My Journaling Prompts for Procrastination

Hey friends.

Procrastination can be funny to picture. In my mind, it is that little devil on our shoulder that tells us “Why do today what you can put off until someother time? Or, better yet, do we even need to do it at all?” While from the other shoulder, a stern angelic figure witnesses the situation and shakes its head in disapproval.

Don’t get me wrong: sometimes it makes sense to simply embrace it.

You don’t feel like filing your taxes after one long day at work? OMG, please my dear, sit on the couch and have a cup of tea, be my guest. (Any resemblance to real events and/or to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental).

But is it really just laziness or lack of time management, or is there something deeper at play?

Why Do We Procrastinate?

Spoiler alert!

As a rule of thumb: procrastination is rarely just a time management issue but rather a coping mechanism. Instead of dealing with an unpleasant task, we prefer to put it off and engage in something that provides an immediate and temporary mood boost.

Can you blame yourself? I surely cannot.

Sometimes we get pulled away by distractions, sometimes, we feel overwhelmed by many priorities, some other times we don’t know where to start, sometimes the task we promised to complete conflicts with a core value of ours. All of us have perfectly valid reasons for putting things off.

I believe we’re all familiar with the situation when procrastination starts to spiral out of control, and guilt begins adding up to the pre-existent anxiety and together end up shaping a charming loop of stuckness and frustration. It doesn’t feel good.

When procrastination transitions from being a momentary pleasure to a constant source of guilt and anxiety, it can become hard to handle. Being able to recognise it and showing up with compassion for the root causes can really help us break the cycle and regain perspective.

Let’s try to do that. With this article I want to share with you some Journaling Prompts that help my clients and me deal with it.

Through journaling, we can bridge the gap between our conscious and subconscious minds and reveal limiting beliefs and patterns we are not aware of yet.

Almost like Magic, only it’s Science.

Sceptical? Give it a try! You might be surprised by what could emerge.

Make yourself comfy..

Treat yourself as someone your love and spoil yourself for a moment.

Play a ‘Focus music’ playlist. Make yourself a good cup of tea. Roll yourself in your thickest blanket. It’s going to a cafe and getting a nice slice of cake that does it for me.

Grab a pen and your favourite journal and start going through the following questions. Not necessarily in the listed order, just start from whatever it’s easier for you to answer at this moment.

Journaling questions

What exactly am I avoiding?
Why is it important to deal with it?
What are the consequences of not dealing with it at all?
What’s the hardest thing about it? Where do I feel it in my body?
What is the worst thing that I think could happen if I fail? Is it really true?
What is the worst thing that I think could happen if I succeed? Is it really true?
What strategies have worked for me in the past to overcome procrastination, and how can I apply them to this situation?
What would make it easier for me to start right now?
What is the first action I can take right now to start working on this task?
What can I do to break down this task into smaller, more manageable steps?
What resources do I need to complete this task? How can I obtain them?
How can I create a positive and motivating environment to work on this task?
What will be the benefits of completing this task, and how will it improve my life or work?
Who can I ask for support or help with this task?
How can I stay focused and avoid distractions while working on this task?
How will I reward myself once I’m done with this task?

Take a break.. Maybe have a short walk.
Then come back to your questions a give a quick read to the answers.

I hope it’s been useful!

Maybe this short exercise made you aware of some resources you didn’t consider before. Maybe you discovered that the task feels very hard because it conflicts with something important for you.

Ultimately, procrastination is a master we can learn from.

Wondering what’s next?

If this article has sparked some learnings and you’d like to get some help in digesting and unpacking them, feel free to send me your thoughts. I would absolutely love to hear from you, support you in understanding what’s holding you back make sure we know