not be literally a failure on the exam per se, it’s still a failure because you are not happy with neither the outcome or yourself)}

Good news? You’re not just a lazy bum. 👍

Bad news? Your self-sabotage has a high price - a life you could’ve lived. 👎

What to do about it?

• Acknowledge it🤔

Your struggles with bad self-image are costing you so much. The first step is to be honest with yourself, not minimize your feelings and acknowledge that you have something to work on.

• Process it⚙️

Figure out what might be the reasons behind your fears. This is not to blame your problems on someone else or to give yourself a reason to play a victim. It’s to understand your mental mechanisms and behaviors better so you can change them.

Journal, talk to a friend or an understanding family member, do what allows you to process, and then let go.

• Catch yourself in the moment.🧠

Now, contrary to what it might seem, you don’t do inner work by doing some extravagant routines or going to expensive retreats _{(all of those can be fun and useful though).} 

The actual work is so simple because it means catching your bad thought patterns and changing them right then and there.🔀

So when you catch yourself procrastinating, it might be a good idea to take a minute to understand what triggered the procrastination.

Did you start scrolling on TikTok the moment you thought about the exam? Why are you avoiding to think about the exam? etc. etc.

And that, my dears, is how change happens. 🛠️

These small wins accumulate to create something amazing and a version of yourself you’re proud to look at.

Sending you love and light,

Your Glowing Bestie ❤️✨