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Woman in eyeglasses laying on her arm due to boredom. Struggling with anxiety, procrastination or depression. Get online counseling in Ohio 44122 to overcome feelings of laziness, frustrations dealing with COVID-19, stay-at-home, sheltering in place and developing cabin fever.

Combat Procrastination While Sheltering-In-Place

More Time on our hands

Schedules have thinned out significantly. Meetings and activities that preoccupied our attention, are now postponed. When we do drive, we gladly follow the speed limit. Life is much slower than before.  Nevertheless, this may not be completely true for everyone. Stay-at-home parents who are homeschooling or those who are working from home on zoom conferences for several hours may still feel stressed and harried. Overall, even with the stress of work and home responsibilities, we find ourselves saying, “I’m bored” or “I’ve watched everything on Netflix.” We can agree it is a good time to set goals and focus on making needed changes in our life.

 

The Procrastination Process

Procrastination is a common behavior. Even the most productive professionals find themselves procrastinating. This activity is formed from avoiding activities that seem unpleasing and unappealing, this is called “Aversion”. Freud talked about the “pleasure principle” of the id. That the part of us that avoids pain and seeks pleasant things. We all know, there are things we have to do because they just have to be done.  Through Avoidance, we can convince ourselves that it does not need to be done. Are any of these convincing statements familiar?

  • “I have time, I can do it later”
  • “I am tired, I deserve a break.”
  • “There’s too much to do.”

We cannot hide behind some justifications anymore. “I’m just so busy…” is on vacation until further notice.

We can avoid by engaging in behaviors that distract us from the task such as scrolling on social media, television, talking purposelessly, doing anything else. Recognize that you may have aversion to completing a task and you can still complete it.

Diagram about Procrastination Rebirth Counseling and Therapy Services Beachwood Ohio 44122. Offers online Therapy, Christian Counseling, Maritial Counseling in Ohio, Premarital counseling in Cleveland, depression, anxiety, self-esteem, and more.

 

Seize the Day: Suffocate Procrastination

In a subsequent post, I will elaborate on strategies to reduce avoidance behaviors and increase meaningful activity. It seems important to create a framework to support challenging procrastination. Think of “seizing the day” as the mindset that is the foundation for increasing overall productivity. Think about how procrastination impacts your well-being. Review the following tips as ways of increasing your ability to manage procrastinating thoughts and behaviors.

Set a Bedtime and a Wake Time

Bedtime:

Your sleep has been completely disrupted. You probably realize that you have lost track of days and times. Some people have described their experience similar to the movie Groundhog Day. I liken it to the Edmond Dantès in the Count of Monte Cristo keeping track of the days in prison by making tally marks on the wall. I’ve recently purchased a nice digital desk clock that displays the date-time and weather. It’s been a “day saver”.

Procrastination does best when there is little or no order. In general, a day is structured around the time we wake up and fall asleep. If these times change drastically each day, we can increase feeling off-balance, tired, or having difficulty focusing.

Ask yourself these questions:

  • How many hours do I need to sleep to feel rested?
  • How long does it take me to fall asleep?

Add your answers together to give you the amount of time you will need to set aside for bedtime. I encourage you to identify a goal time to go to bed and attempt to go to bed within 45 minutes of that time.

Hands raised, accomplished in the morning. Counseling for happiness, against depression, anxiety, procrastination in Beachwood, Ohio 44122Wake Time:

Many people wake multiple times a night. That is normal. We can wake because of physical discomfort, needing to use the restroom or something else. These incidences are not true wake times, often you are able to go back to sleep. If you find yourself waking up multiple times at night, ensure that you are not looking at a clock. Clocks stimulate our brain which will wake you up. Determine a time to wake up, and set a goal to wake up within 30 minutes of that time.

 

Create intention from the start of the day

A family friend creates a post every morning on all of her platforms with the statement, “We made it.” The heart of that statement is gratitude. Also, it is an intentional action to post salutation of thankfulness daily. What do you do every morning that spark excitement about living another day? Stretching, exercise, reflection, journaling, bird watching, prayer, devotion are all examples of intentional moments in the morning. How we start our day often impacts that flow of the rest of our day.

Procrastination takes time to overcome as we are constantly battling the urge to avoid unpleasant emotions. It takes work, and it starts with recognizing your own procrastination process. Stay tuned for additional information about managing procrastination while Sheltering in place.

 

Receive Online Counseling for Procrastination in Ohio

Want to learn more about the procrastination process and step out of the defeating cycle of avoidance?  We can help you from the comfort of your own home through Online Therapy Sessions. It is easy to begin. 

Other Counseling Services

We provide a range of counseling services at our Beachwood Counseling Office. Online Counseling is available for anyone in the state of Ohio. We treat depression, self-esteemgrief, emotional eating, Christian Counseling, and more. Premarital counseling and couples counseling is available too. If you are looking for help to see real change in your life, you are in the right place!

  1. Delimar Virella

    Delimar Virella

    July 30, 2020 at 7:45 pm -
    Reply

    Love this! Thanks!

    1. Angelia Worley

      Angelia Worley

      July 30, 2020 at 11:54 pm -
      Reply

      Thank you Delimar!

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