Procrastination as a Form of Stress Relief

Procrastination. Overwhelm. Exhaustion. 

We’ve noticed these words come up a lot these days, along with a whole lot of guilt. Maybe it has something to do with leftover stress from the holidays, catching up after them, and hoping to kick off the new year on the right foot. Whatever it is, we’re hearing lots of people feeling a lot of guilt and frustration, angry with themselves for procrastinating and ending up in an even more stressful position. 

Here’s the thing, though. Procrastination is often a form of stress relief. It’s a sign that we are in need of relief, and compassion, rather than discipline. There can be some good things that come from it–if yours fits in that category, then keep it up!

If not, I would challenge you to take a look at how you’ve used procrastination to deal with stress.  Modifying the ways that procrastination is used as a coping skill may make the stress relief long-lasting, rather than short-term relief that results in an even bigger pile of stress we’ve pushed just a bit further up the road. So, instead of getting stuck in the frustration, is there a different approach you could be using? 

Here are some ideas we have:

1. Get started. 

   Getting started can be half the battle. Give yourself ten minutes to work on the task. Sometimes even using a timer can help! Commit to just that ten minutes, with the idea that if after ten minutes, you really cannot complete the task you can stop. When you get started, you may find that you complete it much more easily or quickly than you thought. If not, well, you’re at least ten minutes closer to getting it done.

   If ten minutes works but you don’t naturally want to continue working on it, you might try taking breaks in between each cycle of ten minutes. Ten minutes of focus, a couple minutes of scrolling through your social feed of choice, then ten more minutes of focus.

2. Break it Down

   It’s way too easy to get overwhelmed thinking about a task that may take less time or effort to complete than it would to procrastinate it! Something we find helpful is to really know what you’re dealing with–how long will this actually take, what will it actually entail to complete? Once you know exactly what you’re up against, it’s a whole lot easier to take that first step.

   If you need to clean out your closet, what will it take to get there? Do you have to wash your clothes first? Pull everything out to start fresh? Separate out tops from bottoms? Fold and hang clothing? How long will each task take? 15 minutes? If you knew it would only take an hour, would you be more inclined to get started? If not, could you tackle just one or two and go from there?

3. Schedule Your Time

   Speaking of time, if you knew the task would only take an hour, could you find an hour sometime in your week to schedule it ahead of time? Sometimes all we need is to visualize that the task will be done, and that confidence is the extra motivation we need. Scheduling it also helps to ensure we have time to just focus on that one task, rather than trying to squeeze it around 3 other things we’re focused on at once. If you’re able, try to plan yourself some time to work on it without other distractions popping up.

4. Be Kind to Yourself

   Dwelling on how much time has already been spent just adds to the snowball effect and the stress. It helps to remember that nobody is perfect and that procrastination is just a form of relief. It’s a lot more motivating to focus on moving forward and doing better next time, to create that very same relief long term.

Do you struggle with procrastination? Let us know what you have found helpful!

3 Reasons to Consider Telehealth for Therapy

While we learn to navigate the new and ongoing changes to our lives, it is important that we continue to care for ourselves.  Now, and even before 2020, there are a couple things that can make going to therapy more difficult. Telehealth is one solution to many of these obstacles that made seeking therapy inaccessible to so many. For many, there are physical (and even emotional!) limitations preventing them from seeking help. My goal is to help you get past life’s obstacles and help you to be the best version of yourself.

Even if you can find the extra time in your day for therapy, often finding the time for commuting, child care, etc is just out of reach. Luckily, telehealth comes to you. Whether you are getting back into the world on vacation or stuck at home with a cold, you will still be able to commit to bettering your mental health. The accessibility of Telehealth will help accommodate your schedule, and make sure there’s always time for therapy.

Finding a therapist is hard. Beside the physical obstacles, you need to find someone you can connect with. And even if you do connect, they must be qualified to provide the care you need. Telehealth broadens your opportunity to find a therapist that can help you. You are not limited to the therapist in your area and can find someone you connect with regardless of location. 

Affordable and accessible therapy should be available to everyone. If you find yourself debating if you can afford therapy, it is important to reduce the cost as much as possible. No transportation cost, no added childcare costs, telehealth can give you access to care you previously couldn’t afford.

Self Care & Self Compassion

Lately things have started to feel like March 2020 all over again; vaccines are just about all anyone can talk about and some pieces of life are returning to pandemic-mode. There is pressure surrounding new variants and increased pressure around the decision to be more careful, not do things that feel “against the rules”. We’ve been hearing the line “unprecedented times” for over almost two years; at this point in the pandemic I want to take a moment to create space for dealing with all of the stresses and pressure. How do you make the best decision for you? How do you make your decision and stick to it when it may feel like there are conflicting opinions or disappointment?

We’ve seen many differences in opinions, increased tension, and gaslighting--among families, friends and colleagues. We are overwhelmed and depleted from having to cope with the stressful situations stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s important to continue prioritizing self-care and practicing self-compassion. The first step is becoming aware of what we’re feeling, even though it may be the very thing we have become accustomed to tuning out.

What are the rules anymore? Know that there are no absolute right answers. We have  been hearing the unprecedented times line for over a year, and “the times” are just that: unprecedented. We haven’t seen this before and there is no rule book. No one knows exactly how to handle this and no one knows how to handle it best for you, better than you do.

 I encourage you to take a couple moments to sit and reflect on your own feelings about these decisions. Tune out the noise. Analyze these emotions. Sometimes taking a few moments to sort out these thoughts and feelings can be helpful in processing your current emotional state and increasing self-awareness, free of others’ opinions, concerns, and judgements. Therapy can be a great place to get more personalized help to process these thoughts and feelings, build up coping skills, and help you keep moving forward.

At the end of the day, these decisions are about your comfort level and about how you can help those around you. As you’re making those decisions, make sure they are reasonable for your mental health, not just your as well as physical health. They are your decisions, after all! You know you best.   As always, if managing this gets to be too much, don’t hesitate to reach out to myself or to a therapist in the Chicago area. Therapy is a great way to get help with your mental health, even if you just need a few sessions to “tune up” surrounding managing the stress of the world this year.