Why Many Perfectionists Struggle with Procrastination (+ how to overcome it!)

If you are a high achieving woman, you love your job, are ambitious, hard-working, and love making others happy along the way, you may be very familiar with the situation that your life outside of work may end up on the back burner at times (if not almost all the time).

Things that are supposedly important to you, such as your sleep, your health, your relationship with your parents, or finding your purpose in life, somehow always end up getting none of your time or attention - every week. You constantly hear yourself saying things like "I will do it tomorrow" or "I don't have time" - ignoring the fact that you are the one in charge of your time and when you do things. There can be a variety of reasons why we procrastinate, and I've found a few common ones that I believe are important to reflect on.

Reason #1: Lack of meaning and purpose

There is a disconnect here. You "know" that your relationship with your family is important, but you haven't really unpacked the purpose for that. You haven't asked yourself WHY it's so key for you. Once you understand the deeper purpose, you will absolutely start making those things you desire a priority.

Reason #2: You do it for other people (aka to please others)

We procrastinate things that don't really come from within, where we aren't really intrinsically motivated (= motivated from within). An example could be that you want to lose weight, just so you could look good in a bikini next summer. Not because you want to feel better in your bikini, but because you're worried about what others may think of you. Am I right?!

Reason #3: You're overcomplicating things

I know perfectionists love a good plan, but when the plan has 137 steps, no wonder you can't even begin with step no. 1. It's great to break a big goal into smaller steps, but make it so that you can actually move forward and not get paralyzed.

Here are 6 things you can Do that will help perfectionists overcome procrastination the next time you face it:

1. Limit your to do list to one task a day. Just one thing. Do just this one thing. You can always add more once you're done!

2. If you do end up having 137 steps on your plan, make it a goal to take the first five this week (remember, one task per day).

3. Take a moment to journal on your WHY. Why is my health important? Why do I want to achieve this goal? Why does it matter to me now?

4. Reformulate your goal to make it a goal that motivates you from within and not to receive external validation. (e.g. feel great in my bikini vs. looking good on the beach).

5. Do the thing you procrastinate the most first thing in the morning, so you can get it out of the way.

6. Talk to a friend about it, so they can lovingly hold you accountable.

If you find yourself in all of these three reasons and you’re ready to get over them asap, learn more about how we can work together by clicking here, we would love to support you!

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