Affirmations for procrastination annihilation has a nice tongue-twisty kind of ring to it, doesn’t it? I coined that myself 😊 when procrastinating on writing this article. But seriously, no matter what you do in life or your career, chances are you’ve been hit with the procrastination bug. The one that leaves you feeling kind of tired, listless, demotivated, and aimless, but not exactly sick (unless you’re calling it a mental sickness).

Nope, procrastination is that dreaded feeling where the task you’ve set or need to accomplish feels either:

1. Insurmountable
2. Boring
3. Ghastly
4. Irrelevant
5. Enormous
6. Endless
7. Or any other adjective your mind comes up with to put off the actual doing of it…

Usually, you’ll do almost anything to avoid doing the said task – taking long breaks, going on supposed creativity-fuelling walks, browsing on social media and even, shopping online. Yes, everything becomes incredibly important and urgent when compared to the thing you actually have to do.

Until the last hour, when you’re burning the midnight oil, or the threat of complete failure looms menacingly at you, that’s when you finally get started. That’s when your stress levels are at their highest and you realise that it’s more painful not to do the thing than it is to just do it.

Pain vs Pleasure

Tony Robbins taught me about pain vs pleasure. He was sharing a story about quitting smoking, but the principle remains the same. Procrastination is when you perceive the pleasure of not doing something to be greater than the pain of actually doing it.

So, you build up the pleasure of not doing something in your mind (and prioritise anything else that you perceive as more pleasurable) until the pain of not doing the thing becomes too great – and that’s when you actually do it. Or when the perceived pleasure of not doing it becomes less and less. Opportunity cost, if you like.

I find that the pleasure of not doing something becomes less because the guilt and suffering caused by procrastination starts to overcome it.

Like when you’re guiltily watching a Netflix series during work hours, but you’re distracted and not really enjoying it, because you know you SHOULD be doing that thing. If you’d done the thing and then watched the series, you’d enjoy the series a whole lot more because it wouldn’t be hanging over you. In fact, it might even feel like a reward.

Procrastination is a mindset

Procrastination is a construct of your mind. At the root of it is a fear of not being good enough/fear of failure, fear of success, fear of _____________(insert your fear of choice). And we all know what happens when you’re afraid: you run away. Or worse, freeze.

But this fear is not real. Whether you do it now or do it later, you’re still getting it done (which has to mean something right?).

Procrastination annihilation begins with a beginning

The way to beat procrastination is to get out of your head and just start.

So how do you do that?

Well, don’t get lost in a million affirmations for a start. That’s the first way to start procrastinating, instead of doing.

The key is to reframe your thoughts.

Retrain your brain with procrastination affirmations

Affirmations aren’t just positive thinking. They’re a method of reframing your thoughts and retraining your brain to think in a different, more productive way. By consciously self-editing your thoughts and using a few affirmations that work for you, you can start to overcome the fear of failure, success, or other root causes of procrastination, so that you can actually function effectively.

I like to think of my thoughts as an enemy attack. Most of the time they’re negative and destructive. Instead of letting them run on uninterrupted and unhindered, I observe them running on and being a-holes.

In observing, I’m not identifying with them, which means I can’t be that no-good loser who doesn’t have the talent, guts, or grit to get the job done. Nope, that’s just my dark and unpleasant alter-ego having a go.

Instead, I consciously self-edit.

Note: This doesn’t mean I lie to myself.

I don’t say: “I’m productive and a go-getter,” when I’m not.

I pick a couple of positive procrastination affirmations (that work for me, or sound like me) and use them judiciously.

It’s important to keep the number of affirmations you use to 10 or less.  Any more just gives you a recipe for procrastinating on your procrastination affirmations.

Blue-footed booby Success formula: Affirmations for procrastination annihilation

1. I can do this
2. I can break this down into tiny steps
3. Every small step I take makes a big difference
4. I’m slowly but surely turning into a proactive person
5. I’ll tackle one part and then take a break
6. I face my fears head on
7. I’ll do a little bit now
8. I’m taking back control
9. I’m extremely good at some things, like procrastinating, so I can be extremely good at doing this 😊
10. I can push through my own resistance

Of course, you can come up with your own procrastination affirmations. Try to keep them simple, believable, achievable, and limited to 10, or less. They should also echo words that you’d actually see yourself saying. Another thing to try is to write down all the negative self-talk that comes up when you’re procrastinating. Now write down the opposite of that.

Remember that your thoughts are not you. So don’t avoid or run away from your fears as they come up. Face them head on and tell them where to go.

Because if you don’t take control of your life today, who will?

Did you like any of these affirmations for procrastination annihilation? I hope they help you as much as they’ve helped me. If you try some of these affirmations, please share your experiences in the comments below or shoot us an email. We’d love to hear about the incredible ways your life has changed as a result.

As always, don’t forget to join the blue-foot flock. We’re starting a tribe of quirky boobies who want to learn about positive ways to change their lives.