“What do you mean it doesn’t do any good to worry? All the things I worry about don’t happen!”
Do you ever get down on yourself for being a “procrastinator?” Do you find that you put off those nasty little jobs until the last minute and then end up doing the chicken-with-its-head-cut-off routine? Or maybe there’s something that you’re excited about, but you feel that old habit of procrastination sinking its claws in anyway. Today we’re going to turn procrastination on its ear and use it to our advantage. Yes, you heard me right. Today, we’re going to label procrastination as Something Good.
In general, we think of procrastination as a negative force in our lives. That can be true most of the time, but it can also work to our advantage. Imagine that you have some big event coming up, and you’re just nervous as heck about it. Maybe you have to give a speech in front of a crowd, or you have to fly despite your fear of heights. Most of the time, we obsess over these upcoming events. What if we bomb in front of an audience? What if there’s a problem with the plane? What if, what if, what if?!
Well, what if we just procrastinated on the worrying? Putting off the fear of flying or public speaking not only gives us a little emotional relief, but it also opens up more time for practicing the speech or packing for the trip. I know it sounds so easy that it must be impossible, but it really can be done!
During my undergraduate studies in Theatre Arts, I was fortunate enough to be cast in several productions. I would notice that as opening night approached, more and more of my cast mates would start to get agitated. They worried that their parents/friends/significant others would be in the audience. They worried that they would forget their lines or that they would trip on stage or that any other of a zillion things could go wrong. I worried about those things, too, to some degree (I still occasionally suffer from “the actor’s dream” where I show up at some auditorium and realize I’m supposed to be in a play but I don’t know any lines!); but when I felt it coming on, I reminded myself that there was time to freak out about all of that stuff later. Instead, I needed to focus on getting ready to perform.
The end result was usually something along the lines of remaining pretty calm about the show until approximately 30 seconds before I went on stage. Really, you didn’t want to be around me for those 30 seconds because I would probably either bite your head off or not even realize you were there. Two weeks worth of freaking out would be compacted into those 30 seconds. The half-minute before I stepped on stage was a terribly uncomfortable time in which I doubted my abilities, ran through every worse-case scenario and often considered whether or not I was about to throw up. But, then I’d step on stage and into the show and move forward with the performance.
One of the ways to figure out which worries to put off is to examine whether or not your agitation is going to be helpful. For example, maybe you have a reunion to go to, and you’re worried about how it’s going to go. In reality, there’s very little you can do to control how an entire reunion comes off, right? So, why not put off worrying about it until later? Maybe you’ve taken a test, and you’re worrying about the results. Again, worrying is going to do absolutely nothing to change the outcome of a test you’ve already taken. So, why not save up all that concern for the ten seconds it takes to open the envelope with the results?
I know, I know. This is one of those things that are easier said than done. BUT, even if you can put off your worry and concern for one day, it will decrease your stress levels and give you time to be productive in other ways. It’s worth a shot. Let’s take that big, bad negative habit of procrastinating and turn it into Something Good!