I am happy to announce that this February 16th I will be starting an evening Procrastinator’s Power-UP! Group. This group is in person in Port Townsend, WA.

Procrastinator’s Power-UP!

• Feel energized and supported
• Learn the 5 secrets to freedom
• Turn breakdowns into momentum

Experience the value of Professional Group Coaching!
Tuesdays 5:30-6:30 • Ongoing group, limit 8
$59.00 per month • Contact Heather for more details and to register

heather(at)heatherflanagan.com

360-379-0322

Also, see this posting at PTguide – City Guide to Port Townsend, Washington

I could devote a whole lifetime to effectively putting this into practice. It is very simple, just 3 words: —– Be Your Word! That’s it! It sounds so easy, but I see so many people who have a real challenge with it.

What does Being your Word mean? It means doing what you say you will do when you say you will do it. Does it mean doing what you say you will do with your co-workers or employees. And then breaking promises left and right with your family? NO! Does it mean keeping your agreements with your family and colleagues and then failing to do those things you secretly tell yourself you ought to do? NO! It means [Read more →]

I am a procrastinator. I appear to have been born this way as, not only did I come out 3 weeks late, but I came out kicking and screaming, feet first, evidently wanting to save the hardest part, birthing of the head, for last. On grade school report cards I always got 3’s for effort on a scale of 1 to 3. In high school, the teachers would always select “Fails to work up to potential” and/or “Failed to complete some assignments”.

I have spent much time and energy trying to figure out how to work with myself instead of against myself to achieve my goals and intentions. Getting stuff done is not just about completing projects and paying your bills and making sure to take a shower before [Read more →]

As you go into this Thanksgiving holiday, be warned! That turkey you are about to eat is *full* of L-tryptophan. Sure, it makes you mellow and is an essential amino acid. But I have done extensive research in my own life and have discovered a little-known malevolent effect of this naturally occurring menace.

L-tryptophan erases your memory!

Yes, it’s true! I have anecdotal evidence in the form of my own personal experience. No, [Read more →]

You’ll never catch a procrastinator saying, “I really need to get around to feeling anxious.” No! Why? Because we are almost always there. Either that or we are trying to avoid being there which is putting us there anyway.

One of the greatest sources of anxiety for us procrastinators comes from beating ourselves up about all the stuff we feel we are procrastinating on. The problem is that we can only do one thing at a time. Consequently, when we are paying the bills, for instance, we are *not* [Read more →]

LPD=Low Productivity Days

You know the day. You are sitting on the couch wondering what you should do with yourself. You can’t think of any one thing that holds enough sparkle to get you off the couch. So you sit and beat yourself up.

Procrastinators are masterful self-flagellators.

Here is a tip to save the LPD: When you are not feeling sloggy, come up with a default activity that feels like forward movement for those days when you can’t figure out what to do with yourself. This has two results. One, you will unstick yourself. The other, is that you won’t have the opportunity to go more deeply into depression from all that self-defacement.

My default activity is to read a book about how to promote my coaching business. I get to make an espresso, sit in my chair (my secret fortress of sanity), and do important research about my goal. I have worked with myself and not against myself. Call it ADHD. Call it depression. Some days I just can’t make myself stand up and deliver. But those days don’t have to be wasted anymore. I feel good about bettering myself with information.

What will your default activity be?

We who procrastinate *love* a good excuse. Consequently, when disappointments happen, as they are want to do, we secretly say, “Goody! I can feel bad about this instead of having to do what needs to be done.”

My procrastinators tips for you today, then, is to *know* that you will be disappointed frequently and that there may be incredible delays in achieving your goals. Many of them will be through no “fault” of your own.

It’s all part of having goals. It is natural and normal to come to obstacles. Do you know what it means when you hit and obstacle?

No. It doesn’t mean it’s time to stop “going for it”.

It means, and listen carefully here, that you hit an obstacle on the way to your goal. That’s all! Take a closer look. <Extreme zoom to microscopic scale.> You are on the way to your goal! You must have been moving to hit that obstacle, yes? Good!

So when you find obstacles in your way take comfort in knowing, A. they are normal, B. they don’t necessarily mean to stop (you do want to find the information in them), and C. they mean you were moving toward your goals! You just caught yourself *not* procrastinating! Congratulations!

What next? Sulk for a reasonable amount of time. Perhaps set a timer for 20 minutes (the average amount of time it takes for an upset to leave the system). Or better yet, feel bad and *still* do what needs to be done. Then you get the gold star!

Today, I get a gold star!

Yeah! This is one of my biggest pet-peeves of human interaction in our culture.

What happens is this: friend A, let’s call her Abby, comes to friends B, let’s call her Bertha, feeling sad. Abby tells Bertha that she is feeling really overwhelmed with all she has to do. She feel hopeless sometimes, like she can never be enough. Bertha loves Abby and cannot stand to see her upset. So, Bertha decides to show Abby how her feelings are wrong.

Bertha says, “But Abby, you have such a beautiful family and you are doing such a great job with everything. You should feel grateful for all you have.” How does Abby feel about this response? [Read more →]

Have you ever had one of those days where you were just plain spent? Do you ever become mistrustful of yourself when you feel this way or tell yourself you are just being lazy? For me, today was the second of two days where my “get up and go” got up and went. I haven’t had one of these days in a very long time so I took the opportunity to really go through it with curiosity (instead of judgement and guilt). I asked myself a couple questions. I wondered how this experience would be different if I allowed my tiredness to just *be* without judgement. Would it last as long? I also was mindful of the ways this lassitude differed from plain old lazy spells and “procrastination events”, shall we call them.

I’ll start with the discernment piece. How do I know that this overwhelming need to slow down and “veg” is a need and not a procrastination reaction? [Read more →]

If you are a procrastinator, then you may be familiar with LPD, or Low Productivity Days. Some LPDs are very frantic and full of “doing” but lacking in getting anything done. Other LPDs are characterized by a total lack of energy. Perhaps your mind can think of things you could be doing, but your body will have none of it. This latter LPD is where I find myself now.

Historically, I would use this LPD lethargy day as a reason to beat myself up. Or I would let myself fall into a panicked depression. But not today! Why not? [Read more →]