The root cause for procrastination.

Why is it that we as human beings often behave in ways that we don't really want to?
How often have you said or done something only to cringe at the thought of it
afterwards? The truth is that your behaviour is mostly driven by your unconscious
mind, especially behaviours that is hard to explain from an intellectual point of
view. Procrastination is knowing what to do, having the ability and desire to do it,
but still you don't do it. Although there are many apparent causes for procrastination,
the root cause for this illogical behaviour resides in your unconscious mind.

Your conscious mind is very limited in its ability to deal with life. That over which
you have conscious control is mostly limited to one thing at a time. This is why using
your willpower to create any real change rarely works long term. What you need to do is
to change your automatic behaviour which resides in your unconscious mind, that part of
you that controls all the vital function of your mind and body. You can try and
overcome procrastination by using willpower but it will usually be a short term change.
The cause for procrastination is not your conscious actions, but your unconscious
associations that is to a large extent responsible for your behaviour.

Your nervous system is designed to preserve you and when fear presents itself your
nervous system, through the working of your sub-conscious, will "kick in" to "protect
you. The ironic thing is that we train ourselves, unconsciously, to fear certain things
by making false associations about the meaning. Nothing in life has any meaning but the
meaning you give it. You literally create neurological links to experiences that gets
"stored" in your nervous system so that you can act quickly and accordingly next time.
Whenever something happens to you, you assign a meaning to it by the way you
communicate the experience to yourself Unconsciously you are always trying to establish
meaning and at a very basic level you are trying to establish whether something means
pain or
pleasure. This meaning then gets stored in your unconscious mind that will help you act
(or re-act) appropriately in the future. The challenge is that when associations are
reinforced you build up beliefs that will greatly influence your behaviour and is often
the cause for procrastination.

Although procrastination makes no sense intellectually it actually reveals a lot about
your unconscious and your self imposed limitations and (in)abilities. The major cause
for procrastination is fear, and more specifically your fear that taking action will
ead to pain or a painful experience of some kind. At some level your unconscious mind
combines and searches it's "files" to come up with a "link" that associates the action
to a painful experience. This can range from something which is mildly uncomfortable to
something physically painful. Although you consciously want to do something your
unconscious will prevent you as it associates pain to the action. As human beings we
automatically reach for comfort and will almost automatically reach for whatever feels
comfortable in the moment. This is why you often procrastinate on tasks that do not
feel good in the moment although it will mean much more pleasure in the future.

Learning to push against this need for comfort is what creates all the growth that is
necessary for you to really produce results. When you start to see procrastination as
a blessing in disguise; you can start to use it and embrace the behavioural insights
it holds for you. Procrastination reveals your fears and, quite by design, gives you
the necessary resistance needed to expand and grow in your capacity to push past your
fears and create the things you really want for your life. The quality of your life is
in direct proportion to the amount of "discomfort" you can comfortably deal with.
Procrastination can also shed some light on the goals that you value most, as your
concern over procrastinating on it shows that some part of you care enough to be
concerned.

It's been said that first we form our habits and then our habits form us. This is also
true for habits of mind and procrastination often manifests itself as a habitual
pattern of thinking. Your thoughts lead to and help create your actions. Like the
engraved pattern on a record your behaviour will "play the same tune" every time.
Your associations to pain and pleasure play an important part in your habitual
behaviour in that it determines what you will or will not do. By repetition you form
habitual patterns of thinking that will cause you to automatically act or retract in
certain ways when your habit pattern gets triggered.

Being aware of your associations to pain and pleasure is critical in dealing with the
root cause of procrastination. There are many symptomatic solutions that will not
create a lasting result. Although you have to use your willpower initially, your aim is
to re-establish your associations to the tasks you are avoiding. You can be, do or have
whatsoever your heart desires providing that you can overcome your self imposed fears
and take action. Although the real cause for procrastination resides in your
unconscious mind, you are ultimately in control with your conscious actions.