Is it possible that by working on the things we resist and procrastinate over in our outer world, that we can affect our inner world? A bit like energetic surgery, in reverse. And from my experience, I would most definitely say that “yes” – “yes, it is.”
There are some jobs that I love to do and will do first, and others that I will procrastinate over. And then there are some that feel so uninviting that I don’t get around to doing them at all. Cleaning shelves is one example. There’s something about having to take everything off a shelf, dust it and then replace it, that simply makes me want to just give up. But I know there are people that love the whole process of dusting.
What this then leads me to understand is that the things that each of us procrastinate over are specific to us. And therein lies a jewel. If the things that each of us resist are different, then the origin of those things must be coming from within us. We are each therefore the creator of the things that we either procrastinate over or resist completely. Hence we can trace everything that exists in our outer world to an energetic starting point in our ‘inner world’ –– our inner world being the energetic starting point within our bodies.
Tackling my almost pathological avoidance of technology is a great example of how, by addressing something in my peripheral world, I was able to simultaneously work on my inner world. What I discovered was that the energetic starting point for my resistance to technology was my investment in identity. I was heavily invested in being seen as a rather quirky woman, who was going against the grain by not being on social media or having a phone that did much more than texting or calling people. By addressing my resistance to technology, I unearthed my investment in identity and lanced a boil that had been festering for years.
But there’s more. Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow.
As my awareness around this topic has grown, so has my determination to explore the effects of committing to doing the things that are way down on my invisible to-do list. In the beginning, tackling the jobs, chores and issues that I was avoiding was as palatable as swallowing a mouthful of gristle.
However, I have been able to apply myself consistently enough that there is a part of me now that actively embraces tackling the things that make me falter. What motivates me is the fact that I can feel how when I get stuck on something in my external environment, it is reflecting an inner stagnation: one whose rot sits within me, whether the job is on my invisible to-do list or not. The things that ‘dropped off’ the bottom of my to-do list, because I never got around to doing them, never really disappeared. They continue to sit deep within my body, like a fungus, until such time that I eventually get around to dealing with them.
What I can feel on a very physical level is that when I finally get around to tackling something that I have been procrastinating over, this then opens up an incredible sense of space and freedom in my body. It’s then that I realise just how energetically congested I have been, even though I haven’t been consciously aware of it. So now, everything that I am resisting gets flagged, and to the best of my ability I work through the steps that are needed to complete the task.
Last weekend I went to the hardware shop and bought a washer for my laundry tap (fixing my dripping laundry tap is something that I have been procrastinating over for months). A wonderful shop assistant took ages showing me how to change a washer, and the next steps are for me to learn where to turn the water off from, and to then to go down to the garage and find the tools that I need. By completing another job that I have got stuck on, I will free up even more space in my body. But space is not empty: on the contrary, it’s crammed full of communication – communication from the Universe. Universal Communication knows no bounds and carries with it the answers to every problem that man is currently facing and indeed will ever face.
By working on our internal energetic congestion, we open the valves that allow Universal Communication to flow freely through us. And it is by restoring the flow of Universal Communication that we will begin to restore true harmony on Earth.
By Alexis Stewart, A woman who has remembered that she made a commitment a long time ago to serve God and is now dedicated to fulfilling that commitment.
Related Reading:
The problem with procrastination
Procrastination with food: just a small snack first … ?
Science is beauty
Words on Serge Benhayon 
What a concept we can live in as an individual when we are attached to life, as all sorts of ideals and beliefs come into our way of living and create a picture of how it could be. When we align to our Inner-most-heart, Essences/Souls this connection eliminates the individuality that procrastination brings and opens the door to the path of universal evolution.
I love what you have written Alexis
“But space is not empty: on the contrary, it’s crammed full of communication – communication from the Universe. Universal Communication knows no bounds and carries with it the answers to every problem that man is currently facing and indeed will ever face.”
If this is true and like you I believe it is a universal fact then why are we purposefully ignoring, what we cannot stop being in communication with? It doesn’t make any sense to me.
It takes a considerable amount of effort to drown out a megaphone when it’s blasting in your ear hole but we manage it with mastery!
“By working on our internal energetic congestion, we open the valves that allow Universal Communication to flow freely through us. And it is by restoring the flow of Universal Communication that we will begin to restore true harmony on Earth.” This reminds me of the saying ‘Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves’. Completing the little things that hold us back offers space to appreciate the wider magnificence we are offered.
Letting go of physicality so we are aware of our essences or Soul (one and the same) is worth the forthrightness to deliver us from the illusionary way we live, so we get on with life like an open book always energetically prepared to turn the next page and evolve.
If there’s something around us that we procrastinate on, there is a blockage within us. I have experienced this as if I address one side, the other will also shift.
Is not parasite-ittis like procrastination? as the Soul will deepen our awareness and deepen our purpose in life elimination the parasites and procrastination.
Alexis I love the topics of conversations you bring to humanity, this one about procrastination is a beauty. As I stopped and felt into a situation recently, where I had to deal with an energy coming through a person, and to be honest I only want to see the physicality of any person, I do not want to feel or deal with the energies coming through them. The energy coming through this person was so furious I could not pretend that it wasn’t there, and I knew they were not themselves in that moment but a mouth piece for something else. I have to be honest to say my personal procrastination is that I do not want to read that energy, I don’t want to admit that everything is energy and there is a part of me that wants to believe that we are all decent human-beings, and we are, but what we do not take into account because we are not educated to understand is that the human-being is an empty vessel and what fills it is either negative energy or positive energy, that’s it. To admit to this other energy is to admit that there is more to life than what we can see on the surface, just below the surface is a whole different game being played and humanity is being played with literally, and on some level we know that there is another energy but we currently don’t want to admit it is there and that we are the ones being played with.
We put up all of our sails to maximise our purpose, then, chose to deploy our sea anchor. Eventually, we forget our self-delaying tactic and blame everything except our self for the procrastination.
Is this not like slow suicide as we end up dashed upon the rocks of despair with gapping-holes in our sails? Until we set sail with our sole in-tent to be in calm waters of our lived consciousness as Soul-full vessels.
Love it .. working on our internal energetic congestion will of course definitely affect our outer world. I procrastinate a lot over writing assignments and other things which is crazy because I know if I am on point with all of this I will feel even more amazing and energetically clearer than I do now …. so in writing this comment what I can see for me is that when I procrastinate it is actually a way of self sabotaging me feeling even more amazing! Mmmmm better change this then ✨
Alexis, I love your blog, it brings it all home to me.
Lately I have been on it! doing what needs to be done, speaking when needed to and acting when required and it feels pretty awesome.
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!
Could it be when we are invested in an identity that we are judging others as being something different, and when we understand our essences are all the same we start to appreciate the Truth of who we all innately are and thus start to evolve?
‘It’s then that I realise just how energetically congested I have been, even though I haven’t been consciously aware of it.’ A great reminder to get on with things that need attention.
“What I can feel on a very physical level is that when I finally get around to tackling something that I have been procrastinating over, this then opens up an incredible sense of space and freedom in my body.” I am already feeling lighter just feeling how it will feel once I completed this big qualification I am procrastinating over!
I can definitely relate to feeling that my outer world and inner world are connected. Because when there’s a shift in one there’s a shift in the other as well.
Thank a so much Alexis for all you have shared here, exactly what I needed to read today. I have an invisible list of things that I, for no logical reason, baulk at doing, and the more I put it off the more it seems to drive a edge between me and it by me adding layers of recrimination, confusion, pressure, and frustration! It’s also so supportive to read of the internal energetic element within us that the things we procrastinate on might symbolise. The blog and comments have been very inspiring, lots to look at here and with a fresh and more playful approach now for my list of things to sort out.
Choosing to visit the hardware shop to buy a washer for the tap you connected with the shop assistant and lightened their day as well as stopping the drip of procrastination exposed by the tap.
Mary it was the shop assistant that lightened my day with the deep care that he took in showing me how to change a washer.
I so agree with your point about tackling something we’ve been procrastinating over and how it frees us space in the body. This week I tackled and sorted lots of papers that had been piling up in my home office area. It didn’t take as long as I’d expected and now looks and feels more spacious. A greater feeling of expansion in my body too.
In order not to feel my delay I will always over eat when in procrastination, adding a double negative.
Yep LE, I know that one well.
In my mind, I wouldn’t say I am a procrastinator – if there is a job to be done, I just get on with it & do it. But procrastination can come in various ways, for example, if I have an idea of something I’d want to do, I may take weeks, months, years to get around to it. This is not because I don’t know how to do it, but because of insecurity. I doubt whether my idea is good enough, whether it would really be of benefit & whether it would work, whether I’m strong enough to do it and so on and so on. All of that leads to procrastinating and not acting in the moment the opportunity arises.
I would say that busting my long term habit of procrastination has been one of the most significant advances in my life. It has freed up all areas of my life, I now feel like there is a forward momentum that has replaced a stagnant or at best intermittent flow. In fact I now feel like I am chomping at the bit for new challenges that involve learning new things and as far as my relationship with computers goes, it has gone from one of mistrust, annoyance and avoidance to one of delight and appreciation. Bring it on I say, bring it on.
I so agree with your point that after a delay – when I finally get around to something ( that may not even take very long to accomplish ) the feeling of space is amazing.
“But there’s more. Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow.” Oh wow I love this expose – dealing with things as they come up is so very refreshing.
LE I have been working on procrastination now with a certain dedication and have got to the point that not only am I ‘dealing with things as they come up’ but I am dealing with things before they come up, which feels nothing short of incredible. I am flagging things in advance that I would have previously procrastinated over and I am choosing to investigate, explore and deal with them before there is any kind of issue around them.
Wow that’s amazing Alexis. I too am becoming more aware of things before they happen and am learning to take appropriate action.
I came back to this blog because I was caught by the words
“Hence we can trace everything that exists in our outer world to an energetic starting point in our ‘inner world’ –– our inner world being the energetic starting point within our bodies.”
So if we could trace all illness and disease back to the energetic starting point how would this change the way we interacted with ourselves and life?
And how much that would affect our current medical model?! Getting to the energetic root cause, rather than fixing symptoms. The future of medicine?
Procrastination is just like a leaking tap! We can put things off for as long as we like, let’s be honest we are completely in control of when and how we do things. So do we want to be a leaky tap or do we want a smooth and efficient flow to our life?
Lucy I can’t help but wonder if we are “completely in control of when and how we do things”. I know that our choices are governed by our preceding choices, therefore if I have procrastinated my entire life over pretty much everything in my life then choosing to simply stand up and get on with things is not going to be an option. Saying that, I agree that we can choose differently but certainly in my experience I have had to choose my way out of where I was at, one loving choice at a time.
Absolutely Alexis, we have an opportunity in every moment to choose to be the change we want to see in our lives. We can be on the front foot, in the driving seat if you like, or a passenger in our own lives. It is always a choice regardless of how long we have made those choices for.
Great analogy Lucy. Best to sort a leaking tap as soon as you become aware of it or as consequences aren’t good if you leave the water ( energy) to leak away ….. .
Ha ha no not at all. Leaking water has been a bit of a reflection in my life and each time I knew what was happening long before I did anything about it and then had a massive mess to clear up. Each time I look back and wonder why I pretended not to notice. Goodness, I wonder how many other areas this simple reflection is talking about!
Alexis this is a great read which has motivated me to tackle excel spreadsheets I have avoided learning how to use them when in fact they would come in handy. That belief that we have that you cannot teach an ‘old dog new tricks’ is something I have taken on board and used as an excuse without checking out if in reality it is true.
Mary in my experience I have found that old dogs are actually very good at learning new tricks.
With just this alone there is a lot for us to ponder on ‘Hence we can trace everything that exists in our outer world to an energetic starting point in our ‘inner world’ –– our inner world being the energetic starting point within our bodies.’
It is interesting in itself really why we would not like some tasks over others after all they all should be the same right assuming that they are not physically dangerous or painful or uncomfortable? – why any difference as they all pretty much the same movements of our body and roughly the same expediture of energy (give or take depending on the level of manual or physical work involved). So it must be our perception of them and what these tasks represent or reflect to us about life that must be different and therein lies the lesson to be learnt from every task that we avoid or do not like doing.
Great point Andrew. Our perception of things to do and events colours everything in life. Yet, as you say, we are just moving our bodies in one way or another. I recently discovered that I actually enjoy cleaning toilets! Something that years ago I detested doing….
I would now go as far as saying that procrastination is a form of illness, or certainly an illness producing behaviour. I can feel the impact of it instantly, like a heaviness or lag that weighs down and hampers the flow.
Yes and it also feels like a pressure cooker to me as the more I put something off that my intuition has told me is ready to happen, the more the tension builds….
This is so true, when I procrastinate and avoid doing something or saying something I always end up feeling like I’ve swallowed a balloon. My cheeks puff up, I start to look like I may be having a baby within a few month etc. I also see a relationship with the food I choose to eat, usually food that slows me down, makes me feel lethargic.
Procrastination is a way to delay but whatever we procrastinate on will need to be dealt with somehow sometime. When we leave things till later it often means we are letting something else come in to complicate that particular situation so there is more to deal with when we actually do get round to it.
When we procrastinate and put off completing something because we have run out of time, when will you have more time later? Time cannot be; saved, made up, slowed down or postponed. Time moves relentlessly and doesn’t stop, because we choose to challenge it.
There have been so many times that I’ve used the excuse that I don’t have enough time to do something and yet when I do have the time to do that thing, I still don’t get round to doing it. Which exposes the fact that it actually has nothing to do with time and everything to do with inertia.
Yes the complication is just adding more to the job to be completed. For some reason the perennial procrastinators (of which I have been a master) have taken on the “if I don’t see it it doesn’t exist’ approach. The trouble with that is what was a little bump turns into a mound and then, potentially, a volcano.
I’ve got a few things I need to complete. I know they need to be done but I also feel what’s there for me to sit through, feel and the hurts to let go of. This can be a standing up to energy that seeks to undermine, or writing a report that I feel will be criticised. All are invaluable opportunities to connect to a strength within and realise love cannot be rocked.
Absoulutely Karin, when we are connected to our Essences, Inner-most-hearts / Souls this is the rock that is within that can-not be budged.
If we know that procrastination serves us not, then why is it that we continue to do it? Same as with foods that we know do not suit us, why do we continue to eat them? Or indulge in behaviours that we know serve us not – and yet we continue to use them…
There is more to the picture that just knowing that something does not serve us. We must look at what it is that we are getting or what we are avoiding more specifically when we choose those behaviours that we know do not serve. In many ways we are avoiding responsibility and our own empowerment. Could it be this that we are afraid of?
Procrastination can weigh us down, whilst activation energizes us: “What I can feel on a very physical level is that when I finally get around to tackling something that I have been procrastinating over, this then opens up an incredible sense of space and freedom in my body.”
You have a great content here. This one really hits me “Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow.” I really agree on this, once we are able to take control of our inner congestion and was able to frees it up everything will change. We can clearly see the changes externally, the flow and harmony the within our life. I wrote some content on how we can manage and overcome procrastination you can check it in my blog.
There is something about the rollercoaster ride of procrastination that I enjoy on a subconscious level. Like I take pride in the fact that I can do whatever I want for so long then cram it all in last minute to tick the boxes.
There is a constantness to the soul and so anything that is up and down, back and forth or stop and start is identification for the spirit. Having said that the spirit loves the constantness of those of us that constantly procrastinate, constantly moan, constantly bicker, constantly try hard, constantly achieve high, constantly put others first. And so I suppose the question that arises with constantness is ‘what is it that we are doing constantly?” If we’re constantly listening to our bodies, if we’re constantly applying self-care, if we’re constantly going deeper within ourselves then these are qualities that the soul relishes.
“Is it possible that by working on the things we resist and procrastinate over in our outer world, that we can affect our inner world?” Absolutely yes to this, as it is something I have felt on numerous occasions when my procrastination has taken centre stage in my life. Only putting something off for a day starts to build a tension in my body and this tension grows and grows, uncomfortably so, until I make the choice to address and complete it. The crazy thing is, it is usually so easy to do, that it has me wondering why I put it off so long in the first place, especially as the space consequently created in my body feels amazing.
Procrastination is exhausting and debilitating. I have realised it takes a lot of effort to not do stuff that needs doing because there is a constant tension about it. And it is not about constant drive because of course we know that in fact we are never going to be in a place that everything is done. We can however be honest with ourselves about the times when we duck or blind side things that need doing (procrastination) and that it does create tension.
Thank you Matilda – this tension from procrastination is palpable indeed and feels like a weight on the body which does lead to a feeling of exhaustion. You have spelled out that it takes MORE energy to NOT do certain things that need to be done, than the energy required to do what needs to be done! How funny is this and SO true!
So true, it is exhausting because we are not being honest about what is there to be done. If we bring honesty then we can discern if there is more to do or, potentially, simply release it for another time.
So true – it is exhausting to not do things. Sometimes I have tried to complete certain tasks and it’s like dragging myself though mud. At another time when I feel impulsed to clear the decks and I do get round to tackling them it’s amazing how quickly they can be completed. And the feeling after that is great!
‘Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow.’ Reading this one sentence this morning, I can feel the truth of your words, Alexis, how comfortable I have become with certain inner blockages and how the feeling of these being unblocked is uncomfortable almost to the point of being terrifying. My heart has started racing and a slight shiver runs through my body. How telling!! And since I’m being totally honest, I might as well admit that I have been avoiding your blog and commenting on it as when I read it for the first time, I didn’t care much for the feeling it was stirring deep within, like waking the big white elephant in the middle of the room that I have been tiptoeing around for years. I know I will thank you for writing this blog eventually, but at the moment I can’t see past the white out that has filled the room 🙂
I have found that procrastination is like the feeling I get when I ‘take time off”, (which is different from true rest) I can feel dull and demotivated. Being ‘on it’ brings a vitality.
For me there is a difference between the feeling of taking time off and procrastination and that is the fact that when I am procrastinating I have whatever it is that I am procrastinating over constantly flashing silently out of the corner of my eye. Very annoying but interestingly not annoying enough that I am always impulsed to do something about it.
So true!! I hadn’t really clocked that but when I rest after I have completed whatever needs to be completed, the rest is deeper and my body is more at ease. If I take time off there is an ache of guilt at the abdication of responsibility. True honesty is needed to allow the body to rest when needed and then embrace work to build our commitment to life.
“Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow” – absolutely. And brilliant that you saw an identification in this pattern as well. I find it interesting how we often behave as if we have no idea about or no affinity with certain things in life and refuse to get on, and that attitude comes with such stubbornness and we even refuse to learn about it as if we are supposed to know it with no effort and even asking is too much of an effort. But the thing is we do know, in truth, and we keep appealing the opposite. And the way we appeal pretty much gives away that we do know it through and through.
Exactly Fumiyo you couldn’t possibly avoid something with the accuracy that we humans avoid the truth unless of course you knew exactly where and what it was in the first place.
Absolutely Alexis what you have written is so true
‘you couldn’t possibly avoid something with the accuracy that we humans avoid the truth unless of course you knew exactly where and what it was in the first place.’
We do know so there must be a part of us that gets off on being individual and we chose this over the return to our soul. I cannot say I don’t know, I have to say I’m Ig-noring what I know to be true.
Agreed Mary. The Gods that we all already are, are choosing to pretend not to be Gods because nothing can not know who it is, it can only pretend to not know. And as I sit here I wonder why on earth I continue to not know IN FULL the glory of who I am and no ‘body felt’ answer comes to me because the same part of me that prevents me from knowing the truth of who I am in full, also prevents me from knowing why…….
‘What I can feel on a very physical level is that when I finally get around to tackling something that I have been procrastinating over, this then opens up an incredible sense of space and freedom in my body’, I can feel when I do procrastinate how tense my body can be – showing me that procrastinating is not our natural way.
I can feel with procrastination that for me there can be a real stubbornness around some things, and a refusal to go there until I absolutely have to, I can feel how draining this can be.
It is interesting that the energy we put into not doing anything far exceeds the time to do it in the first place.
Alexis, I love to read this article over and over and every time it supports me. I am becoming more aware of tackling jobs that I avoid and can feel that this is an ongoing work in progress – I feel lighter and more empowered as a result so its definitely worth working on.
Rebecca I feel the same. I’m in a new job at the moment and if I was still procrastinating the way that I used to it would be overwhelming. But armed with the ability to keep my body open to new things and to embrace them as they come up, I feel exhilarated in my new role. To be honest the only reason why I’m able to have a go at managing is because I’ve worked through my habit of procrastinating because prior to that I chose not to manage because I thought that there was too much about it that was too hard. Movement leads to movement, I have unstuck myself.
Fabulous comment Alexis…….we are constantly offered more and yet often turn it down for fear of how hard it could be and yet there is a part of us that is knowing of how much a blessing this “hardship” could be for us and everyone else. I love how you have unstuck yourself. Procrastination is a killer when it comes to moving forward and stepping up. ‘armed with the ability to keep my body open to new things and to embrace them as they come up, I feel exhilarated in my new role.’ Very inspiring. I have been dancing with procrastination for a long time and gradually the hold I have allowed it to have over me is lessening and I feel that sense of spaciousness and freedom, autonomy and authority and the joy of ever increasing responsibility.
“I have been dancing with procrastination for a long time”. It’s an energetic dance of death.
Exactly Alexis. An energetic dance of death that leaves us a shell of a human being for all and sundry to move in and set up camp.
I too love returning to this article and each time I am reminded of something I have been putting off, and how easy it will actually be if I say yes to it. And on the flip side, if I keep on saying no, not yet, then tension builds and my body suffers; not a wise and self-loving choice to make in any shape or form.
Every situation is different and sometimes it is a simple matter of letting go as it would no longer serve our evolution.
Greg your comment made me ponder on whether it ever serves our evolution to hold on and I came to the conclusion that no, it doesn’t.
Embracing life is a key that provides situations for our advancement or evolution and what at one time would have served our evolution will no longer do so as we have evolved past that point and this can clearly be felt. And this clearly removes any tension that has built, and also if we are in an evolving cycle we make the self-loving choice at the outset and this deepens our awareness in our bodies as we have evolved. As life surly is all about our evolution.
As above so is it below and within, we can either return and live our true divine nature to our every last particle or delay and procrastinate and rot within.
Jenny, the rot you speak of is the part of us that is putrid, we have to clean the putridness to expose the unaffected flesh underneath and then keep clean and nurture the flesh until the poison has cleared from the body, if there is a small part of the poison left hidden it will putrefy the body again. For example certain forms of Religion leave putrid tendrils in our bodies and if even a small part is left un dealt with it grows and poisons the body again. Humanity has been totally misled by the word religion, it lost its true meaning centuries ago.
Procrastination is a killer. And even in the most apparently mundane incidences when I avoid something that is there to be done, I can feel the harm of it. On the other hand when I am simply prepared and up for whatever is needed I experience so much inspiration and learning.
Simply getting on with it, saves a lot of energy and feels purposeful.
It also feels very satisfying!
and is a natural stepping stone to the next level of expansion.
On re-reading this blog ( and your comment) I plan to do the same – to learn from every situation. What could be more cool than that?
There is not a single moment in our lives when we are not offered the potential to use something about that moment to evolve. Evolution is on offer constantly, there are no ‘off’ moments. We are the ones that choose to flick the evolution switch to either ‘off’ mode or ‘sleep’ but as far as evolution goes it is always ‘on’.
“What I can feel on a very physical level is that when I finally get around to tackling something that I have been procrastinating over, this then opens up an incredible sense of space and freedom in my body” So true and often those jobs don’t actually take up much time to complete at all!
I had lived most of this lifetime with procrastination as my normal state of being. I set myself up for a life filled with tension and anxiety. It kept me thin but at what cost to my body and the people around me. It is like you have said Sue when we stop procrastination, we create space.
Procrastination is like a delay, an avoidance of stepping up into who we are.
You have beautifully highlighted how it is our relationship with the outer world that creates our individual “issues”.
What’s ironic is that we are all weighed down by our ‘individual issues’ when the truth of the matter is, there is no such thing as an ‘individual’. We have created the concept of individualism by bunching together a section of the whole but the whole is exactly that, it is the whole and it can never ever be portioned off.
I too have found inspiration from the blog… when I have that feeling of putting things off, your blog comes to mind and I find my response to be more immediate with things.
Rachel appreciate yourself for actioning the blog.
And often when we make those steps to self responsibility we are greeted by the magic of God as if to say welcome back. Today this happened to me with rainbows in my bedroom and my friend having a perfect heart shape appear in the bottom of her coffee mug.
I agree with you Gill, the feeling of space in the body is undeniable.
And as space is full to the brim with God then feeling more space in the body is nothing short of Divine!
You make it abundantly clear that procrastination is but a symptom of something much deeper going on which in turn is proof of the fact that everything is energy before it is matter, i.e rather than it being just a tap that is still leaking it might be about lack of self worth, needing to be the expert, an investment in recognition on account of whatever and so on. This makes attending to what is needed when it is needed great therapy.
Great blog to come back to as we are forever learning about how our life is an expression of us from within and so working with it in a matter of fact way allows us to understand more about our choices within. No waiting for it all to be ok first, let’s do it and then work through what we find.
Since reading this blog my attitude to what I procrastinate about has changed – now I’m intrigued, What can I learn and heal? It’s a lovely opportunity to live more fully and not just skim along the surface of life.
Yes, being open to learn what every situation presents to us – for our own ( and thus for everyone’s) evolution.
We are everybody else because the absolute truth of the matter and indeed matter itself is that there is only the one collective whole. Therefore when we evolve, that evolution bleeds into the whole and equally when we procrastinate, that procrastination gets taken into everybody else that is part of the one united whole.
Very cool Gill, very cool indeed.
I am learning to, and loving, facing up to procrastination; calling it for what it is and breaking through long held habits to let it be a thing of the past.
Brilliant.
Getting up those few minutes earlier and allowing more space in the day allows me to not delay (and put things off because of time pressure). I find that I get done what needs to be done without that strive, pressure and push, which is what I am ultimately putting off. It’s not the job that I don’t want to do, but the feeling that goes with it when under pressure.
I like this. No hesitation in starting with no expectation or timeline about when it has to be done.
I have let procrastination have such a hold on me. Putting off even the slightest thing weighs me down and builds weight the longer I avoid. It is not about going into drive and constantly doing stuff but being super honest with myself about when I am skirting things. I love the feeling of being open to what is needed in each moment and simply getting on with it.
Maths. At the moment there is something in me that just locks up and wants to flip the table to avoid maths. But there’s a part of me that keeps saying “Let’s look at maths again” because the energy in my body needs to come out.
Quite often I find the procrastination isn’t even to do with the thing that’s being put off, but about what comes after the completion of it.
So you mean we are avoiding what will be on offer after we complete the thing we think we are procrastinating over? Super interesting.
Now that is interesting and opens the doors wide for further contemplation –are we anxious about what is next, do we entertain a need for a reprieve, do we want recognition, do we not feel enough?
It feels great to focus and sort out the things that have to be done anyway. So, different than putting things off.
The more we address our procrastination, the easier it becomes to complete things. Even large projects can have daily completion.
I agree Steve, it’s a bit like oiling an old gear stick, initially the movements are slow, awkward and clunky but eventually the gear stick starts to move much more freely until eventually it simply glides through all of the gears and settles in 5th.
The feeling of being able to respond however is required at any time without any resistance, delay or control is true surrender and comes fom letting go and committing to just saying yes.
Its great nights sleep having closed all that was required and provides numerous opportunities to wake up without having a to-do list.
Brilliant!
The physical feeling of openness when we get something done that we have been procrastinating about gives us a vast space inside and movement flows through the body so effortlessly. It makes well worth getting things sorted to relieve the stagnation.
It does and it inspires me to keep going there and addressing the stuck bits. I have an experience now of how it feels to clear the blockage compared to how it feels being blocked.
‘I have been able to apply myself consistently enough that there is a part of me now that actively embraces tackling the things that make me falter.’ Ah, this is gold. The consistently enough I can relate to exercising – at first I hated the consistency of doing an exercise programme – like I exercise but not in this way. Now I’ve gotten into the rhythm of it and am enjoying how it feels it’s no longer a chore.
By the time I get to procrastinating about some task or other, it is clear that there is some tension, conflict or reaction in life that I have failed to deal with.
“Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow.” So relevant for me to read this today as yesterday I completed a few tasks that had been hanging around for a while. They didn’t take very long to do, but making the decision to tackle them and feeling the spaciousness and difference in my body afterwards was amazing.
Procrastination is a short term fix…like all other short term fixes…coffee, cigarettes, sugar, heavy or too much food, any form of distraction whether it be tv sport, a hobby, texting or going on social media if there is no true purpose. All these activities come with consequences. It is worth getting honest about how we feel as a consequence …what these activities have led us to do/be….and why we chose them in the first place…..not to dwell on or get lost in this but to allow ourselves a choice to be more kind to ourselves in a truly loving way.
Spot on Ariana – it is so uncomfortable a process to procrastinate and it affects us in all other areas too…And yet we are experts at it – how crazy is that?
Procrastination only slows us down, weighs us down and makes everything else feel harder to do – and yet we are experts at this so there must be something we get out of it in order to continue with such behavior!
All behaviour ‘slows us down’. They all distort our ability to connect to who we naturally are. Our soul doesn’t have any behaviours, not one.
Alexis, this is so true that when we finally undertake doing something we had meant to do ages ago, it is a very freeing feeling indeed!
If everything is energy, what happens to everything around us if we hold back? It affects the flow around us and causes eddy currents to form that go nowhere.
Procrastination allows us to indulge in our own dilemmas.
Absolutely Gill … which shows how much these jobs have been holding us back and creating tension within us – simply do the job at hand and we feel liberated.
The ridiculous thing is we are already liberated, it’s us that choose to walk into the jail of behaviours and pull the door shut behind us.
Procrastinating only delays our inevitable return to who we truly are.
As does 99% of the life that we actively engage in.
There is always something to learn about our behaviour, so it is fascinating to feel into why we may delay or procrastinate about a certain job needing to be done. The reason is usually so trivial, it is easier to simply get the task done.
I agree Gill, Often I find worrying about doing something I’m delaying causes more problems than actually getting on with the job. Crackers!
A great aspect in life to reflect upon and to go for it and see what happens.
It is great to get underneath why we may be putting a job off, what exactly is it, this something we would prefer not to be doing? It often brings up a feeling of inadequacy, overwhelm or lack of responsibility. Once the underlying cause has been realised, the job is easy.
We all have a sliding rule of importance based on what? Self comes to mind as a prime suspect. Would there be procrastination if self stepped aside?
If self stepped out of the way completely then there would only be God left.
A good point Steve. When we set self aside things flow more easily and I find I can accomplish more – just doing what needs to be done.
Self is the roadblock to soul.
Something that is becoming more of a focus more me of late is completion, which is the opposite of procrastination. Working on something and doing one thing at a time until complete, feels amazing. I see that I can procrastinate by getting distracted on another activity as well as leaving something that is not complete. Completion, as you said Alexis, provides more space to feel what’s next.
“By working on our internal energetic congestion, we open the valves that allow Universal Communication to flow freely through us” oh yes this is great, this is the kind of stuff we should be educated about at school!
Taking the world as it is at present, and all it needs is a reflection of Love. As we can all bring love as a living reflection and reflecting is the great form of communication and once we set that as our foundation, life becomes much simpler.
As a child growing up, all I wanted to be was like those around me, and what they were reflecting on a daily basis so imagine what a true foundation of love being reflected can share to those who are discerning enough to feel the value of Love.
It’s been my experience that procrastination is what I use to create drama and stress in my life. It never goes well when I put things off, as it only causes chaos.
Restoring the flow of Universal Medicine is a life’s work that is totally worth committing to and it is a yes from me.
It makes sense to not just say ‘I hate that job’ but ask why we might feel like that about it.
And likewise with things we love doing. What is it about them that we love.
Alexis, what I find interesting is that the things that we are avoiding dealing with in our outside world are great indicators for what we need to deal with in our inner world and so we have a clear guide for to what to work on with our own development.
Crystal clear.
To procrastinate is to live a life of stagnation.
True. Well said.
There is no doubt that when I address the inner there is no resistance in what is being asked in the outer. It can be a work in progress in some areas but never the less my movements are changing to loving ones and I am getting to complete tasks that I have put off for a very long time. It feels amazing to complete tasks and I now embrace completion rather than avoid it in my life.
Very inspiring comment Caroline, I feel like I want to tackle the tasks that I haven’t had time for. I agree it is all about the movements.
What has been very revealing for me over the years is to realise that time has never been my barrier, because when I have had the time to get on with the jobs that I’ve been putting off, I still haven’t done them.
Procrastination brings drama and complication when we can live in the simplicity of following our body’s impulses and living our truth.
The pull to procrastinate is never a natural impulse, moreover it’s an attempt to thwart one.
I have found this article to be deeply inspiring and now love to tackle jobs that I usually put off – it feels amazing.
Woohoo!
There is so much to learn in this. Going to our achilles heels as it were and learning so much about ourselves on the way.
Yes, same here for me Rebecca, I have too developed a curiosity of simply tackling what I tend to put off, and it is quite a bit of fun.
Simply getting ‘on with it’ is extremely satisfying, energy enhancing and a real feel good factor.
And the more I get on with it, the less fluff and nonsense there is in my life. It is like focus and commitment breeds all the more clarity and inspiration.
Yes, Matilda… it’s like the saying ‘success breeds success’. Getting on with it really does foster focus, clarity, commitment and inspiration, as you say. With this being the end result… and a feeling of joy to boot, it’s a wonder that we delay at all.
For many people there is an insurmountable inertia that accompanies procrastination which renders the option of ‘just getting on with it’ null and void. There is no judgement whatsoever in what I am saying, it is merely a statement of fact.
Procrastination can be like a cancer it eats away at our healthy impulses and slowly takes over our way of thinking-making us feel that it is ok to delay and indulge…..but this way of avoiding has consequences and they only hurt ourselves at the end of the day so one could call it self sabotage or self abuse even if it actually denies others evolution too.
It becomes a rut we may get stuck in, and after a while, the limited view becomes our normal.
Procrastination is just another excuse we use to waste our time and energy, and a way to delay bringing the truth of what we know.
I very much agree Alexis where we procrastinate there is learning there that is specific to us. I was sharing with someone today around my patterns around how I sleep and how I know that if I made some simple changes it will be much more than my sleep that will shift. I have known this for some time and yet here I procrastinate. There are also other areas that I am more resistive to in addressing. But as you say these are the areas that we can not only learn a great deal about ourselves, but when mastered we can be of great service to others.
What you are sharing in this article feels so simple but can have a profound effect on how we feel; ‘By completing another job that I have got stuck on, I will free up even more space in my body.’
Procrastination is like cancer that spreads to all parts of our life if it is left to grow!
What would life look like without procrastination?
It is the delay in holding back from moving and expressing from our innermost that is the most damaging, as it has already been felt just not confirmed and expanded upon.
It can feel tough to be so aware of the tension we feel, but it is a way forwards to grow and allow these moments to be felt deeply because then we can move on to the next step.
I agree Gill, feelings of tension in the body are red flags that alert us to the fact that there is something that we are reacting to. I try to stay quite ‘matter of fact about it’, as in “right I can feel tension in my body and it’s accompanied by repetitive thoughts, so this is an indication that I am not responding to the situation/person in a way that is supportive to me and my body. So how could I respond in order to reduce the level of tension that I am feeling?”. It’s interesting that often the answer is the same ‘accept/surrender’.
I recently had my car cleaned inside and out, this was something I had been procrastinating over for months, thinking that I didn’t have the time. It feels amazing to have the car clean and clear of clutter and makes me realise that it is important to make the time and space for such things and that putting them off creates unnecessary tension and stops us enjoying the spaciousness and support that is possible.
Something that I have procrastinated about lately is sorting out and clearing a room in my house. I had pictures of how hard it would be and so I have been avoiding this room. In the end – with pressure from my family – I decided to tackle it and actually it was very simple and very enjoyable to go through this process. It makes me realise that I had built a block in my head and that I had constructed pictures of how hard it would be and the huge amounts of time it would take, but actually the biggest hurdle is just getting on and doing it instead of procrastinating about it and the rest was easy. Great learning for me.
‘And it is by restoring the flow of Universal Communication that we will begin to restore true harmony on Earth.’ I had never considered procrastination in this way but it’s like putting in damns and boulders in a free flowing stream. Today I started some jobs that, as I’m doing them I’m wondering why I didn’t do them before. In some perverse way there is one which I’ve saved doing because I knew I’d enjoy the building of the shelves and being able to bring greater order to the home. But if I’d done this back along what other jobs could have been allowed in the flow subsequently. My wanting to avoid and control all we are given is there, but it’s great to notice and to do things without knowing what’ll be given next to complete.
When we are constantly putting something off, what is it that are saying? We feel ill prepared, we are too busy, we are overwhelmed, it’s not the right time to do this? All those feelings will delay us further and cement us to procrastinate even more, instead we can choose one thing to do and build on that.
One step at any one time and then building on that with another step always sounds like a wonderful idea. Beats trying to tackle everything at once and getting overwhelmed.
I find that all of the above are great excuses not to make a start. Every task is simply a chain of moments. If we pay attention to the quality we bring to each moment the task need not be onerous but one that offers an expansion and a learning.
If we could bring love into every moment then each supposed ‘chore’ or difficult task would be bathed in love and would no longer be seen as something to resist but moreover an opportunity to extend love into our environment and beyond.
This weekend is the calendar event of the year for procrastinators! The last weekend before Christmas!
Procrastination is draining and creates an underlying anxiety which is exhausting.
“Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow” this is so true, I know in my life if I let things build up that I need to do, it effects all areas of my life.
“I know in my life if I let things build up that I need to do, it effects all areas of my life”, yes because we take all that we are and all that we are not into all areas of our lives.
There is a beautiful symbiotic relationship between the outer and inner worlds. When I am feeling out of sorts the first thing I do is find something to tidy! This isn’t something I actively tell myself to do but is a natural impulse that I go to because I know how much it supports my inner relationship with myself. I cannot feel clear inside if anything in the outer is out of place.
I find it amazing how easily I can feel to do something but then go well what if… and then waste time thinking about it, asking others and then doing it whilst all the time allowing my body to get a little racy and anxious over it for no need when I could just have done it in the first place. For me the remedy is to honour, confirm and appreciate myself more and so trust myself with what I feel rather than allowing any doubt to creep in.
Beautiful, James. So often procrastination comes from feeling lack of self worth and then simply overwhelmed by what needs to get done. If we back ourselves, knowing we are given nothing we can’t handle, in full appreciation of everything we are it is much easier to rise to the occasion and simply get on with what needs to get done.
I fully agree Michelle, last night at dinner I was talking with a friend about this. If we back ourselves then we are given everything we need to do something, whereas if we bring in doubt suddenly things get complicated and what ifs come in and so we don’t do it.
In our resistance to doing what is needed we can create all manner of mountains of excuses but when we actually get the task done there is such a freedom and expansion within our bodies – the relief of our bodies not carrying around all the excuses is huge.
Yes my body definitely enjoys baggage free travel!
Procrastination is an excuse to not allow the innate wisdom within to flow.
Made me chuckle reading “In the beginning, tackling the jobs, chores and issues that I was avoiding was as palatable as swallowing a mouthful of gristle”. It certainly sometimes feels like that for me.
I find there is invariably one of two things going on for me: either there is a level of responsibility, awareness or something like that I am trying to avoid and this itself requires attention – or I am holding the task in a manner that is untrue, e.g. there is a ‘should’, a blame, an expectation or something lurking under it all. Either way I agree that when I finally choose to tackle whatever I have been procrastinating around, the feeling of internal space, freedom and expansion is huge.
If there is something external that we are procrastinating about, then it is a reflection of something internal about which we are delaying.
I’m such a pro at this I can even procrastinate the procrastination! But all jokes aside it is incredible how many excuses one can come up with to avoid something of worth.
Interesting why we do this. It really doesn’t make sense, does it? It just goes to prove that the spirit is running the show and it is deeply invested in the mess it has created. Stubborn pride is very hard to break.
I would say that the vast majority of things that we do with and to our bodies makes no sense and yet we do them anyway. What ties us into doing things to our bodies that restrict, reduce and harm them are our preceding choices. Our preceding choices are what sets up our subsequent choices, therefore the choice to just get on and do something is often not available to us.
Yep because a non negotiable part of our evolution is for our spirit to admit that it’s stuffed up big time and our spirit’s a slippery fish who’s masterful at not calling himself out.
“But space is not empty: on the contrary, it’s crammed full of communication – communication from the Universe. Universal Communication knows no bounds and carries with it the answers to every problem that man is currently facing and indeed will ever face.” This really explains why we procrastinate and let our house, car, workplace etc get full with things we don’t need because then we are busy with that instead of what we could connect to if we weren’t busy with that.
We have to continually keep putting obstacles in our own way in order to perpetually muddy the truth, otherwise we’d have to face the pretty ugly reality that the chaos that we see all around us is self created and most of us are not prepared for that.
When I am connected to my body and feel content within, I am supported to do whatever is needed. I support myself to have space in my body.
This is such a distinct experience and can not be understood unless it is felt.
Nothing can truly be understood unless it is felt.
Alexis, I have certainly noticed with tidying my house; if I let the mess build up and avoid tidying it, then this affects my inner world – I feel less clear and tenser.
Yes every choice I make in procrastination affects the whole and that includes how I am with myself inside my home.
Procrastination is like rust, if ignored it grows and creates holes.
“…when I finally get around to tackling something that I have been procrastinating over, this then opens up an incredible sense of space and freedom in my body.” I can relate to this so well. It is extraordinary how much clearer we feel when we complete something we have been putting off for a long time, and even more so when we simply get on with everything that needs to be done.
There is a sense of purpose when we do this and I have found that it really supports with energy levels. In procrastination we stagnate. In purposeful activity we energise.
It’s never about the things that are there to be done, but our relationship with evolution and what we place between ourselves and what’s to get done that creates both the distraction and delay.
“Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow.” I love how this happens so organically. The more I sort out/address things in my life that need attending to, the more clarity I feel within me, and the more efficient and committed I become. Its a wonderful feeling.
Procrastination is so dulling that it can lead to a deep stagnation if not watched and taken care of. Staying committed to learning and, the ‘what’s next’, enables completion to take place and an aliveness which follows.
We are always either taking a step away from God or a step back towards Him. Procrastination is a step away, completion is a step towards.
I love how you have phrased that, Alexis! It makes much sense.
Learning to say yes without procrastinating has allowed my life to flow. Procrastination is us just wanting to delay what is there to be done, far better to say yes and enjoy what comes next.
I love this Alison. when we say yes in the moment feeling the potential of what is to come, we can open ourselves up to what is next without pictures. Without investment in outcomes too we can observe events unfold and in the observation we learn and grow.
Energetically it’s never possible for us to say ‘no’ and so when it comes to procrastinating we are always either saying yes to contraction or yes to expansion, yes to stop or yes to go, yes to less or yes to more, yes to who we are not or yes to who we are, yes to later or yes to now, yes to individuality or yes to brotherhood, yes to comfort or yes to discomfort.
Well expressed Alexis.
With no pictures or investments it is easy to say yes.
This really makes sense to me; ‘Tackling my almost pathological avoidance of technology is a great example of how, by addressing something in my peripheral world, I was able to simultaneously work on my inner world.’ I know that when I work on things in my outer world, such as; tidying up, invoicing clients, completing projects etc.. that this allows me to feel settled in my inner world.
‘Procrastination’, reading this word I can feel how tidying up is something that I procrastinate over. My house and car can get really messy and this feels awful and unsupportive, but rather than regularly dealing with this i can allow the mess to build up until I have no choice but deal with it. It’s great to be honest and to work on this as having a tidy house would feel amazing and I know really supports me and my family.
I love it when I am on a front foot, not rushing or pushing to get things done but not resisting or avoiding either. There is a freshness and clarity I feel when I am purposeful.
Step forward, make a change and don’t delay. As I start to embrace that way of being everything in my life changes. Things happen and there are grander and grander next steps.
Procrastination really does have ramifications if we ignore something for long enough.
The more we work on our micro cosm the more it has ripple effects on the macro cosm and vice versa.
Very often the things we procrastinate over are the very things that will allow us to grow and truly evolve. This is a great clue to keep in mind if we really want to take life by its horns and live it in full.
Yes I agree Henrietta Chang…….and this reminds me of what I have learned in my swimming lessons and that is to feel absolutely connected to myself and feel very settled in my body before I start…..no taking a big breath and hoping everything is going to work out. We need a steadiness and a consistency that naturally builds itself when we start from the beginning surrendered, grounded and spacious.
Procrastination !!! Something we all have been afflicted with at some time or another as we all innately know that the outer affects the inner and it’s dealing with the inner that we try so hard to avoid.
To get on with things requires a focus and then it’s easy and then wonder what the fuss or the delay was all about in the first place.
Procrastination creates stress like an old wind-up clock spring that ties us to time!
It’s funny if I consider my responsibility- I can see how I delay things when I don’t want to call the truth of them. In effect I am just delaying my expression to others of what I know to be true.
Procrastinating and delaying is the best way to create drama.
Absolutely Anon … our spirits can run a-muck with all manner of stories as to why we are procrastinating and a great deal of complication arises in the process. Whereas completing a task leaves our spirits with nothing to run with – no excuses, no stories, no drama – the job is done and on to the next: simple!
Whatever we avoid not dealing with in the outer world, simply reflects a point that we are not living fully yet within.
The key to our true and speedy evolution lies in exposing the areas we delay or procrastinate in and beginning to bring more life and love to these areas specifically. This is true magic at work.
There are certain things I suppose we could say that each of us specifically procrastinates to do – such as perhaps the self care, being tender and delicate with ourselves, loving ourselves, valuing ourselves etc. It does not have to be a chore or a job itself that we procrastinate about, but we are masters at creating delay in these other areas and in different forms. And delay us and others it does, in ways we may never have fathomed or conceived. Fascinating to feel how each of us play a part in this, and yet it can appear so hard to break free from this.
The more instant our response the quicker our personal evolution to the next stage is.
Day to day jobs that are part of my rhythm are not a problem but because I am no master of time and space anything else thrown into the mix can cause a wobble and be set aside for a more convenient time that never arrives. Trouble is that thing is never far from my mind and will always be a niggle until it is sorted out.
Yes, it stalls what is there to be done, when everything that is needed is there in that moment to be done … and the delay then creates complications because we then need to gather what is needed. In reality, procrastination makes extra work for many – so much simpler to do what is needed at the time!
To procrastinate is to hold back the glory of God.
It takes an almighty and persistent strength to hold back God’s glory but we manage it lifetime after repetitive lifetime.
your post relates to quite a number of things that have happened in my life. I’m inspired
I feel so much more energised when I just get on with it that it really does feel like an internal detox when I stop delaying and hanging onto things.
Yes, we can clear away so much when we focus and just get on with it, life can be so simple.
Life IS simple, it’s us that complicates it.
Life shows us all we need to know – where we struggle and put things off is where we need to bring our Love.
Reading this makes me realise that there are many little jobs that I am procrastinating over and that I try to forget and ignore them but they are always niggling away and do actually affect me everyday. How amazing to deal with theses things really practically and straight away.
Going through finances is a job I don’t just procrastinate but run from. Yet I also know how supportive it will be for me to just start having a look. This is about what energy I use for what. As I’m writing this I know the first step isn’t to sort my whole life out in a day, but to take an honest but loving look.
Karin maybe you’ve just taken your first step. Sometimes it’s an almost mechanical process of putting one foot in front of the other.
Creating the space to be Harmonious and Joy-full give us abundance energy to choose the True energy that will awaken us to the power of the “universal” constellation.
Completing a task whether a small or big one paves the way for the flow of completion in all areas of our lives. From procrastination to completing things in my life I am now enjoying and appreciating when things get done and are finished. What I have found interesting and become very much aware of is that my mum always loved to finish things – she even said to me many times as I was growing up that it was a lovely feeling to complete things and put them aside and to move on to what was next – very inspiring which I didn’t appreciate at the time but very much do now.
I always find its the things I’ve delayed that get int he way the most, they are the things that hold me back and mean I feel incomplete. When I don’t procrastinate everything flows.
Great point Gil and I feel procrastination thrives when we do not trust that what we are given we can actually handle and get the job done. We first doubt we are capable and then as quick as a flash procrastination jumps in.
I know for me when I go into procrastination I have lost the focus and purpose of what is needed in the moment. I have disconnected to what I am apart of and how important my role is in the grand scheme of things.
Procrastination is an energy we bring in to stop us from connecting to the flow, order, and expansion of the universe. As a result, we can feel a sense of heaviness, tension, and unsettlement in our body whenever we choose to procrastinate.
I am just pondering on how it would be if I approached everything in the same way, as in not seeing anything more difficult or easier than anything else….it would cetainly change my relationship with procrastination!
Sandra that’s a very interesting musing and what I am finding is that by actively addressing the things that I get stuck on and resist my general overall resistance to things is changing, so much so that I am beginning to feel an eagerness to get on with things that I would have stalled on previously.
For me procrastination feels like a way of trying to own something rather than get out of the way and doing what’s there to be done.
The effect of procrastination is very slug like…. slow, yucky, possibly a little pointless too!
In delaying what is there to be felt and dealt with merely adds another layer of resistance and complication.
And also drags us down. Now that I am chomping my way through the things that I have put off, I am feeling more vibrant and alive than ever before.
Ignoring or putting off things that are part of our lives is the stuff of complication and what contributes to the feeling of overwhelm and its just too hard.
I agree Jenny and if we choose to procrastinate then it makes it easy to just give up on something and eventually we end up giving up in life if we allow procrastination to run the show.
I have been chomping my way through the things that I procrastinate over at home but I have been aware that there is something that I have stalled on at work. Having just spent two hours at work and made good headway into that anticipated difficult job, it was actually not difficult at all and now I’m sitting here with a tremendous sense of freedom.
Procrastination is using a force against ourselves. It may be a very familiar activity and can take some practice to move away from but it can also be at times a very simple process of just getting on with it. The slogan ‘procrastinate now’ need not be followed.
The universe presents our next steps in absolute simplicity – A, B, C, D. We choose to remix it to be A, D, Z and somehow expect things to turn out alright after all.
We have been led to believe that space is empty, a void but as you say Alexis space is communicating constantly with us all we have to do is connect to the universal mind and we will know the answers to all the problems that we are facing. So is it possible that the reason why we don’t connect is that we don’t want to know that there is an intelligence far greater than our human mind that we can tap into because then it will not be about us as the individual but about the all and we love to be individual because it keeps us locked in the separation from all that we come from.
‘But space is not empty: on the contrary, it’s crammed full of communication – communication from the Universe.’ – I am learning to free up more space in my life and I love how it comes with a feeling of joy and contentment and how it opens up for a deeper knowing – a response to the universal communication.
I so agree, the same goes for conversations. If I have a conversation I have put off, everything flows more smoothly. This is a wonderful practice to actually have some fun with and not see it as a terrible thing or a burden to do. Simply get a sense of what is there to do either physically or emotionally and do it – see how it feels and move on!
Lucy I love the way that you have introduced the possibility that doing things that we get stuck on could actually be fun, as so often I have felt the prospect of doing certain things rather grim and unpalatable.
To consider the things we put off just sit in our bodies till we complete them is a really good way to bring us to the moment and at least start to complete things till we consider the backlog!
‘What I can feel on a very physical level is that when I finally get around to tackling something that I have been procrastinating over, this then opens up an incredible sense of space and freedom in my body.’ – I agree, it is not until we have actually done whatever it was we were procrastinating about, that we are able to feel the weight that is lifting off and the liberating feeling that follows.
And if we don’t go into procrastination at all we can feel the expansion that is on offer.
“And if we don’t go into procrastination at all we” remain the expansion that we naturally are.
It was recently proposed or presented to me at a healing workshop I attended that one of the reasons why we don’t complete something is because as soon as, we do there is something even greater or more expansive there to bring around the corner. This makes so much sense to me and I can really see how this plays out in my life and it has supported me immensely to see the underlying reasons why I put off completing something and that it is much deeper than simply not liking the task but avoiding the deepening or expanding or evolution that the task represents and is offering to me.
I’m very familiar with this pattern creating all sorts of stories to distract me from getting on with what I need to deal with. It’s fascinating to see the self made creations we come up with to avoid what’s next.
“The things that each of us procrastinates over are specific to us. And therein lies a jewel. If the things that each of us resist are different, then the origin of those things must be coming from within us”. This sentence is something I can relate to and gives me a lot to ponder on. My procrastinations are very specific to me, not just in the actions but the timing as well. For instance, I may put off something and do it at the last minute when it has to get done. I can also see that beyond the big or obvious examples, there are little procrastinations that happen throughout the day. Like deciding to leave the dishes for a few hours instead of when you get that little voice telling you to do it now.
Indeed, it is not only the ‘big’ things that we procrastinate but we possibly also do it all day simply by us disconnecting from that inner source that has that lovely little voice we so early can cast over with our deceiving and calculated thoughts.
Talking of cleaning shelves, even though I love cleaning there is something ‘hard’ in my mind about cleaning shelves which actually is ridiculous because I guess it would take me less than 15 minutes to clean my shelves.
Agreed on both counts 1) the thought of cleaning shelves is hard 2) it’s ridiculous!
Just like the thought of doing any of the items on my ‘procrastinating list’ which seem hard, again ridiculous. I bet if I put my mind to it I could complete most of them in just one day but imagine the space that I would create if I did that?
Go for it Fiona!
We can also get on with it. There is a lot of joy in that.
How true – it is a choice, one that makes all the difference.
Each and every choice makes a difference.
When you think about it, Procrastination is probably one of the biggest excuses for avoiding that spacious and light feeling we feel about ourselves. When we do eventually attend and complete that thing we have been putting off doing, the feeling and accomplishment is wonderful.
If there is something we resist or avoid that in itself tells us to take a closer look at what we are avoiding – never is it nothing.
‘As my awareness around this topic has grown, so has my determination to explore the effects of committing to doing the things that are way down on my invisible to-do list.’ Reading this I can feel that by tackling the things we do not want to deal with – that this would support us in our lives, for instance; if its procrastinating over tidying something at home or putting something off that by actually getting on and dealing with this and not allowing this to fester that this will support us in all areas of our life and help us realise that we can deal with what life throws at us and that we do not need to be overwhelmed or make ourselves small.
What you have shared in this article has been really helpful, particularly about the avoidance of technology. I have always asked others for help with anything to do with computers and not really seen myself as able to understand and work with them. Having read this article I was inspired to challenge this idea I had about me and computers and took on some work that involved technology and I have loved it. I asked for help initially and admitted that it was not a strength of mine, but I learnt the process I needed to and have really enjoyed working on my computer and learning the new programmes, it has felt very empowering, thanks for the inspiration.
Woohoo!
Procrastination to me is equal to delaying to live that what is for us in the future already now.
Yes, a good way to hold ourselves back.
To do list can help enormously to get things done but do never guarantee that you will not procrastinate as this type of control will possibly come from the same energy the procrastination emerges from.
If I am open to each day and up for what ever is on offer then my historical ‘internal energetic congestion’ is highlighted/brought fore and either dissipates as I move more freely or is on the table for review and healing.
Who would have thought that there was joy to be had in cleaning skirting boards but after five years of trying not to look at them when I walk down my hallway, I have just cleaned them and I’m now skipping down my hall.
On reading your comment Shirley-Ann the analogy of swallowing a mouthful of gristle came back to me BUT having said that, I do appreciate that for those that can do it it, i.e.’ turning their “to-do list” upside down and doing the hardest things first’ would be liberating beyond belief!
I find with my work, when I procrastinate it feels awful, and nothing seems to flow and I get very stuck for ideas and creativity. But when I simply start working and don’t go into the need to have the results straight away but let the process of each stage of my work flow guide me and trust that the answers will come is a beautiful process of trust and surrender. When I push for results and answers this is when I can get very stuck and then start procrastinating.
When we finally get around to doing something that we have been procrastinating on, the feeling of “an incredible sense of space and freedom” in our body is so very tangible, and at that moment I am sure we will be thinking – why have I put it off for so long? Well at least that is how it has been for me, many times. Procrastination is exhausting for the body, puts off the inevitable and achieves absolutely nothing – so I wonder why we persist with this destructive pattern?
I have seen recently how procrastination of even the tiniest of things in life like leaving something on my desk for ages that needed to be dealt to and put elsewhere is a cunning way for us to continually feel some level of anxiety or stress instead of surrendering into the depth of feeling how glorious and gorgeous we truly are.
So well exposed Joshua.
I love your observation and honesty Joshua. I find that one small movement that is laced with procrastinating leads us to further delay down the track.
‘space is not empty: on the contrary, it’s crammed full of communication – communication from the Universe.’Are we avoiding this communication, to not feel the grandness we are and belong to?
I can relate to the latter Annelies, avoiding to feel the grandness I am and belong to and with that, I choose to live in a reduced space in which I am allowed to delay or procrastinate, a way of being that otherwise would simply not come up for me.
After reading this article I am now much more aware not to procrastinate over things. I had a few things that I just didn’t want to look at and deal with because they felt overwhelming and when I did think about them they made me feel anxious. Instead of leaving them un-dealt with I decided to just get on and deal with them. This felt great and they were in fact very simple and quite easy to do and made me ponder on why I had a picture that they were so hard and complicated when in truth they were not – I just needed to commit to getting them done.
Brilliant!
I am so familiar with this pattern – putting things off because I think they are hard, carrying around the anxiousness of them pending, getting them done and realising how ‘not hard’ they were and feeling super refreshed afterwards. Applying the understanding of this pattern is an ongoing practice.
Completing something big or small, it doesn’t matter opens ourselves up to welcoming that which is to be completed in the following moment; it is a continuous flow of saying yes to completion and what is next.
I find that not completing things eventually leads us to overwhelm and exhaustion because when we have to go back to complete something that wasn’t complete in the first place, it feels like we need more energy to complete them. Whereas when we had the impulse to do something and then follow it through to completion how much more energised, spacious and light do we feel? This then opens us up to be able to step into the next thing to carry through and complete with the same impulse and rhythm.
I agree I do feel spacious, light and expansive in the body when I follow something through – the task is effortless and joyful supporting me as a foundation to carry into the next moment. I am beginning to recognise and acknowledge how the holding back in all areas of my life is extremely exhausting much more than I have been willing to be aware of and accept.
I agree and I find it helps not to have a picture or fixed image in our mind’s eye of what we think completion is for a specific thing but to go by the sense we have of it as we are doing it…
“What I discovered was that the energetic starting point for my resistance to technology was my investment in identity. I was heavily invested in being seen as a rather quirky woman, who was going against the grain by not being on social media or having a phone that did much more than texting or calling people. By addressing my resistance to technology, I unearthed my investment in identity” Isnt it interesting how we can be so adamant about not agreeing with or disliking something so strongly, but have no inkling that we are actually using these things as a means to being identified? I had the same hang up for years about technology and numerous other things, but as I come to accept myself more, I come to accept what is around me for what it is, and have learnt to make use of what is available to support me in many ways.
If there is a smidgen of procrastination in anything then I can feel and know that something is up. Learning to read myself and how I am with everything is actually a fascinating and on going opportunity. There are still some days I just want to check out, and I clock it and I feel pretty rubbish at the end of it. Such a confirmation of what serves and what doesn’t.
Life is a reflection for everything we not only need to work on, but everything that we have mastered and shared with others.
I have been inspired by this blog and all of the comments to double my commitment to moving through the areas that I procrastinate on. Yesterday, as I applied myself to systematically working through things, a sense of space opened up that literally felt cavernous. So profound was this sense of space that at one point I found myself checking the time continuously because I could not believe that it was only lunchtime and yet I had managed to do so much (including fitting in a daytime nap)!
Alexis, isn’t it a joy to be in space over time. I found this yesterday when walking and managing to cover a great distance across the city in just a few minutes that would otherwise have taken at least twice that amount with a usual rushing of a power (puffing) walk. When we let go of time and come into the body the movement we move in moves time.
So beautifully said Zofia.
Getting on with everything we need to do stops the stagnation in energy and in our bodies. It’s well worth overcoming any initial inertia, the benefits are immeasurable.
For anyone who’s whole life is one of stagnation rather than just pockets, the stagnation would feel insurmountable.
Procrastination is like a machine that is designed to work smoothly but we waywardly decide that some pieces remain stopped… then the whole system won’t work properly and, not only the machine might end flawed, but the purpose it was going to serve will remain missed. This shows the disconnection we have chosen to live from the whole we are part of.
When we observe procrastination from a greater perspective, looking at our life as a whole, we can find in those activities we avoid more the areas of our life we are avoiding responsibility.
‘By completing another job that I have got stuck on, I will free up even more space in my body.’ by virtue of the fact that you have removed or are working any blockages out of your body – this is what makes life special, it is designed to specifically bring up for us those things which will support us to remove more and more of what is not us as we return to an expression of ourselves in truth.
I’m feeling how, when I do something that is calling to be done, when done feels like I’ve just had a cleansing shower inside and out. This is inspiring me to respond to what’s needed without delay.
I love this analogy Karin. And next time I go to put something on hold, I will remember that I have a choice, to have a beautifully “cleansing shower”, or to start to stay ‘dirty’. And once that dirt (the procrastination) starts to build it can be even harder to move it, so why delay?
Yes, I agree there is a feeling of space within and makes such a difference to how I feel at the end of the day, how responsive I’ve been to what I feel is needed to be done.
Sometimes the help of another is all that is needed to get done what we don‘t get done.
We often procrastinate on what would otherwise make us great if we proceeded and did not delay.
‘Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow’. I was always under the impression that when you clear or heal something from the inside, then your outer world changes to reflect your inner.
I agree Jacqueline that ‘when you clear or heal something from the inside, then your outer world changes to reflect your inner’ my intention was to open up a discussion based on the feeling that i have that by working on things that are outside of my body, I am able to influence what’s going on inside of me too.
Two specific areas that I have been working on not procrastinating about and bringing completion to are 1)putting my clothes washing away and 2) technology. I’m a very organised person and someone who gets on with things, however when it comes to washing or technology this same level is a work in progress. I use to have a special moment to put my washing away, after I had let it build up, where I waited to do it in a space so I would enjoy it and so it would be in a caring quality. However this procrastination was having an affect in more ways than one. Then I got to the point of realising I can choose to put my washing away in the same caring quality but when it was there to be done. Seeing my husband instantly put his washing away methodically and without fuss was also a great reflection. I can always feel the ‘spring clean’ feel of the body when I commit to putting my washing away as needed and I can also see all the tactics I used and created to avoid this.
With technology,after I understood that part of my avoidance was feeling overwhelmed, I discovered that by actually giving myself the time and space to work it out was super supportive. When I dealt with not allowing myself to have the excuse of overwhelm I was able to bring the responsibility of actioning what was there to be done. There are always so many layers that we ourselves put on top to avoid something, but when we start to deal with it bit by bit,the root cause of what we were avoiding becomes very clear. This just takes a bit of commitment and understanding.
Procrastination is a killer and simply getting down to things in the moment makes all the difference to our lives our energy and our expansion for the future.
Being stuck in delay creating issues that are not really true is a perfect way to avoid responsibility.
We just love it! So much so that our whole world is based on delay.
So true Alexis, when I read this.. ‘Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow’.. I can feel very much how the outer and the inner are connected. There has been research conducted about how children sit, slumped or upright changes their brain patterns, but there is much more to observe in our bodies how inner changes will affect the outer, and vice versa.
Procrastination ties us to the physical world because when we procrastinate what it is we are procrastinating about weight us down.
‘Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow.’ this is something that I have experienced and it feels amazing to work through something which has been a block, further to that it fuels you up to take on the next thing.
I love the wisdom you are sharing here: ‘space is not empty: on the contrary, it’s crammed full of communication – communication from the Universe. Universal Communication knows no bounds and carries with it the answers to every problem that man is currently facing and indeed will ever face.’ Space is the greates form of love and there is always much more space than any issue or problem we can focus on.
Fascinating to feel in myself how sometimes ‘the new’ is already there, but I choose to hold on to the old and familiar and procrastinate adjusting to the next level of living that is needed at that moment.
The things that ‘dropped off’ the bottom of my to-do list, because I never got around to doing them, never really disappeared.’ Such an important realisation, things don’t just magically disappear, everything is energy and the reason why we didn’t complete something is still there and will play out in different examples.
Learning to do things in immediacy without delay changes everything.
My “to do list” would be bottom-less if I did not drop things of the bottom of it as they will no longer serving and thus have become superfluous as we have evolved.
There is such an obvious feeling of lightness when we complete a task … imagine how light we would constantly feel if we completed every task?! … which then begs the questions, how dense/heavy are we in truth when we wallow in procrastination and what impact is that having on us and everyone around us?
“But there’s more. Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow.” I recently had a massive clear up of an office I worked in, I know the ripple effects of this will be felt far and wide.
Over the last two weeks I have been presented with a situation to look at my own procrastination and with a little support have been able to work something that I have always found very challenging. It’s an amazing feeling to begin to let go of that which I have chosen to use as a reason to make things a struggle unnecessarily.
What I also get for the word procrastination is that, ultimately, the task or outcome is unavoidable…you’re not saying no to it, it still has got to be done. And I like this in relation to your comments on it being a ‘damper of expansion’ – in that, the expansion is ultimately going to happen, so why delay it?!
Which by the way is a merry-go-round that I have oft travelled! If we do move forward, if we do break the circle, then it’s amazing how immediately we are supported to be more and move to the next. “Ah…now that you have broken the indulgence, we can really get cracking”
As well as congestion, I have found how a consciousness that I align to can actually lock the movement of my body, a lock that might have been there for years and years, for lifetimes…thus the power of really focussing on how our body is moving…or what is moving it.
There are zillions of ways we can delay living the truth, bringing these to my own awareness is a joyful and ongoing process.
It sure is Rosanna and it is fascinating how often we can delay living the truth and how many different ways we can find to delay the inevitable especially considering it is what we all want and deeply crave.
The world is so trapped in the conditions of who we need to be and what love is.. But do we actually take stock of what is true to us when we do so? Or is there more for us to connect with and become aware of? Yes. And it starts with being honest about our choices in life and why we have made certain choices first. To look and see beyond – that it is energy first.
Our soul offers us always the next level. How we delay it can vary a lot- procrastination is one of the tools of the part in us that avoids evolution at all costs. The moment we don´t expand into the next level that is on offer, we say: ” I want it differently- I have the control to whatever is next”. What if digging your heals in for an unavoidable fact- we all have to expand in a certain way, no matter if we like it or not- is the greatest ill we can do to ourselves.
If you procrastinate you are avoiding completion constantly.
This is very true Stephanie. When I began to feel this, I was able to look at life as having many little moments of completion rather than just doing the things I felt great about and avoiding or procrastinating with the things I did not like. In this new way of being with completing things, I also allowed myself to feel how I felt about the things I tended to procrastinate about and then I found a way to get on with them in a way that was in my natural rhythm and not in a way that felt like a chore. Slowly I reimprinted the way I approached many things and areas in my life.
It is definitely true that avoiding things will have an impact on our internal environment and could even develop into an illness.
Have you noticed that some words themselves are a reflexion of the word? Procrastination is a long-winded word for not doing something. Another example is, sesquipedalian – the overuse of using big words.
Great point. We do find many ways to bring complexity into life.
“By working on our internal energetic congestion, we open the valves that allow Universal Communication to flow freely through us. And it is by restoring the flow of Universal Communication that we will begin to restore true harmony on Earth.” I like this phrase – internal energetic congestion – so apt! When I complete instead of procrastinate space opens up. So simple – so we do we delay?
I see the procrastination like gunk in a sink pipe that stops the water from drawing out freely. And when we bring completion to the table, we automatically deal with that procrastinating gunk no longer allowing it to be there. Hence space opens up, the drain is clear and the flow of water can continue to run in the speed and volume it was designed to.
Acting on things I procrastinate over is such a spring clean to my body. IT carries the weight of things unattended to and I feel lighter when they finally complete.
Love that – ‘spring clean to the body’
We all have ways of delaying Truth and procrastination is one of them. Eating to dull our senses is another and we can keep refining our diet to increase our sensitivity. This is one area I know I am procrastinating on, avoiding feeling everything that is going on. I know it is there but I am choosing to stay in the comfort of where I am right now. Sometimes it feels like, with the exception of just a few, the whole world is avoiding Truth.
Me too Carmel – and especially so more recently. But when I don’t judge myself it is easier to let go of food choices that don’t support me. And to remind myself – who am I eating for – and why?
Pretty much the whole world is avoiding the truth and it does so with dedicated commitment. We live in a society based on lies upon lies upon lies. We’re all in it up to our necks!
Why is it that we are content to distract ourselves playing games in the mud with, seemingly, absolutely no interest in the truth of who we are. We live in such a dis-graceful and dis-honouring way – I hate the energy that coerces us to step so far away from our true selves.
I’d say that in some ways we are acutely interested in the truth of who we are because if we didn’t keep at least one very astute eye focused on who we all are in truth then we wouldn’t be able to avoid it with the brilliant accuracy that we consistently do.
As we each take responsibility for the areas in our own lives we add to the pool of the whole and reset the standards. But this must be first done in our own lives.
Procrastination is the albatross that follows everywhere.
Procrastination must have a root cause, so tackling the external manifestation can help to unravel it. I know that a lot of my procrastination habits arose from having given up on myself. When we get to feel the root causes, we can heal these inner hurts and hence unwind the behaviours from both ends.
‘unwind our behaviours’ is a great way to describe changing the way we move into a more direct, simple and loving expression.
Love we can support ourselves by focusing on the outer which our inner responds to and focus on the inner then inspires what to do on the outer and vice versa. Neither can be dismissed as less important.
The inner is the outer and the outer is the inner, it’s just that we’ve fallen for the illusion of our body being a barrier between the two, but it’s not, everything bleeds into everything else, there are no barriers to energy because even what we perceive to be barriers is in actual fact energy.
The inner is the outer and the outer is the inner.
It’s not possible to make it about everyone else without making it about ourselves first.
Procrastination uses way more energy than doing the task needed or expressing whatever is there to be said.
If we stopped procrastinating, what purpose could we put all of that excess energy to?
In our delay, we make the task so much more onerous than it needs to be and it starts to weigh us down, ever so slightly, impacting on how we are in everything that we do.
Self-doubt is a major player in procrastination, which in reality comes from a place of lack of self-worth.
Self doubt, lack of self worth, procrastination, are all things that we’ve made up to stall our own evolution. We’ve literally made the whole sodden lot up.
Why delay doing something when it needs to be done – what do we get out of this? It means we get a lot of mileage out of an excuse to move forward in life.
A great point Paula. Are we then denying our own power? Not wanting to complete or to step up and be counted. Amazing how delaying one small area in my life could stem from this.
There is a rhythm and flow within the universe and when we feel to do something/say something and then choose to delay it, we are then out-of-sync with universal order and constantly playing catch-up.
In truth it’s not possible to play ‘catch up’ because the moment has already gone. That’s not to say that the Universe doesn’t keep offering us new opportunities, it’s just to say that we can’t rake them back once they’re missed.
Ignoring something doesn’t relieve the tension.
Spot on! We can fool ourselves and indulge in various forms of distraction, but we can never escape the truth.
And when we do try to ignore or avoid the truth, life has a way of presenting the truth to us, right on our door step, in a way where we have to see it and cannot avoid it. This is the love we are actually held in. Always asking us to return.
I find it useful to notice areas that I have an issue in and not ignore them. The difference is if I give myself a hard time about it which tends to make me feel disempowered and stuck, or in contrast just keep the awareness that the issue needs resolving on the back burner and offer myself the space to deepen my relationship until the dynamic naturally starts to shift.
‘What this then leads me to understand is that the things that each of us procrastinate over are specific to us. And therein lies a jewel.’ – very true – when we look at the things that we really don’t want to do, we have the opportunity to look at what it is that we are avoiding and why, allowing us greater clarity with regards to our patterns of behaviour and the knowing that can choose to change our behaviour – it isn’t who we are, rather, how we are choosing to be.
“What I can feel on a very physical level is that when I finally get around to tackling something that I have been procrastinating over, this then opens up an incredible sense of space and freedom in my body.”
This is so true if we are given the energy to complete something and don’t that energy stagnants and effects us in an negative way.
I have just filled in a form that was in my inbox for already a long time as were two reminders. When I did open it online, it was very easy and all the time I had thought there would be questions in it that were hard to answer. Basically waisted energy on my end but also in the other end, they had to put in effort and time to remind me. It could have been so much more simple.
I love this example Annelies because it shows us that our procrastination does or can affect others.
‘Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow.’ … and vice versa addressing things in the inner world frees up space in the outer world … gosh so when we do both address things in our inner and outer world WOWSER some changes sure can happen ✨
Procrastination, we all do it, we find something ‘more interesting’ to distract us and convince ourselves that was more important but, that is simply us avoiding what actually IS important.
Carmel I have a list in my head of things that need doing and what I find is that when something more unpalatable gets added to my list then it’s incredible how it shunts everything else up a notch and suddenly I am able to do what was previously on the bottom of my to-do list and that I was unable to get around to doing. Basically I’ll do anything other than what’s on the bottom of my list!
Procrastination is a great enabler of the status quo.
We may think we are getting away with things by putting them off but it is all an illusion because the tension of ‘not doing’ is constantly with us.
Improving things endlessly by finding fault, identifying them in detail and fixing them is a trap when taken too far – an indulgence.
I’ve recently started studying and I have had to make many adjustments, as I work, have a family and do some volunteer work. Through this I have realised a very important thing, just how much space I have to focus on each part. It’s made me stop and think what on earth did I do with my time before! It helped me by taking FB and Instagram apps off my phone and just focusing on what was in front of me to do.
The more time I have the less productive I feel, and the reverse is true. If I consider how much time I had even 5 years ago, I realise how much time I wasted, basically checking out – that’s not to say I don’t still have those moments, but they are considerably less.
What has changed? I feel I am becoming far more responsive in terms of being aware of what needs to be done and saying ‘yes’, rather than having boundaries in terms of how much I ‘think’ I can do and having limits – so I can continue to indulge in being comfortable.
I am realising more and more that pretty much all of the boundaries and borders in my life have been put there by me and me alone.
I used to equate my ‘productivity’ with what I was able to get done, I now equate my productivity with the energetic quality that I am contributing to the All. There are periods when I have lots of time and even though I am not completing many tasks as such, I still feel incredibly productive because of the energetic quality that I am contributing to overall energetic quality of every-thing else.
‘Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow.’ This is true, tidying up at home makes a big difference, especially when I clear up things that have been bugging me for a while.
“internal energetic congestion” – what a great term to describe and also see procrastination as Alexis!
I love the analogy at the end of opening up the valves to let all that gorgeous divine energy in. Makes perfect sense to me.
“when I finally get around to tackling something that I have been procrastinating over, this then opens up an incredible sense of space and freedom in my body.” so true and it is beautiful to feel the flow of simply getting down to things and completing them one by one and the vibrancy this brings.
I can feel the absolute truth of this and have had this experience; ‘Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow.’
‘Is it possible that by working on the things we resist and procrastinate over in our outer world, that we can affect our inner world?’ Reading this makes me realise that updating my computer software and keeping up to date with my admin for me is something that I procrastinate over. I can feel how hard this makes it for me in my day to day as my computer runs slowly and my finances are not always there when I need them. It can stop the natural feeling of lightness and joy and instead make things feel complicated unnecessarily so.
I’m with you Alexis I have woken up and remembered that I too made a commitment to serve God in what ever capacity that means and it feels very beautiful to do so. I adore this exquisite feeling in my body that is the confirmation of all the hard work to get to this understanding.
I procrastinated learning to write for the mass majority of this life. I now feel it was all the rules involved in expressing through the written word, so I chose not to. This small little rebel act became like a secret eating disorder that you hide from the world. Procrastination can have far-reaching effects on multiple levels when left uncompleted!
Once I get to do something that I have postponed for a long time I am often surprised how easy it actually is.
Esther that seems to be a very common theme.
Let the flood-gates open to release those who have been caught in contrived ways of living and thus opening everyone to the possibility of there being a “flow of Universal Communication”. Then those who have chosen to be the Light-of-Their-Soul can be the full reflection of Love we all can be without others demeaning our most divine connection.
Greg what you have said is so beautifully expressed
“Then those who have chosen to be the Light-of-Their-Soul can be the full reflection of Love we all can be without others demeaning our most divine connection.”
No one deserves to have their divine expression crushed.
So True Mary, carrying our-selves in a way that reflects the divine quality of Light is sharing that we are not “crushed” and life can be normal in our everyday movements.
Clearing and sweeping as we go!
‘What I can feel on a very physical level is that when I finally get around to tackling something that I have been procrastinating over, this then opens up an incredible sense of space and freedom in my body.’ Since reading this I’m becoming more aware that this is so true. It’s making me realise how lovely it is to not procrastinate.
Fabulous 😃
At times (and perhaps more frequently than I would like to admit) procrastination for me is a delay tactic. It is as if I know something more important and more significant is coming and I am telling the Universe hold up I haven’t handled this bit yet. The reason I know it is an unnecessary delay and not actually because I need more time to get myself ready is because at times when I distance myself I can’t work out what the problem is and how it ever got that complicated, so I know it is totally self-engineered.
We are in the engine seat of our lives, the gear stick is in our hands.
I have noticed procrastination to be a cunning tool I use within my own life to even in the subtlest of ways avoid the fullness of what I am naturally able to bring. What better way to not feel how great you are than to create an issue of delay to make it feel like you are even a smidgen less amazing?
Those “smidgens” soon stack up and become the famous mountain and molehill saying. So once the door is open we open ourselves to all different types of ill energy, which can allow us to close that door once we are in the recognition of the ill ways and open the door back to our essences.
I now say to myself when I’m procrastinating or delaying or going into anxiousness as a delay, ‘what power am I avoiding and not wanting to step into’ or what greater responsibility is there for me to embrace. It really helps arresting the story.
It feels like a real spring clean inside the body when we find an hour or so to sort out some things that we have been procrastinating and delaying about. It actually takes up so much effort to keep procrastinating about it rather than simply getting on and completing it.
Yes, these things act almost like roadblocks and one can really notice their absence.
It’s exposing that we can even get identification from not keeping up with the times. It just goes to show that energetically we are retarding ourselves by choice and that whatever it is that we are avoiding is the outward play of our choice. Constantly there as a reminder or nudge to get on with it.
I love this; ‘However, I have been able to apply myself consistently enough that there is a part of me now that actively embraces tackling the things that make me falter.’ I can feel how amazing this must feel to tackle these things rather than putting them off and have them lingering in the background.
Yes it feels like a ‘forwards march’ rather than a ‘backwards falter’.
Reading this article I can feel that there are so many things that I procrastinate over, not only jobs but also with my relationships – phoning friends and making arrangements to meet up, I put this off and then suffer the consequences of not having the connection and joy with them.
Rebecca not only do we ‘put this off and then suffer the consequences of not having the connection and joy with them’, but we miss out on having the connection and joy with ourselves.
A call to step out of our comfort zones and face those things which we have pushed aside for years without hesitation.
Could procrastination be the bumpy road we travel when we drift off our highway to evolution?
I find that the times I put something on the back burner there is definitely a repercussion I feel in my body, and until it is dealt with there is a sense of uneasiness. I love the way you have beautifully shared the deeper insights of procrastinating here Alexis. If we fill up all the space within our ‘vehicles’ it impedes the flow and access through.. and to it.
It so true that procrastinating about anything takes up energetic space and becomes weighty too. The feeling in the body when attending to things as they present is like keeping our house clean, it feels lovely and light.
If we were able to ‘do it, without actually doing it’ then we would be missing out on the process of healing and therefore our ‘fresh start’ would be as fresh as a newly painted wall where the painter had painted over cracks without filling them first.
Ha ha, I have found that if I simply do what is in front of me I arrest accumulating anything further and the backlog can then be addressed in the space. The ‘fresh start’ being in the quality of the next moment’s choice.
I have found that I procrastinate when I believe that a particular task will be difficult or that I won’t have what it takes to take care of and complete it – what invariably happens then is that there is some glitch but also, that I am more than able to handle it or get the right support to overcome it and complete the job. In other words, when I am open to what needs to be done, it does get done and frees up a lot of space, internally and externally.
The games and tales are long and complicated when we start to unravel the many ways we use to identify ourselves other than our true selves.
‘the things that each of us procrastinate over are specific to us’ This is worth exploring, it can give us further insights into our lives and our behaviours. When we look deep inside we can understand how our choices affect everything and everyone around us.
Every aspect of life is a learning so we can become or return to the Love we all are and as we open up to these simple way of living, some of the things in life, those things that we were stuck on become something of the past that we need not attend to as we have evolved and they will no longer serve.
I have lived two versions of ‘ making everything about me’. One was focused on who I deemed myself to be and was a constant re-arranging, accumulating, interchanging and overseeing of that person, whereas now I am very focused on me but it is in reverse because even though it has the same over-seeing quality to it, it has become about discarding what does not belong within me. One way discounted everybody else and the other is in service to everybody else.
The thing about procrastination is that it puts you on the back foot… it creates a lag, a delay and even a feeling of a dragging type energy. Things build up and then a feeling of being weighed down also is created. When we get on with things immediately there is a feeling of openness, vitality and we are ready for what’s next.
Yes and we can never truly be 100% present with the moment we are in if we purposely leave things undone, so we don’t get to feel how light and joyful it can feel unencumbered.
I get what you are saying about the stagnation like it is sticking around like fungus in the body. To have those things that we never get to or delay over and over has to have an impact on our body. It’s a totally different story when we deal with things immediately, not in a tick way, but when we feel the impulse to go for it.
So True Natalie, and then we get so busy that there is no time or space to procrastinate. What is needed just flows in our lives, and then our requirements are simply magnetically pulled because of us being ready for the next evolving-impulse.
Thank you, Alexis, for putting words to a pattern of behaviour I have had for a long time. Avoiding anything that needs attention (dripping tap, financial planning, writing…) means we are walking around encumbered by invisible stuff that takes up space and makes life much more effort-full.
You just helped me realise that my avoidance of sitting at a computer writing anything is probably down to my lack of true expression all of the time or my avoidance of it anyway.
‘The things that ‘dropped off’ the bottom of my to-do list, because I never got around to doing them, never really disappeared.’ I can relate to this in that when we have a task to do of some sort we are given a time and space to do it in with the resources it requires, when we do not complete it then these are left like nourishing food in a fridge which isn’t eaten, eventually it goes mouldy.
What helps me tackle the procrastination – especially when I’m justifying it by the ‘it’ll take too long’ reason- is commitment: even committing 10 minutes of time to doing that thing I’ve been avoiding. The more I do this the easier it becomes to tackle those areas of stagnation, which has a huge effect on my energy levels and overall enthusiasm for, flow in and commitment to life.
There are definitely jobs I procrastinate over and they seem to have a belief and an ideal attached. The beliefs are to do with thinking I can’t deliver or do what is being asked and this is fuelled by an ideal of what it should look like which is often unclear so I go even more into I don’t know how to do what’s being asked. What if I let go of all of this and just wrote an assignment, for example, hitting the main points but without focusing solely on passing. It’s like swimming to the end of the swimming pool but not making the end point the focus but focusing on being present along the way which completes the length. I haven’t mastered this but I know using force to get through it isn’t the way.
The inner energetic feelings have to relate to the outer physical body, as our thoughts affect our movements. When we allow Universal Communication to flow freely through us, true harmony is felt in the body and returned on Earth.
Procrastination only succeeds in delaying the inevitable – the task is still there to be done no matter how long we delay … its like going around and around in a circle and sidestepping the task every time we see it – it still comes back around.
The longer we leave a task undone the resistance to not do it grows. No matter how simple the task.
That is certainly true – an ant hill turns into Mt Everest, the longer we procrastinate and as does the list of excuses grow exponentially.
Yes, it always feels awesome to complete something and I am learning it is not about tasks but being 100% about everything, so that when I move on from something it is complete regardless of it’s finished-ness, it’s the quality of my presence that is important.
Yes, it is the quality of our presence that is key in life … and yet the whole world is set-up to focus on the doing.
And that is exactly why the world is set up the way that it is, to purposely keep this away from our connection to ourselves and through that connection with ourselves, our connection to God.
Yes Vanessa, ‘It’s the quality of my presence that is important.’ I find bringing love to what I do and understanding the bigger purpose of each task (it’s not for me alone) transforms the way I feel about it.
My understanding of completion is that it has to come with a particular quality that leaves us open for the next point of expansion.
Is our resistance to some tasks, a red flag to something we have allowed in our body?
Great question – an avoidance of some kind, a dampness caused by matters unaddressed that does not leave us unaffected, no matter how hard we might try. The sense of spaciousness and relief is certainly palpable when we do complete something that has been malingering and the chosen target of delay and neglect.
Reading this again makes me more aware of things I haven’t dealt with and cements the fact they will never go away by just ignoring them, so the sooner they are addressed and dealt with the sooner I will feel freer to move on to other things.
Very true Kev. And very often, the things we are putting off can get done in next no time if we bring our full presence to what needs to be done.
Delay magnifies the task in hand until it becomes a ‘problem’ to deal with. To deal with each as it comes is a beautiful way to create order and a sense of completion that creates space for the next. It also feels great to not have shadows hanging over us.
Yes I totally get this. I use up so much energy avoiding things and then feel a bit silly when I do do them, they are not so hard and I feel freer.
Agreed Doug and when we ‘simply do things as they come up to be done’, the ‘ball and chain’ that was there previously due to the procrastination magically turns into a balloon.
Everything exists in a state of flux and change – there is a never-ending flow to the world in which we live. So to think we can put up the stop sign and file impulses for another day is pure craziness, and simply the habit of that part of us that fancies itself to be a conductor of life’s events like God.
We have to find the reason behind our action, there is purpose to everything and if we see that then chores become less tedious but a process which we can learn a great deal from.
I want to find another word for chores because it’s such a set up from the start of it has this word in front of it. Jobs is ok but maybe daily activities is more accurate and less burdensome as chores.
What about ‘opportunities’ ?
When we deal with anything we have been avoiding, and actually complete, it always feels great, and creates more space and thus more clarity.
So very true jacqmcfadden04, the choice to delay or not is in our hands so really what do we want for our life? How simple could it be if we did not delay?
If this is true… and I absolutely feel it is, jacqmcfadden04, then imagine what life would feel like when we don’t avoid in the first place. We would always be creating a body that feels great, spacious and has clarity. It would just then be a question of deepening these qualities in and with everything that we do.
This is so true Ariana, procrastination does reduce us to a state of supposed helplessness … when in truth we are far from helpless.
Procrastination is a conscious choice to delay our inevitable evolution.
‘What this then leads me to understand is that the things that each of us procrastinate over are specific to us.’ Yes, what we can learn from our own procrastinations are specific to what we don’t want to deal with but when we do we clear space to bring more of ourselves and a beauty to life and people.
It makes sense that if we are viewing some tasks or things in our life as more or less important or enjoyable than others then the reason must come from inside of us.
If we reduce communication to what we hear then we reduce our world and understanding considerably.
It’s like sitting at the dinner table with God but putting your headphones in and listening to a preachers podcast.
When completing something, or doing any task in immediacy feels very supportive. I get a sense of purpose, no lag, no weighty pressure and no feeling at the pit of the stomach that often arises when things are put off.
The quality in which I complete makes it either something I did to tick the box and get it out of my system or offers the foundation for the next thing to come that can be greater.
I love what we get offered when we don’t procrastinate: space and what that actually means: ‘space is not empty: on the contrary, it’s crammed full of communication – communication from the Universe. Universal Communication knows no bounds and carries with it the answers to every problem that man is currently facing and indeed will ever face.’
A brilliant sharing on the huge effects of procrastination in our lives and in our internal clarity and space. The effect of this on the whole world and our Universal Connection and flow is beautiful, expansive and very inspiring to get things completed and simply enjoy how this feels in our body.
Procrastination causes us to have anxiousness in the body when we suddenly realise that we haven’t got as much time as we thought we had and then start to rush at the last minute. It feels awful and the day ahead starts in an unsettled way.
I’m inspired by the part of you which seeks to challenge the parts of you which make you falter. This is opposite to the norm in which these parts are usually ignored and pushed aside in our process of procrastination and I know I have done and still do do this too. The magic of what we have to learn will invariably be in the parts which we find uncomfortable to address.
“The magic of what we have to learn will invariably be in the parts which we find uncomfortable to address”, exactly Michael and I find this particularly so in my relationships with people.
Time to stop delaying and replace my front door bell, dysfunctional for some time! Thank you Alexis.
As I was reading this blog Kehinde I too could feel areas calling me to attention. I find when I start to clear an area another one exposes itself, and so it is never a done deal so to speak rather ever refining.
Yes Victoria, I it has been the same for me. Yesterday I found the answer to a problem I’ve had for some time but not got round to fixing and when I did it was so simple. The moment came when I moved from feeling I didn’t know how to and putting up with it,to knowing where to go for support and there it was.
I know when I complete certain things around my house the foundation and space that’s then there for me to go onto the next things is all there. Undone things are like having ones space taken up by more and more boxes – it gets so cramped!
Yes I can relate to that feeling of pressure or lack of space in my life when I leave things undone or incomplete.
“Is it possible that by working on the things we resist and procrastinate over in our outer world, that we can affect our inner world?” Absolutely … life is a reflection for us – so what happens in our outer world is a reflection of our inner world … so there is always opportunity to learn and grow.
Paula when we consider the absoluteness of the fact that you shared ‘so there is always opportunity to learn and grow’ it highlights how most are sabotaging what’s on offer because it’s true to say that overall we are generally fairly retarded in our evolutionary growth.
Very beautiful – and so practical Alexis. I make life so complicated when I try to stop life’s natural flow. ‘By working on our internal energetic congestion’ we certainly do make more space for our natural essence to emerge and to allow the world to see us in all our glory and grace.
The roots of procrastination, delay or avoidance can be lifetimes deep and it is well worth being as honest as possible about why and what we are avoiding.
That’s the key isn’t it, not doing the tasks begrudgingly.
My procrastination happens with distraction: I open up my computer to engage in a regular writing task that I have committed do every day and then I get a thought – ‘I’ll just check my emails’ or ‘I wonder what’s happening on Facebook’ and through either I lose an hour then have to take the dog for a walk or cook a meal and what can take only 20 minutes to write takes all day until bed-time because other activities intervene or feel more important. On days when I write first thing in the morning it feels weird, so there is some attachment to still having to do it but not actually completing it. There is some satisfaction in staying up late to complete the task because I’m being a ‘good girl’ in honouring my commitment but my energy suffers when I’m late going to bed. Obviously there is more for me to explore here.
By working on our internal energetic congestion, we open the valves that allow Universal Communication to flow freely through us.
It is the most wonderful feeling, it is fascinating how much I avoid this simplicity of clearing out and cleaning.
There are items we procrastinate over that simply require asking for help.
So very true Steve … we put off doing things for ages rather than simply asking for support – seems crazy really! How difficult is it really to ask for help?!
For many, many people it’s impossible to ask for help.
It is quite fascinating how everything is connected, as you describe how we address things in our outer world, we deal with the inner blockages. In my experience, this does feel to be true, our commitment to sorting things out does feel that it frees up some space for more flow in the body. It is like we can allow ourselves to get over it and move on.
This blog has confirmed for me many things….that there be fungus and congestion in my body that is weighing me down until I grapple with my avoidance list! And to expand, this plays out in our environments if we leave it too long, as I’m learning! As a master procrastinator this has reminded me of what I’ve always known but didn’t really want to feel. Thank you Alexis.
We can waste so much time and energy procrastinating over things, when if we just did them as they arose we would find we had more space to do whatever else is needed and more energy to do them.
Yes, and we then leave nervous energy attached to what we haven’t done whether we are consciously aware of it or not. It is much smarter to practice doing what is needed in the moment and pay attention to the difference in our body.
We carry everything that is left undealt with like a heavy weight.
Or, drag behind like a ball and chain.
Very draining, and fodder for self negative talk. It should carry a health warning!
My understanding of the Esoteric, is that within our inner-hearts, or you could say our inner-worlds, there is the purity and the love of the universe. And anything which is out of balance with this or anything that is in disturbance of this within ourselves, has come from outside of us, it is an imposition. So, and therefore, when true harmony is experienced in the outer world that we inhabit it is because our divine inner-world has come to the fore.
There is a connection to Procrustes here – procrastination is a way to fit into a mould that is decidedly not us.
I love how you embrace what you once procrastinated about knowing it will reveal and heal something that you avoided that held you back. What I love also is your sign off at the end saying you are now fulfilling that commitment to serve God. Love the obedience of this and how working with procrastination is a part of this. Very beautiful.
Just today in yet another amazing workshop presented by Serge Benhayon I got to feel how beautiful and important completion really is. And how avoiding certain areas of completion can lead to not moving forward in our own evolution as completion is part of saying yes to what is next for us to learn and evolve.
There Is definitely something very empowering about just getting on with things, allowing that sense of purpose to come into everything that we do.
We can’t say no to one part of life and expect the rest to be great. Try it out and you’ll get clear proof that everything’s interlinked.
I can leap from one project to another without completing the first one. For example, I have a study at the moment that I need to complete an assignment on and the reason I am procrastinating is because I don’t agree with all the course material but I have to fit the relevant tick boxes in order to complete. It is tricky. But also completion and gaining the qualification will also mean I am ready for the next step up, that of being a healing practitioner and perhaps I am avoiding that responsibility by delaying completion. This blog is helping me to see other areas where I have unfinished business.
Good point – gaining the qualification is important and sometimes we have to learn things that challenge our brain – I have done many of those!!
I also find myself in that situation because in the college course I am taking we have to tick the boxes, hit their requirements but thank goodness I don’t have the time to procrastinate on it.
The tension we create in the body when we put things off can be very intense!
I agree it is as if we accumulate what we know we should have completed in a certain time and as it is not yet done it interferes with the next thing we are busy with, often making it so that this does not complete in its own rhythm either and so we compounding the weight of what has not been completed within our body.
‘Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow.’ Yes and yes, i know this to be true from every time i decide to pick up a task that has been lying there for ages, waited for me to start and it is like you’ve shared Alexis it is something that disturbs the natural flow in my body. Just like all other ‘issues’ in life it is our choice.
I find that when something arrives on my radar to be done and I ignore it, however much I pretend it is not bothering me, it remains as a weight I carry with me 24/7.
Yes exactly Golnaz… Everything that we ignore we carry.
A cycle that deepens until perhaps our bodies force us to stop with a serious illness.
And, how many times do the undealt with issues rise like cream in milk during our sleep?
I agree, our body ‘flags’ something for us to do and by ignoring we communicate that something else is more important. We get offered a step ahead to keep up with the evolution on offer and yet we choose to stay where we are and go in fact the opposite direction of learning.
What is the symbology of a leaking laundry tap? As it will tell us something about within us, it would be a great question to get a deeper understanding of why we are procrastinating the repair of this leaking tap and with that the healing of the corresponding energetic imprint in our body.
To me, it starts with being honest to what I feel in my body as when I do so my body would simply not allow anything being procrastinated as is felt like an abusive act. Not only to the body but to everybody we are connected to and the space we live in.
Yes, it is very difficult to couple procrastination with awareness – awareness shows the silliness of procrastination in far too much detail and the force needed for procrastination.
While we think to procrastinate does not cost any effort because we are doing nothing, the opposite is the case. It cost enormous effort to stop a natural flow. Look for instance when to a dam in a river, it needs to be huge and heavy to tame the natural flow of the water that otherwise would freely flow. And such a dam needs a lot of effort and resources to build not any different from when we procrastinate.
I do wonder how much procrastination and time play a part with each other, remove one and you open up all others. You end up having far more time (and space) when you don’t procrastinate. That’s been my experience and yet the question is why allow it?
Congestion in any part of our lives, days work or movement within our own bodies, is very draining.
” is it possible that by working on the things we resist and procrastinate over in our outer world, that we can affect our inner world?” I would say a resounding “yes”. Just yesterday I managed to put off finishing something that needed to be done at the beginning of the day….when I came to it later I was under pressure from myself and managed to completely lose the letter that I had carefully drafted earlier…I then was not able to complete this task in the day and carried the inner feeling of unrest with me for a while. Sometimes it is supportive to leave things till later if we do not have a true impulse to do them but yesterday it was my allowing myself to be carried away by something other and not stay with the commitment to finish the work that rewarded me with procrastination and all that it brings.
I like what you shared about sometimes it’s supportive to not do something unless we have a true impulse (and definitely vice versa). Recently I noticed how I’ve had a knee jerk reaction to always responding instantly to someone because I didn’t like the tension of them perhaps getting irritated or anxious with no response. And this was with things as simple as a friend sending a lovely email and me wanting them to know I got it. What I’ve found is when I do get the impulse to respond what comes through is way more to it than had I responded when I was tired or I was meant to be doing something else. Now I’m feeling how much more I can allow this and know when it tips over into delay.
This is great; ‘now, everything that I am resisting gets flagged, and to the best of my ability I work through the steps that are needed to complete the task.’ What a difference this must make to how you feel. I have noticed that if I just get on with things instead of putting them off, then I feel much more vital and less tired.
Alexis, this is so true; ‘What I can feel on a very physical level is that when I finally get around to tackling something that I have been procrastinating over, this then opens up an incredible sense of space and freedom in my body.’ I have experienced this feeling of spaciousness when I finally complete my tax return or tidy my office – jobs that I keep putting off and that are actually much easier and more enjoyable than I expected – it is the mental block and idea that I can’t do them or don’t want to do them that is the hardest part to get through.
So true – we wouldn’t ignore boils, warts, cuts or rashes on our skin but just because we think we cannot see the impacts procrastination has on our being (not to mention self esteem), we turn a blind eye to it and carry on.
Why do we procrastinate on things that are kingpins in our evolution? Could it be our spirit knows?
This blog has made me look at areas in my life where I still procrastinate and my expression falls into this category, so often I put off what needs to be said and often the moment passes and it is lost forever.
“What this then leads me to understand is that the things that each of us procrastinate over are specific to us.” Based on what it is we most want to resist, clarity, honesty, harmony, purpose, commitment and so on.
And the part of us that gets off on the complication of procrastination is very knowing and specific on how to do it. But it gets to the point where these ways feel no longer worth it, and more flow is then invited into life.
I love the topics you write about, Alexis, whether it is judgement or this topic the openness you bring and connection to our everyday lives offer all of us an opportunity to learn. Thank you very much.
I’m right there with you Monika, going deeper in my understanding as a result of conversation that is generated.
‘Is it possible that by working on the things we resist and procrastinate over in our outer world, that we can affect our inner world?’ I need to print this out and have it on my fridge as there is so much that I resist which I make into such a big deal and yet when I come to deal with it, it hardly takes me any time at all and I feel the spaciousness in my body.
There’s a beautiful simplicity in what is being shared here. When we keep on top of things we create space!
When I procrastinate, I feel that I idly waste time. And when I do this it feels awful in my body, even though I can choose to do it semi-regularly. And I feel it clogging up my body. When I stop procrastinating a lightness comes over me and I feel clearer about what is needed to do next.
I’ve been a great procrastinator too Alexis … and I know that feeling of spaciousness and freedom when I’ve done something at the time it needed doing – it feels amazing and so liberating, and I often wonder why I dont continue following through with this every time! You have also inspired me to make a list of all the jobs I’ve been putting off 🙂
I can feel myself resisting the idea of writing a list of all the things I’m resisting, it feels very burdensome just to think about all the unfinished things that I have been procrastinating over.
It is this first step of simply getting to it and getting started that I have to bring myself to, sometimes with a nudge, and stopping for a moment and asking myself why I fear/dislike doing something helps me too to see that it is not as frightening and undoable as I made it to be.
Through our openness to self-honesty we then open the gateway to the truth that is always on our doorstep, as such can access the universal intelligence that is ever-present whenever we willingly surrender to being moved by the impulses of our Soul. I am learning, exploring and experiencing that there is a true sense of freedom when we live in this way.
And possibly the freedom you are talking about is felt in each and every human body but is mostly expressed not from the Soul but in the bastardised form through the spirit, For instance as in freedom of speech in which we can justify harming other people by words, freedom of performing abusive and violent acts because we can and therefore it is allowed and so on.
Wonderful analogies.
It has been incredible for me over the past 8 years of working with Universal Medicine (being a student of my inner heart; a student of the Livingness) to feel and see in myself and also to witness in many other students how much more clear and available we are to Universal wisdom and the Love that is who we are as we feel and let go of our issues.
Recently I have had a few of surprises when I have approached something with a resistance based on my repeated previous experiences of the same scenario, yet when I was forced to face the moment, my whole response and experience was radically different and so easy. It appears I had changed my relationship with that scenario and I had not even realized until that moment. This made me wonder about the many areas which I tend to avoid because I have some picture or another attached to them, when in truth all such attitudes I hold seem to be transient and not even real.
Perhaps the area where we do this the most is in our relationships with people. Once we’ve had a bad experience with a person we tend to right them off forever.
I reckon this energetic surgery thing works with people also and if we are open to what we have to learn from each other, even people who upset or annoy us then we can clear and heal a lot of things.
Not all delay is procrastination, sometimes it’s a response to how the body feels. There are occasions when I don’t feel like doing something, because of tiredness or time of day and I wait perhaps an hour, day or two and when the energy comes through the work is completed easily.
An absolute yes in agreement with this question Alexis
“Is it possible that by working on the things we resist and procrastinate over in our outer world, that we can affect our inner world?”
Just because I am busy doesn’t mean I don’t procrastinate. There are certainly things that I choose to do before others and that needs looking at.
And I’ve noticed that even when I have time to do the things that Ive been putting off, I still doesn’t do them, so my excuse that I’m too busy is simply that, just an excuse.
Or that, in that space, we actually go looking for something else rather than address what we have been putting off.
Ah that old chestnut.
There is even a song that aptly describes busy doing nothing. How many are unaware of their motions without purpose? I can raise my hand.
Seeing the value and purpose in something knocks out the delay or lethargy towards it.
Thank you for exposing how procrastination does not support us and how …”Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow.” So whenever I start to delay something now, I am more aware of that pattern and can stop it.
What I often find is that it is my judgment against myself that makes things even harder and more stagnated than what it truly is to be shifted. It just becomes another identification that says I am this, that or the other and it gives me a license to carry on being that way. And this identification gig just keeps swapping its name tag as each times gives us a sense of satisfaction that we have conquered one thing and now moving onto the next, when in reality we are just circulating in the same pond.
I have for the longest time procrastinated my administration, leaving it so long that it always felt like I had to climb mount Everest to tackle it. I know take a moment every week, on a fixed day and time to support myself, to take care of it. It has notably changed the way I approach administration but it has taken away the constant burden offering the procrastination and opened a whole new area of flow in my life.
I can relate to what you share Carolien and thankfully have moved on from having to climb Everest because I left things too long.. Now, I commit to doing my administration regularly, for me it’s once a month, so it doesn’t build up. With order and clear systems added to the mix and knowing the task is or will be behind rather than in front of me is a beautiful feeling,
What I feel in your sharing Kehinde is something I can relate too, when we do not procrastinate we find space and in the space there is room for order and clarity.
Yes it is interesting how the longer we leave it to complete or address something the tension with it keeps building.
Great Analogy Alexis “By working on our internal energetic congestion, we open the valves that allow Universal Communication to flow freely through us” and this exactly what it is. By choosing and handpicking which valves to open we control and measure the flow of the Universe but if we consciously look at each valve we will allow for space. So basically opening the valves is what it is to surrender to who we truly are.
Internal energetic congestion and universal communication … now you are talking! We have so much to learn here about ourselves and all of our relationships and Universal Medicine are leading or should I say lighting the way ✨
I know that sense of space so well, when something I have made into this really difficult monster (and usually is not) is done and the sense of relief and open ness to the next thing is palpable. I’ve actually taken it a step further these days when I will actively seek out those things that feel like that to get them underway, and can feel the benefits in my movements when I do that.
Thats a great way of dealing with those ‘mountains made out of mole hills’ Simon … to face them and reduce them to what they actually are – tasks we have avoided and that simply need doing.
I was pondering on why saying something out loud or writing it down seemed so powerful in shifting energy when I got that to have something unconscious milling around in the body requires a force to keep it in thier hidden so when you bring it to light it can move on energetically and the energy you were using as a force to keep a lid on it so to speak is then free to be in the flow again.
Alexis, what you are sharing completely makes sense and I love how you have written this in such a simple, practical and easy to understand way. There are definitely things I procrastinate about and this article really supports me to look at these. for instance I can feel how delaying invoicing for work could be linked to a lack of self-worth.
It always feels so amazing when we complete something we have been putting off, recently we cleared out and put into order our back shed which before was a disaster zone. Now it is functional and has way more purpose.
Putting a part of our home or shed in order clears something within ourselves and makes us feel joyful. For that alone, it’s worth doing: we give and we get given in return.
It’s us that are giving to ourselves. Or not.
I absolutely love it when I am inspired by something someone has shared, and this blog was no exception. Just after the first time I read it, I took some spice jars off a shelf and noticed the shelf needing cleaning. When I went to replace them, I was so very close to just putting them back, but there was no way I could. So off came all the jars, out came the wiping cloth and in a very short time the shelf was sparkling clea, as were the jars. A lesson in the fact that we often spend more time putting something off than it actually takes to do the job. So, thank you Alexis for the inspiration.
Does procrastination, fill our space with pictures that grow over time?
‘Yes but no’. ‘I’ll be there but I won’t be around’. ‘I’m all in, but won’t contribute anything’. No wonder our body experiences difficulties when we communicate so many mixed messages. What if procrastination itself isn’t the cause in this but a simple consequence of a disconnect between what our mouth lets out and our body says?
It sounds like actively tackling the procrastination list actually builds our capacity to not get stuck on those activities or drag our feet on them, which leaves us free to enjoy whatever we are doing.
It is crazy when we do get round to doing something that we keep putting off, how quickly it can get done, and it can be that we have put it off because we thought it was going to take a long time to do! It can take more energy to not do something than it does to just get on and do it.
“But space is not empty: on the contrary, it’s crammed full of communication” I wonder then do we use procrastination as a way to avoid the communication flowing through us, a way to avoid responding to the immense wisdom we are inexorably a part of?
Sometimes I can think I’m procrastinating but in actual fact when the time comes around to actually do what it was needed doing it feels totally in it’s correct order…sometimes the ‘shoulds’ make us feel there is procrastination, the expectation of a time line on something is placed as ‘more important’ than the true natural timing of the task.
“By working on our internal energetic congestion, we open the valves that allow Universal Communication to flow freely through us.” I love this. It really is like tuning up our own internal energetic plumbing so that everything can run smoothly with no leaks or blockages.
Procrastination – even saying the word takes up time!
Do it and its done, short and concise!
Procrastinating is such a drain of energy, it’s utterly exhausting.
Ah since reading this I’ve completed many jobs I’d procrastinated about and my house feels amazing, a space which supports me. That’s not to say it’s complete in what is to be done but there are those jobs that didn’t take too long but were hanging about calling to be done.
Everything provides us with a reflection even the ‘bad’ things we do so I like the way procrastination is turned around into an opportunity for learning.
‘What this then leads me to understand is that the things that each of us procrastinate over are specific to us.’ We can learn so much from each other’s example, when another does not have our own tendency it’s a great reflection to learn from.
Procrastination allows us to live a life of stagnation, every day delaying our innate and natural evolution.
Hard-hitting words Paula but ones that resonate very clearly, are we wanting to evolve or not – that is the question.
Delay, delay, delay, lifetime after lifetime and so we repeat. Procrastination is simply another word for delay and delaying our return back into God’s loving embrace is a project that we’re all busy beavering away at.
One of the worse feelings in my body is when I know things are incomplete. When we procrastinate not only does this stop us from completing things it also stops us from making a start on the things we know needs to be done. The example of cleaning the shelf, we could clean it without moving all the items off the shelf and only clean around them which makes it look like the job is done but it is, in fact, incomplete because we have only done half a job. And if we leave it like that and walk away convincing ourselves the job is done, then it is a bit like lying to ourselves because we have procrastinated about completing it.
Chan if only we could ‘convince ourselves that the job is done’ but we can’t, the body knows categorically whether something has been done or not.
When we procrastinate, we get drained. Every time we look at or are reminded of what it is we are not attending to, there is an immediate feeling of being down or in the doldrums and then we get even more drained. Everything matters, down to the smallest detail.
I actually wonder if it’s more accurate to say ‘up to the smallest detail’? as ‘down to the smallest detail somehow seems to imply that the small details are less significant.
Where does procrastination begin? Do we set ourselves up with a long list of things to accomplish that is impossible, thereby creating overwhelm within ourselves, which leads us to putting our own breaks on?
I’ve got very little on my list, apart from fixing that ruddy washer and I still can’t manage to do it. It’s not a time thing.
It’s interesting when you attend to something that you have been putting off for some time, it feels amazing. Let’s say cleaning for example. The next step is incorporating this regularly so that space created remains. So cleaning regularly so that where you live feels spacious and amazing. Question (for self)….what am I choosing that puts the breaks on this? Why do I not do something that I know is completely supportive, not just for me but also for my household?
There is so much we can learn and understand about ourselves and how we are approaching life if we are willing to open up to it…
When we are not lying to ourselves, we are our greatest teachers.
Procrastination makes sure there is no completion, whereas completion offers the chance for something new that is even bigger and more beautiful than what is there now.
I love how your example makes it practically real how space is actually a crucial part of medicine
Sometimes I am puzzled why I postpone exactly the things that actually offer most expansion. We know exactly what we are doing: delaying our own evolution and fighting the space that is on offer.
Looking at my own procrastination highlighted that what I initially imagined to be the problem in fact was not and therefore rather than feeling it as a problem enabled me to appreciate the gift it is offering.
I love this blog, and the timing of reading it, right now I’m stuck with some things I need to learn for tasks I need to do, and I feel my resistance to them, (yes I’m avoiding them) and here’s this gem of a blog asking me to consider what exactly it might be that I’m identified with or caught on in some way which might be showing up in what I’m not doing – some further understanding now and a little more digging needed.
Looking at it that way it is a good reminder to just get on with what there is to do!
It sure is Doug, even though at 1st it may seem arduous as soon as I start doing something when I feel to it feels great, has a flow to it and I enjoy doing it. Whereas when I leave it till later, I build up a judgement about doing it and more resistance builds and so I resent it until I have dome it then I am like ‘why did I not do it before?!’
Me too Doug, Procrastination just allows for my thoughts to wonder and usually when they do they end up being self critical.
By following the impulse to do something and complete it allows so much more space in my life – and I get more done! We waste so much time and energy procrastinating.
When we do things in their allocated time, a lot of space opens up and we remain fresh, alert and vital.
Yes, we do Paula, and when we delay, procrastinate, it sits heavy in our body weighing us down and makes it harder to do anything else. Once we start to procrastinate we could get ourselves into a vicious cycle of more procrastination because of the lack of energy we feel.
Well said Chan. Procrastination is a momentum that leads to more of itself. Completion is also a momentum that leads to more of the same.
When we procrastinate, we create a tension within our bodies as we constantly have the thoughts of the uncompleted task running in the background as we go about our everyday.
If you take everything back to energy then I have found everything we do or don’t do, say, or express affects everything. Anything held in and not acknowledged requires a force to keep it in. Whereas expressing it whichever way, verbally or written down, allows the release and then a flow back.
We do have a habit of fighting off what needs to be done. It causes a bigger tension in the body than if we simply got on with the task that might initially seem a challenge. Putting things off really does feel horrible, especially if there is a deadline to meet or you know someone is waiting.
Alexis, I love how you apply universal principles to everyday life in a way that the grander truths can be accessible to everyone. In this blog, you have beautifully captured a sense of space as something for us to continually surrender to.
I find more and more that when I follow my inner impulse to do something, there is a natural flow and its done in no time, whereas, when I delay or ignore the impulse and attend to it later, it does not have the same easy flow… being in the flow brings harmony.
Boy, does it feel good when we let go of procrastination and ‘get on with it’ through the loving connection to self; it simply means we are getting ourselves out of the way and allowing ourselves to be a vehicle of expression that we are naturally meant to be in the first place.
I completely relate to what you just shared with us Alexis, there are things sometimes which need doing and for one or another reason, I am procrastinating them. And yes, the relief after the achievement feels like a healing in my body. The lack of order in my surroundings creates a blockage within me.
Could it be that when we say we are open and try to be that way but blame our clogged drain that is full of things we have not cleared as our excuse, the greatest procrastination?
I think you’ve exposed something there that is great to shine a light on – that we may think we need to be ‘perfect’ before we can do ‘this or that’ or be truly loving – rather than starting with the foundation of knowing ourselves as perfect and truly loving in essence and then letting go of whatever comes up in the way of living and expressing from that…
It is an interesting notion to ponder on and get to the bottom of, because I know I’m not a lazy person but there is a list things I just never get around to getting done because I am busy doing other perhaps more comfortable or so-called more important jobs.
Not completing that what needs to be completed, to procrastinate, sets a stop on the natural flow of things that are presented to us and the learning and evolution that comes with that. With procrastination behaviour we actually put a stop on our evolution, avoiding to live more of who we already are.
Reading your comment makes me realise how much energy we can put into procrastination! As in how it takes energy to counter the natural flow of things…
well said Fiona, there is a natural rhythm to life and things that need to be done present themselves at a certain time. If we then choose to do something else instead it takes a lot of effort to deviate from that natural flow. And then again to do what had naturally presented itself at another time when it really doesn’t fit or flow with the rest of the day.
Maybe that is an explanation of why people are so exhausted. That people collectively resist choosing the offerings of our soul and instead delve deeper into the addictions of creation to help them to stay unaware.
From reading this blog I come to the understanding that resistance to parts of life does shows me something of my inner world. That at these points I have some garbage dropped that the natural flow stops that otherwise would be there and come through me and make me to express divinity on earth, as divine we are from origin.
Richard I love that you have highlighted the correlation between resistance and judgement, I hadn’t considered that before.
We cannot grow and evolve without dealing with the very things that we can be so good at procrastinating about – love how Alexis has equated it to being “as palatable as swallowing a mouthful of gristle” – however, if we feel the purpose of what needs to be done then getting our hands dirty is not such a bad experience at all and then when you come out the other end it feels pretty cool to be free of the constraints that we felt previously.
I find sometimes I can procrastinate about jobs that I know that I have left in an energy that has been disregarding so it is not the job per se that I drag my feet about, but rather it is the energy of disregard that I struggle to have to address and deal with…
Great point Henrietta, yes I recognise this. It is not so much the job or task itself, it’s the energy of disregard that we don’t want to feel or address, which can feel overwhelming and difficult because we have put the task off for so long. But once we start, we are past the biggest hurdle.
Touché Henrietta … absolutely, it is often not so much the task itself but not wanting to look at why we choose to not do it that is the hindrance.
I have found that when we procrastinate about things, it drains us, and then when we finally do the things we were meant to do, it energises us! Silly how we still choose to delay things anyways and this drains us – why not just do what we feel to do and enjoy how it feels!? There must be something more at play…
I get what you’re saying, Henrietta, because even when we chose to procrastinate we know we are doing it and we know that there is an impact on how we feel about ourselves and the task we are putting off.
Since reading this I’ve dealt with a few things that have been hanging over me and now I reflect I can feel just how much space opened up.
Brilliant Fiona, can you come over and change my washer!
I love what you offer here, one must of course also feel deeply into whether that task is indeed for them to complete or that project for them to uptake, as we often can over burden ourselves with pictures of what we should do, when we listen to our inner knowing we know what is a true call and hence no time is wasted.
“By working on our internal energetic congestion, we open the valves that allow Universal Communication to flow freely through us. And it is by restoring the flow of Universal Communication that we will begin to restore true harmony on Earth.” Philosophy married to mechanics – a beautiful partnership. This is such an accessible and accurate way to look at it Alexis. It also highlights the value of movement to release the congestion. I once had friend who restored classic cars and he would always tell me how important it was to take them out onto the open road and blast them to get the valves moving, the engine cranking, the oil flowing and the whole system purring. A Ferrari parked in the garage has no power!
Love the message here Otto, for if a car represents the human body, then a body that does not move with presence has no power. Having a body and mind moving as one, activates whole body intelligence.
I have read a number of your blogs Alexis. Your transparency and honesty is very special and it’s awesome to have these articles out there amongst us all and to be making these kinds of conversations normal.
Thanks Otto. I am a firm believer that these kind of conversations support us to unravel the self imposed constraints that keep us from accessing the truth of who we all are.
Conversations of purpose. There is so much ‘white noise’ amongst us all, so much banter, idle chat, circulation of gossip and spreading of hearsay and lies…so when stuff like this comes along that offers us the invitation to look at our lives, it should be met with open arms, eyes, ears and hearts.
“I realise just how energetically congested I have been”. I think this is a great quote and very often I have felt this and very often I have felt how easily and quickly that ‘congestion’ can clear when we change our movements and choices. It’s a very simple and illustrative way to look at it.
We can say the there is work to be done and that it is not up to us to decide if we like the work or not. If we do so we procrastinate and frustrate the evolutionary process that is given to us all.
It’s an amazing feeling when I do tackle something I have been putting off for ages. Not only the space in the house feel different, very bright and clean, but I also finding my self wondering what all the fuss was about when the actual task actually quite simple to do.
I’ve recognised that in myself too – having completed something and wondering why I thought it was going to be more of an effort that it actually was and realising how simple it could be whilst still doing a great job.
I know procrastination well, especially by those things that I feel challenged by – I have put them off. In the putting it off I have often created a magnified monster in my head about what I need to do, exhausting myself even before beginning. It’s only when I start the task I realise it wasn’t so bad after all… how much energy we waste putting things off?
It’s so true how we can magnify things and twist them out of proportion in our head and put energy into that rather than just starting on whatever it is we are thinking about!
I had been putting off looking at my bath tub drain as the water kept taking ages to drain. On the weekend I tried about 3 different techniques and it worked. The drain was clearer….and not surprisingly so was I. #inner #outer #allrelated
Awesome sharing Sarah – and funny how it often takes more energy to fight fixing something than just to go ahead and do it or get it done!
It is just taking that time isn’t it, instead of going ‘that needs to be done’ going ‘lets do this!’ I know I always feel better when I have done something immediately and if I leave it just have this dragging and draining sensation. … this is work still in progress for me but it is starting to change.
Great sharing Sarah, it may seem like a small thing to clear, a blocked drain but it definitely relates to everything ‘#inner #outer #allrelated’ and makes a difference to how we feel.
The law of symbolism teaches us that absolutely everything is symbolic of a deeper meaning, nothing is simply ‘just that’. Therefore there is meaning in every single detail but we haven’t been brought up to think like that, our house floods and we go ‘bugger that’s a nuisance’ but don’t consider what the flood is reflecting or indeed if there is a purpose to the flood.
Its interesting to ponder on that which I procrastinate on and it is particular things, whether sorting a storage area of making certain phone calls at work. They all highlight something that not only needs addressing, but it highlights something for me to look at personally. Life is very beautiful when we begin to see that everything is there for us to see what we need to work on and let go of. It is all very beautifully constellated so that we are given every opportunity to evolve. The choice however is ours.
Reflection, reflection, reflection all supporting us to be able to look in the mirror one day and see God.
Wow, when you look at it like this, it means procrastination can cause much harm. So, no wonder our world is so sick, there are numerous things we adopt to avoid evolving and hence make us very sick.
When we understand how energy works through our body and that there are two different sources of energy, one is divine and in flow with the universe, and the other works against it. We can then start to understand why we procrastinate and how that heavy feeling of energy works to delay us from evolving. It can sometimes feel like a force pushing or dragging us away from something that needs to be attended to. And, when we don’t address this, it leaves us feeling stuck, stagnant and it can at times feel crippling.
There is a lot of comfort in trying to improve what we are doing wrong, so much that there is a temptation to find more wrong things in our life than actually exist, creating a meta wrong.
I wouldn’t even attempt to change a washer or fix my car I would get someone else to do it. Some jobs are for me and some are not. Washers are not in my department – we don’t all need to be able to do everything – together we make a team.
Nicola I also used to think that changing washers was not my department, partly due to the fact that I categorised them as a ‘man’s job’. But my approach to any job has now become, if the steps to completion are doable then I will give it a go.
ha ha I used to do everything so I am going the opposite way to you!
These days I am much more discerning of what is there for me to do and what is not.
and I’ve spent a lifetime palming everything off onto everyone else!
‘energetic congestion’ yes, we can feel generally clogged up in our lives and go into overwhelm at the amount of ‘stuff’ we have accumulated or the things we have to do especially the things we keep meaning to do but haven’t completed yet. A bit like clearing away after every meal and not leaving unwashed plates and mugs around, or putting away clean clothes when they are dry, the less we have hanging around us the clearer we feel.
What if we changed our approach to what we resist. I heard today of a staff member who loves walking from one building to another to pick up boxes because he knows it supports him to get some fresh air when other people hate the idea of going to get boxes. It really is relative in relation to our perspective.
A change in perspective can make a huge difference. Love the example you give there.
What a great way to look at those tasks that we keep putting off. That they are actually opportunities to heal or clear something. This puts a whole different angle on it so thank you.
There is nothing that we do, like or do not like that is not completely and utterly deliberate, as we are masters of energy we know how to orchestrate our life to the every detail.
It is remarkable how linked external factors in life and our internal relationship with life are. This would indicate that we can work on our internal issues in order to facilitate a change in the external, and at times we can also support an internal healing and resolution by taking loving steps in what is facing us on the external.
Love this inspiration to explore those points of resistance and to move towards them and deal with them: could it be that the greater the resistance, the greater the potential for clarity, expansion and moving forward? And the reason we resist so much is because we like holding on to the familiarity of situations as they are, and making an issue out of them: something to do, a distraction from moving forward which means we don’t have to let go and surrender, and can stay in (what we perceive to be as some kind of) ‘control’.
Just love your blogs, Alexis – so down to earth, honest, real and in your own gorgeous, inimitable style.
What I am profoundly aware of when I procrastinate is that the job I am avoiding starts to become bigger, with a heaviness that starts to weigh me down, causing me to push it away even further, in the hope that it may disappear. Which, of course, it never does. When I do commit to doing it, it’s never as onerous as I’d anticipated, there’s a tangible release within my body allowing me to feel how the delay of this one job has been affecting me – so there is no question that the cumulative effect of lots of delayed jobs is having a very physical affect.
Yes I have experienced that same build up of tension in my body when I am putting a job off.
Could it be the longer we put of that small task, the snapshot of what is required to complete it slowly grows and becomes a mural in our head?
I am a big fan of Alexis’ blogs too and her openness and honesty just blows you away and exposes many ill behaviours, ideas and beliefs.
Thanks Alison 😀
In the past I have used my chronic procrastination about certain aspects of my life almost as a badge of honour and can feel how this has been about my attachment to my individuality and how by committing to working on dissolving my ‘internal energetic congestion’ I will be contributing to the restoration of harmony internally and more widely.
Yes and Yes, if we don’t delay then we the tasks that need doing fly by, when we delay they always take longer. Interesting to look at why this is, often we could use it to justify why we delayed in the first place but what is becoming very clear is that it is there is ‘a time’ when things flow and when they do it takes ‘no time’.
David the expression ‘turn a mole hill into a mountain’ comes to mind, which is exactly what I’ve done with procrastinating (still) over changing the washer. Because I need a second person to go downstairs and turn the water off whilst the other person stays up here and lets them know if it’s worked and because I don’t know which tool to use to take the tap off and because I have already anticipated not being strong enough to get the tap off, I am still procrastinating over the washer. And the job hangs like an energetic albatross around my neck.
I like how honest you are in this article, it inspires me to also look at my resistance to technology and why I choose that.
The thing is with procrastination I know that I’m doing it and there will be consequences; as in I know I’ll then have to rush to finish something and my nervous energy will kick in (which feels awful) and I’ll feel as though I’ve produced something of a lesser quality. It’s as if we set ourselves up to feel awful about something.
I have never been a person that procrastinated obvious things, as they would disturb me in my quality of living immediately. But it is interesting to look at what point I avoid stepping forward and doing an extra round, like reacting always in the similar way, instead of choosing differently. It is a way of procrastination also.
Great point Stefanie, the way in which we procrastinate can be more subtle and hidden than the more obvious types of delay and avoidance. Such an important opportunity for us to look deeper and bring more understanding to why we do things as we do.
Would it be appreciating what you are doing ‘right’ and is right the right word?
It is never about right, but true. Which knows no judgement and no time.
Stephanie your comment supported me to come to the conclusion that procrastination can be applied to anything that obviously needs doing, that we intentionally keep avoiding, including attending to our emotional habits and responses.
These are the ones that actually initiate the delay in the more obvious ones.
‘…we can trace everything that exists in our outer world to an energetic starting point in our ‘inner world’’ So this gives an opportunity to address what is not working for us in the outer world. I recently started tidying up my filing system, having put it off for years. I learned just how much I put things off and how much better I felt when I had done it. I was also surprised as it wasn’t the disastrous pile of filing I thought it was- everything was essentially there- it just was in an ilegible mess and felt like it was creating havoc. In the end it didn’t take that long but I feel wholey different about that area of my life and myself.
It is the space and the power we avoid, why we procrastinate things. Once done, it needs a constant acceptance of that, otherwise you will create the same procrastination all the time, as a way of “coming over it”- your soul and stepping in your power knows no reliefs and breaks.
I love the relationship with space in the body that you are talking about here Alexis. What do we do on a daily basis that blocks up space or expands space in our bodies? And so how can we support ourselves to feel more spacious within ourselves.
Space is who we are, it’s simply that we fill it constantly with who we are not.
One of the biggest procrastinations for me is expenses as they are so unnecessarily complicated it takes forever to complete them and I then await the day they are returned to me because of the mistakes I have made. I am a great one for putting digits around the wrong way so this does not help. Yesterday they came winging back like a boomerang and today I have promised myself to take the time to sort them out and return them, but I admit my heart is not in this it reminds me of having to take spoonful’s of Cod liver oil in the winter months as a child ghastly experience I can tell you.
So Mary is the starting point of your procrastination the fact that you have put off truly understanding the sequencing of digits? And then this procrastination leads to a whole series of events that make it hard to apply yourself to because the initial reluctance to understand something has stained everything that follows it.
Alexis, this is a great question and is definitely worth pondering on; ‘Is it possible that by working on the things we resist and procrastinate over in our outer world, that we can affect our inner world?’ I know that if I clean my car or do those jobs that I have been putting off that it feels amazing and I feel much lighter and more joyful.
Useful to look back on how I used to be, because some years ago I was a master of procrastination. Many things delayed or not done at all, created a build up of stuff around me and reflected an inner state where I held on to too many emotions and this drained my life force. The turn around came when I chose to overcome inner insecurities and clear unnecessary baggage. The release of new energy suppressed for many years, meant I looked forward to my days and few things seemed ‘too much’ or arduous.
I think of all the things that cause me burdens today, they are things that I delay over doing.
Indeed Richard and well observed “resistance itself that is more troublesome than the situation” becoming aware of this and letting it go, opens a doorway to deeper insight and truer ways to approach things.
The thing is when we delay or procrastinate what we feel needs doing it is a constant drag on us. When for instance the bath needs cleaning but I don’t get around to it every time I have a shower in it I feel it and am affected by it as it is not clean or it at least asks more of me to stay with myself and not get affected. Just imagine all the little things we procrastinate and how this does not reflect back to us a purity that we are in essence and how much work it is for us to then stay connected, when if we do get on with these things we are constantly met with the reflection of the purity we are and this will support us to stay connected to our essence as well.
I’ve found that when we create a space at home or at work clear of clutter, ordered and beautiful, cleaning is no longer a task, or chore to be delayed, but an activity with purpose and looked forward to.
When I have a number jobs to do, I tend to start with large or more difficult ones and go on to the simpler tasks. This way I don’t have a sense of dread hanging over me.
Decluttering is a great example for many people in terms of procrastination. When we do not attend to this, it is a distraction, and a constant niggle playing in the background that it needs done. When we finally get round to the decluttering, we immediately feel the effects not only in the room but also in our bodies. I always feel amazing and clear after a good declutter and reorganisation of a room or cupboards. It is because I have created more space within and without.
There is nothing better than to get something done that I have been putting off and more often than not it turns out to be an enjoyable experience and I end up by wondering why I hadn’t done it sooner.
A super blog on the topic of procrastination. I know I can feel the difference in my body when I attend to and complete something I had been avoiding doing for whatever reason. I feel lighter and more able to tackle anything else I had been procrastinating on.
I greatly appreciate that this blog itself made it past the barricades of procrastination. When you see this habit is a way of us fighting evolution, this brings a lot of understanding to ourselves.
When we allow the thing between our ears to control us, is it not unlike a train yard with switches that leads us away from who we are?
We may be aware of many tasks, some that we think are big and some that we think are small we are resisting but it is opening ourselves up to the purpose knowing that every task needed to be done comes from our essence, therefore eliminating any comparison in the things we do when coming from the body, as the purpose is the quality through which we carry out the activities.
We don’t procrastinate for no reason, we know what we are putting off will ensure we look at an aspect of our lives we perhaps don’t want to.
I am finding these days that the more I address the procrastination in my inner world, the more the external manifestation of it melts away. Astonishing really given how entrenched certain aspects of it have been.
I can feel the energetic congestion of procrastination having played out in physical form too with my surroundings feeling cluttered or untidy and in my body with my digestions feeling overloaded or slow.
I’m finding that the jobs I dread because I see in them something that I think isn’t easy or will be complicated, or I fear being unable to do, when I commit to being present, I discover I have the skills, I can withstand whatever awareness I was avoiding in avoiding them. Indeed there are jobs I haven’t yet got around to doing but that’s ok. I don’t have to fear them – it’s not like someone is asking me to fly a plane or operate on someone). There is still a bit of the unknown, can I do this but actually if I’m present with me, loving and accepting of myself there is nothing to fear. Being willing to learn and make mistakes and ask for help if needed.
We might procrastinate and say ‘next lifetime’ but everything we do or don’t do this lifetime will directly affect what happens next time so why delay?
“The things that ‘dropped off’ the bottom of my to-do list, because I never got around to doing them, never really disappeared. They continue to sit deep within my body, like a fungus, until such time that I eventually get around to dealing with them.” So true Alexis, they never really disappear.
We complicate things by over-thinking them, rather than acting on tasks in the moment we feel to do them, which brings such a simplicity and harmony to life.
The human mind just loves to make things complicated and to make an issue about something, because its feed is circulation energy. The more we get involved in human interactions, instead of living the multidimensional, energetic beings we are, the more our mind gets identified and attention, which it loves.
Procrastination definitely leaves the body feeling heavy and stagnate and although I can feel the resistance, I find that if I can take one small step toward what I am resisting then the rest has the opportunity to flow. Once what I have been procrastinating about has been cleared it feels amazing
The thing I find with procrastination is that the longer I leave something the bigger it becomes … and yet when I actually stop to do it, it never takes nearly as long and isn’t the big thing I imagined it to be!
Are they like dust bunny’s under our furniture that magically gets bigger if not dealt with over time? They may look bad, but they have no substance and are easily cleaned away.
Amazing the blockages we put in our own way!
We’re all very busy brick layers, constantly placing energetic road blocks in our own way because if we did’t then we would know that we are the living essence of God. Simple.
Something I have found very supportive is to approach a task I am avoiding by finding ways of doing it that I really enjoy … for example if there is something I have to do on the computer then I will find a space to sit that feels super supportive, comfortable and nurturing at that time – and it can be different every time; If I need to dust, then finding a cloth or duster that feels lovely to hold today, put some favourite music on and this supports me to go about the dusting in a light and joyful way.
Paula you have reminded me of how I used to set myself up to study. It was winter time and so I would have a hot water bottle on my lap and another against my kidneys, I would have a blanket around my middle and my feet in Ugg boots on a cushion. I would also have a hot drink on the ready. I found that I put so much self care into setting myself up that it took the resistance away from studying.
Our outside world is simply a reflection for where we are at inwardly. Everything about how we are with ourselves has an outward expression. How we are in life, with people, how we conduct ourselves and how we move through our days speaks volumes to us. Do we take note of every detail?
Procrastination can be a collection of images that are fed to us through our thoughts to deters us from making decisions or acting on something. Like the example of cleaning the shelf, something very simple, I used to think it was hard work, make it bigger than it is, think it is boring or I don’t have time. When I don’t think too much about cleaning the shelf but simply just follow what my body feels to do, I can then easily pick up a clean cloth, clean the shelf and everything on it without any resistance. So, this highlights to me when I follow the cues from my body, I am less likely to procrastinate but when I follow the thoughts and images in my head procrastination seems to run my day.
Yes, today I had a bout of procrastination – or rather dreaded the thought of a meeting and the phone calls involved in different departments. My colleague who was there to help couldn’t make it so I was on my own. We got years worth of complications sorted (true) and afterwards I reflected on the situation. In the last week I have cleared a lot of why the situation pressed buttons for me: my righteousness about government systems being so complicated and other stuff. I also got I’m a master at making the complicated simple and interactions real and workable and can rely on this being there when I’m connected. I saw I don’t have to be nice or amenable or, conversely, hard and pushy, to do what is there to be done.
Procrastinating adds a weight to our bodies, like things left incomplete. I know I procrastinate on things because I perceive that I don’t have time. However you are right when you say that when we attend what’s needed space opens up, we feel lighter and interestingly that perceived lack of time is altered because we feel the importance within our body of completing what was needed. Great pondering.
Ah Richard you have highlighted for me that I have once again gone into a lot of resistance about my son resorting to excessive screen time now that he has finished school. It’s a tricky one because on the one hand I want to support him to the amazing person that I know him to be but on the other he should have the freedom to experience the consequences of his own choices. Having said all of this, I acknowledge that my resistance to the current situation is not good for either of us or the family dynamics.
The congestion part really jumped out at me as I’m physically congested at the moment and that is how it feels when I leave things stagnant in the background. It’s like a forever faint knocking on my body that becomes louder and louder until I deal with what I have been leaving for later. The space that then is revealed is palpable and every time I wonder why wouldn’t I want more of that!
I realised recently that it takes more energy to resist what needs to be done than simply getting on with life giving everything 100%.
Precisely Vanessa, and perhaps this is why we have huge rates of exhaustion because a majority of us resist our natural way, our path of evolution and being love.
The thing I have found with procrastination is that by delaying something that can’t really be avoided it usually takes twice as long. All the while I have been procrastinating, I have brought in doubt and an assortment of excuses as to why I can’t do something straight away and I have found this brings in complication and a lack of simplicity into the process. What I do now, is if I feel I am trying to avoid something I stop and feel what it is I am trying to avoid and then from there I will know what is my next step.
Great observations Alison and I can relate to what you share. I’ve found we can build order and simplicity into our lives by bringing things forward and not leaving them to the last minute or delaying. If I know I have something to do by a certain date, where possible, I do it straight away.
And I choose this because I prefer the space created by doing something straight away above the tension and anxiousness that comes with delay.
Very good point! It takes far longer to procrastinate and also takes up more time and energy than getting on and doing it. Something I am slowly starting to change. Love that if this happens you are starting to stop and feeling into why, very inspiring.
I love this explanation about procrastination. I too have noticed how when any areas I have stagnated over frees up by me engaging with it, so much internal space seems to open up as well. It is really freeing and empowering, which shows how we keep ourselves stifled through continuing the act of procrastination.
You’ve introduced a new combination of words for me today Alexis – ‘energetically congested’, just the sound of it and you know it’s not good for you!
It sure is a heavy and dragging feeling when we procrastinate and then when we actually choose to stop the behaviour and get on with things in the manner in which they are ready to be done with the quality that is honouring of who we are, it truly does feel amazing.
Spot on Natalie, the dragging and heavy feeling is exactly how it feels to me too, and so beautifully said how we can discard procrastination by honouring who we are and move with a quality that deeply supports us.
It is very important to feel into the root cause, why a special step or action is not being taken.
For example, if you want to quit smoking- you can force yourself out of discipline to quit, but the energy why you smoked did not change, as you only did stop by hard discipline.
Another behaviour will be there for sure, that represents the same outplay like it was with the cigarettes.
The moment we renounce why we do thing with absolute honesty, the truth supports you to resolve it immediately.
I like your expansion of the conversation Stephanie. It exposed for me that while I believe I’ve mastered procrastination in life, in one area, I’ve not mastered it at all, namely my relationship with self. I’ve the opportunity to go deeper and be more surrendered, but still delay. Yes, I’ve gone some way, but there’s more to come and the question to ask myself is ‘Why am I delaying the next step?’
And the beautiful thing is there is never a stop to it- there will always be more to go and surrender to. Everyone has their own pace and should not go unregarded and dismissed – it is never about being perfect but taking the steps that are necessary.
No matter what we are procrastinating over, it keeps us in the spin of circulation- it wants us to be involved and sells us the feeling of having an issue. But to not move forward is the only issue creating aspect, not actually that there is a step to be taken. As life will always have steps for us to take only avoiding it creates delay, disease and reaction. Not the step itself.
I have many jobs that I want to achieve in a day and there is sometimes a ‘Can’t be bothered to do that right now’ that slips in. We used to joke about having a Round Tuit – as in I’ll do it when I get a Round Tuit (around to it). I often end up late going to bed working on jobs that need doing that day that I have procrastinated on.
Not looking at the obvious congested behaviours as in procrastination is indeed like cutting us off from our wisdom, it bungs us up. If we look at what is a hump, bump, block and clear them, yes I agree more flow in life and yes more wisdom. Great examples and observations here…love the power of honesty.
How amazing all our lives would be if we were to complete eeevvveeerrryy task when it comes up so we would continually be making space for the next, next, next and next item to arise so we can evolve and not be a stick in the mud, hoping the tide will bring a change.
Exactly! Could we be avoiding …. space…. evolution…. responsibility…. is it all really up to us …. right now…. this minute….
Yes Vanessa agreed, and maybe we are also fully addicted to be fulfilled by living in our own mess, which is our rose coloured glasses?
This blog makes a lot of sense because when I do get on with what needs doing there is this feeling that a weight comes off me and space opens up. It also applies with people I’d say because if there is a relationship issue that’s not settled then it means something in myself has not been addressed yet.
Resisting something (e.g., technology) and procrastinating over something (e.,g., fixing a dripping laundry tap) may not always be synonyms. Resistance seems to be a more general category that may happen for a variety of reasons which might even be reasonable. Procrastinating is much more heavy weighted word pointing to something that somewhere within us weights also heavily.
With procrastination slips in far easier the poison of self criticism as it is a more conscious delay. Resisting comes more with the flavour of ignorance.
When we are willing to get to work, even though we might not know how to do it, the help is there that we need.
When I have addressed those things I have put off, I have found it quite surprising what I have then discovered about myself.
“There’s something about having to take everything off a shelf, dust it and then replace it, that simply makes me want to just give up.” When we feel this perhaps we should ask if there is too much ‘stuff’ on the shelf.
Also, it reminds me of how I feel sometimes when I know I need to clear out old stuff, some times we think it is easier just to keep things as they are, the comfort of the familiar. Along with things we think we do not have time….ahhhhhh, we so often get this story that we do not have space, so a whole shelf, wardrobe, self care habits etc to clear out, spring clean, to fit exercise in etc, feel like one mountain too many. When in fact it is so beneficial to look, observe, clean, clear out and reorder things in life. And yes as you say we may find we did not need so much there in the first place. Making the next reorder and clean, more supportive and a lot less arduous.
From experience when I start to do things that I have procrastinated about … paperwork, fixing something, cleaning my car etc my body .. well my whole being, feels like something stuck has shifted. It feels lighter and I feel more joy-full and also more purposeful.
“Is it possible that by working on the things we resist and procrastinate over in our outer world, that we can affect our inner world?” So many of us can demonstrate this to be true. Simple things like cleaning and clearing out old unwanted and unnecessary stuff from our lives frees up space. Just yesterday I cleared away to the recycling box a pile of old magazines – some unopened – that had been awaiting my attention. That simple act made a big difference to the rest of my day.
I have been there and know this situation well, procrastination can be truly painful but as also is written here to understand what is playing out on a deeper level.
Yes we get a sense of what is going on underneath the obvious procrastination, but we do not often allow ourselves the space to be understanding of what it is revealing to us…this article is a great exploration of everyday habits we have that show us more than the superficial frustration, annoyance or overwhelm.
If we leave corners or pockets of our lives unaddressed it festers and that is what we carry with us everywhere until the moment we chose to deal with it, gosh how much lighter would we feel if we just got on and dealt with all those pockets?
I love that approach, ‘if I can do that then what else can I do?’, that completely changes any burdensomness with a task to one which is inspiring ourselves to commit more.
When we can connect to the space we create by getting things done and maintain that as the focus rather than being weighted down by the investment of wanting to do anything other than what we are being asked to, we change the rules of the game.
Alexis I love this view of the world, how often do I procrastinate about things and keep them there instead of addressing what is needed at the time and moving on. Freeing up space for the future.
After reading this yesterday I could not settle because I had a small pile of ironing that I had been procrastinating on, so I got up and finished it off and it took maybe 15 minutes. It just goes to show how we can make things more complicated than they need to be.
This completely makes sense why it feels so great when we clear things out of the house, tidy up and have a sort out; ‘Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow.’
And a miracle when the universe provides us with the precise support needed. A chance conversation with someone opened the way for me to connect with someone who supported me to bring order and simplicity to my computer files.
A great blog Alexis that is all too relatable! From clearing and completing things, I am also appreciating the living qualities that space offers and holds us in.
“But space is not empty: on the contrary, it’s crammed full of communication – communication from the Universe. Universal Communication knows no bounds and carries with it the answers to every problem that man is currently facing and indeed will ever face.”
I love it when we find a way to turn something that once seemed arduous or a chore to become enjoyable and purposeful. I’ve booked a commercial cleaning company to clean a large carpet at work that became grubby in parts from intense footfall and neglect. Once impulsed to act, my concern was ‘How do I prevent this from happening again once cleaned? I became creative, considered every angle, began working on the project before the cleaners arrived and found I loved problem solving especially when related to purpose. Once I understood the source of the problem was lack of awareness: I allowed the situation to arise in the first place (procrastinated) and with a different and ‘whole’ approach I could support others and myself to move differently and delicately in the space and clean as we go. So yes, a seemingly external problem led to an inner shift that affected the way I related to and moved in the space I share with others.
Alexis what you have written is so true and I know I procrastinate over many things leaving them until last but when I have completed them the relief in my body is enormous it’s like a heavy load I was carrying has been released and I can feel the space again in my body.
It is interesting how so often we can put things off yet when we do them they feel so great. Which begs the question why would we put them off in the 1st place? Could it be that if we simply did things when they were there to be done we then would not have all time time thinking about avoiding doing them and so would have the space and opportunity to be more with ourselves and feel how amazing we truly are?! Just a thought!
Maybe having a long list of things to do, that we are procrastinating on keeps us in a low state of anxiousness and busyness, which we can easily identify ourselves with. So really why would we want this? As with your question why would we put them off in the fist place? We need to feel why we choose what we choose and how that keep us from our own next steps.
Very true we sure do. So often I hear people say they are really busy but when you break down what they are doing it really is not very much but the amount of time they spend ‘faffing’ around makes them think and seem like they are super busy. Often it the people who just get on with things and do not make a fuss who are the super busy ones.
Great to reflect on procrastination Alexis. If I have a job that needs doing I don’t have a problem with getting somebody in to do it for me if I feel I don’t have the time or skills to do it myself, but I still often procrastinate with getting them in. For me this highlights my issue with completion and my tendency to deliberately delay things.
Great subject to bring up, I just had a flood of things come to me that I put off from doing or procrastinate about and the first one that springs to mind is writing, i.e. my expression but a number of other things as well that come to mind that after reading this blog I will really have to look at and get to the bottom of.
You are spot on Alexis that nothing ever falls off our list! The unattended items are like our shadow that is forever present.
Absolutely Alexis and the consequences of putting things off are multi-layered too: we stress over things that should’ve been long gone, get ashamed to face others involved in this game, get overwhelmed and super busy, this list could go on. Great to see that in a way the details of each incident are not so important – they’re just the current way our spirit is attempting to block out God.
Wow, brilliant blog Alexis, so relatable and much to ponder. When I procrastinate it feels heavy and dense. But when I surrender and do what is needed without over thinking, my jobs get done and like you shared, it feels light and more spacious.
I love the timing of this blog as, even though I have been dismantling the PhD I have had in procrastination, there are a few things that somehow have slipped off my radar and are still awaiting completion. So, thank you for the reminder – with the graphic picture – that they will “continue to sit deep within my body, like a fungus, until such time that I eventually get around to dealing with them.” That picture, and the accompanying fungal feeling, is more than enough to get me to take the next step and to finally complete them.
You know in the back of your mind that there are things left undone or not done in their correct timing and it quietly nags away at you. I feel this as a drain and it can take the joy out of my day. When I eventually do get onto things I have been putting off, my first thought is always, “that was quick” and “why on earth did I put that off for so long”? Your explanation that it’s avoiding an inner blockage that we don’t want to deal with or let go of makes so much sense. So, when there is delay it’s not about finding the time or the solution, it’s asking myself what I am avoiding in myself.
I hang my laundry indoors on a rack and once dry there is generally a few days before they actually get taken off. It stands there and bugs me every time I look at it (it’s an open plan room so hard to not see it!). But like you say Fiona it’s often quick and effortless to get on with things and not procrastinate.
I am going to go take my laundry down now!
This is brilliant – totally busts our excuses for not getting on with things. Often we’ll tell ourselves that we don’t have time to do those things that are forever on our to-do lists, and then spend far more time thinking about the things we haven’t done instead of just getting on with it, and leaving space for whatever is next to come along. What I love about this is that it isn’t just about getting things done, but the way we do what is there to be done. There is always more – greater levels of commitment and quality – love, in a word – that we can bring into what we do.
It’s extraordinary the way I make jobs that I’m resisting doing into such a big deal but when I sit down and actually do them they don’t take long at all and I love the feeling of spaciousness and lightness I feel in m body. I make completing things into such a big deal when the reality is it’s so not.
I love the way this is expressed and the possibility that what we procrastinate about comes from a delay within us first. It makes so much sense that we set ourselves up to not evolve.
When you put it like that procrastination makes no sense whatsoever, why would we block communication from the Universe?
We are all masters in some areas and not in others. But I don’t see this as a flaw. It’s true there are consequences that each of us have to bear, but understanding ourselves and why we do it, is key. If we do not like anything in our external world, we are not loving a part of ourselves, and only in deeply appreciating who we are will we find this behavior to be absurd and impossible. Appreciation opens up space. Rather than focusing on how much I lack and oops how much awfulness I’m causing myself and others, the intention is different.
We can come up with all kinds of excuses and justifications to procrastinate the things that need to get done in life but the truth of the matter is this only delays our evolution and what is the inevitable.
Resolving procrastination is to heal oneself.
Very true Alexis. Procrastination in itself is just an identity issue, so picking away at it by taking on those irksome jobs is an awesome and evidently very effective approach!
Love practical analogies like this Alexis, I very much enjoy your writing.
Just love this blog….everything is connected….everything…and nothing can happen without it affecting everything else …
Putting the emphasis on what we do wrong is a great comfort as we then don’t need to look at what we do that is true and loving, however small, and build on that.
An interesting topic and one I have been pondering on for a while now. What I came to lately is that procrastination is like a slow-suicide for me in the sense that when I keep putting things off (through fear, laziness etc…) it does not feel very good in my body, it makes me feel sluggish and disengaged in life and this is quite disheartening. Whereas on the other hand action and completion do give the space to feel…what’s next? and I feel much lighter, clearer and engaged. And I have been playing around with the big and small items. Laundry is my latest one; when I bring my washing in from downstairs, I used to put it on ba bench to be ‘put away later’. Now when I bring it up, I put it away straight away and it feels much clearer and spacious in my body, compared to when I didn’t, I could feel the drag in my body.
I so know what you mean Sarah. It’s like leaving little pockets of anchors every where to hold us back and down so we don’t just get on with it. Saying this now, I can feel the comfort in it and the delaying tactics… because if there wasn’t all these things to come back to and complete then I would have more space on my hands and what then?!
This really makes sense; ‘I can feel how when I get stuck on something in my external environment, it is reflecting an inner stagnation.’
I can so relate to avoiding dusting Alexis … I will do all other cleaning and avoid dusting, but like you say – it doesn’t go away and we see it everywhere all the time so it is constantly on our mind! Take the simple step of doing it and the task has gone – no more energy required.
Alexis, I love what you are sharing in this article about dealing with the things that we put off. I have been putting off cleaning my office and when I actually decided to just get on and tidy and clean it it felt amazing, I felt lighter and more joyful, so I can really understand how important it is to not allow things to fester and to not be in delay.
Stunning Alexis and a profound reminder of how everything we do and don’t do is a result of a quality of energy we are willingly aligning to as such magnifying in the space we are and occupy.
When we procrastinate, the task becomes bigger than Ben Hur … when it can be as simple as taking one small step at a time to start.
If we have our own individual flavours of procrastination and delay then we each have a responsibility to address them, they cannot belong to someone else.
Alexis, wonderful article. I also love the symbolism of taps with universal flow and communication!
I am really good at getting other people to do the things I actually avoid doing because I find them challenging, this hides that I avoid it so for me it is super important to look at when I do this.
I’ve found the same Alexis, when I finally tackle something I’ve been procrastinating on it opens up a tremendous space within me, and I’m always surprised at how big I’ve made the task but it’s often completed in a very short time. Completing things (without push or drive) definitely brings a flow of energy back to my body, those tasks we haven’t dealt with are a bit like a cork in the flow of energy and vitality.
I can totally relate to what you share Alexis. Procrastination is a very effective way to build pockets of denseness in the space we live and thus in our bodies so that we can more easily resist the universal communication that is constantly pouring through us. We are effectively building a dam against the flow of life. We may play dumb on the surface but deeper down we know exactly what we are doing and why.
Wow, I love how you went from changing a washer in the tap to universal communication.
Shami I still haven’t changed the washer, I am well and truly stuck on that one!
Lol that’s hysterical but at least you have the Universal Communication!! 🙂
Good job that The Universe is happy to be on repeat!
It sure is otherwise we would get very stuck! What I love though is each time we are shown something is comes from a different angle so appears to be new yet it is the same thing, which shows the Universe will never give up on us until we get it!
ain’t nothing new about the sound of my dripping tap!
That’s funny! For me now when things need to be done it starts to bug me when I put them off.
Oh it’s bugging me but the inertia is bigger than the bugging!
Yes but once you start you know how great it and you will feel! For me its starting it that can often be the problem, then I usually love doing it!
It’s done! With the help of my amazing neighbour the washer has been replaced and the tap is no longer dripping. Phew, that one took a while.
That is awesome – it is amazing how long we can leave things, saying I will get around to it and yet it was not much a big deal and feels soo great once it is sorted.
I am one of those people who love dusting, i dust my house at least once a week and the reason for that is because when the dust is swept clean I feel like I can breathe again. When I hoover or tidy up but not dust, the room does not feel clean. When I dust, i’m aware that i’m removing stagnant energy from my home which gives it vibrancy and an umpth for life, it makes me feel vital and energetic, enthusiastic to get on with other things. Knowing all of that, and how a simple act of dusting can transform the way we feel, how can I not love it?
Yep I agree when we stop procrastinating and get things done that have been there or niggling for ages it feels sooo good. I then have to ask the question ‘why did it take so long?’ .. me getting in the way of getting it done. So confirmation that when we get ourselves out of the way the flow can happen again.
Very timely blog Alexis. My partner and I have been procrastinating over working on areas of our house for sometimes many months. Finally we are committing to working on all the little details, offering our space in our home a much deeper quality of stillness and love and gosh it always amazes us how open and clear and supportive it actually is to work on what needs to be worked on.
‘But space is not empty: on the contrary, it’s crammed full of communication – communication from the Universe.’ It makes total sense, therefore, to ensure that we don’t procrastinate to keep those lines of communication open!
I agree Michelle and procrastination are like many invisible hands holding us away from making the next step be it large or small. It is an energy that weighs us down but it only exists when we invite them into our body.
When we procrastinate it is also interesting to observe how this affects our relationships with ourselves, how easily we can give sway to those negative thoughts about ourselves and how this, in turn, affects all our relationships.
Very true, nothing is nothing and everything is everything. It is amazing how much we are constantly being communicated with when we allow ourselves to feel it.
When we are procrastinating over something we are simply in resistance to an offered point of evolution. When I have finally got round to actioning something after dancing round the edges of it, it is amazing how clear I then feel or how I have strengthened a foundation in my relationship to myself.
To procrastinate is to hold on to things begging to be cleared or actioned and we carry that energy around with us until we do.
Such an excellent post! I’ve got a lot of things around me that need doing, lots. But yesterday there are two that are now super getting on my nerves- putting up a new kitchen blind and a mirror. Both require some degree of skill, which I do have but I don’t enjoy drilling holes with a cordless, gutless drill that I have or cutting fabric perfectly straight. My reticence is I want to get them perfect and also the area around them needs painting. But letting go of perfection just to get them up would feel amazing. After reading this I’m going to stay open to greater learnings as to what I have been avoiding as feels there is a lot of stagnation at hand.
This is surgical work you are offering us here Alexis, that we are all capable of doing.
What an inspiring blog! I’m cool with technology but I procrastinate on written expression, leaving writing things till late at night. Apart from that, I have a pair of trousers that each time I put them on I tell myself I must take the hem up. It’s an easy task, just requires me to sit down and do it, I’ve had them for over a year! I also need to clear my wardrobe of clothes I no longer wear – I’m hanging on to stuff that is taking up valuable storage space. I used to think Procrastination was my middle name, I was/am so good at it. This blog is a lovely way to let go of the self judgement and learn from the reflections it offers.
Quite Brilliant Alexis Stewart what a way to look at those jobs you put off — I have a few things I need to complete and boy-O-boy I agree and love when the universe communicates to me. If this is the result its time I complete.
I love your clarification on space and that it is not empty space that is created but space to connected deeper with universal truths.
.. and this is the joy of completion; the embracing of the next expanded point of evolution.
So true Alexis – procrastination is in full flow when we don’t bring completion to things – even the smallest of daily tasks left incomplete, makes a difference to the feeling of that quality of space around and within us.
I notice that as well as getting things done creates the space procrastination taking both time and place. The simple example would be not washing dishes straight after cooking or eating. They accumulate in no time and it take much longer to do it.
Spot on Alexis and it is shocking how often when I finally get round to doing a task that I have been procrastinating about it doesn’t take long and then I marvel at how much energy I have expended in resisting doing it since it first presented itself.
Same here Helen, I find it requires more energy to resist than it does to go with the flow and expansion of the universe.
This makes so much sense because putting things off can cause a real disturbance in the body. It’s like having some laundry that we know needs ironing but keep putting it off until the next load is added, then there is a decision that has to be made to leave it again or to deal with it all. Then once it’s done there is this sense of settlement in the body.
I sure know that “disturbance in my body”, intimately so. For me, it feels like a weight that I have just attached internally and the longer I put off completing what’s waiting, the heavier it gets. Unfortunately, if I put it off too long I get used to the weight but by then there’s another weight joining it, and so the heavier I feel. How very exhausting, procrastination is to live with.
Yes, I know what you mean Julie. This morning there were some things that needed to be put away. I walked out of the room and said to myself, I’d deal with them later. Then I stopped and walked back in because I could feel the immediate tension in my body from leaving the room with this thought and I put the things away. When I walked out of the room again, I felt a sense of settlement in my body.
Love this post – so relevant for me! “Addressing things in our outer world deals with the inner blockages, and so then frees up space within us for more clarity and more flow.” This is so true! I’m not great at completion and had some pride in being a jack of all trades, but master of none. Paying attention to completion was shown to me in the swimming pool when I would stop swimming just before reaching the end of the pool. Observing this small detail has enabled me to see where else in life I stop – just before the end – and make changes that feel so different to my whole being.
Beautiful to become aware of our movements and relate them back to other areas of our lives.
I have also discovered that if I continue to appreciate and expand those areas that I am strong in they bring up other areas in my life so you can take either approach.
It’s beautiful how we each find our own way of deepening within life.
Very true and if we keep that emphasis, then that which is being brought up in other areas is kept in perspective and can become quite small.