Psychology Today: How Mindfulness Can Reduce Procrastination

"Research has certainly provided evidence of a link between mindfulness and procrastination. Correlational studies with self-report questionnaires show that the more mindful we are, the less frequently we report procrastinating.

Similarly, a few (some yet unpublished) experimental studies where mindfulness meditation is used as an intervention demonstrate subsequent reductions in procrastination.

Although research will continue to investigate these links, I think it is intuitively obvious that mindful awareness and acceptance are fundamental first steps in the self-regulation necessary to initiate goal action when procrastination may be the habitual response. If we can cultivate mindful awareness and acceptance, we can better understand when and why we’re motivated to procrastinate, and this in turn can promote more willful attempts to exercise the control necessary to stay the course until the initial emotions pass

mindfulness is deserving of even more attention in relation to procrastination.

mindfully “beginning again” is central to overcoming procrastination. For those of you who are acquainted with mindfulness training, “begin again” is a key phrase. In fact, Joseph Goldstein, eminent meditation teacher and a co-founder of Insight Meditation Society, says that the three most important words in mindfulness meditation are “simply begin again.”

For example, when we sit focused on our breath, we realize very quickly that our attention wanders. Often this happens in seconds (it certainly does for me), and we can get lost in a train of thought without awareness. However, at some point we typically “wake up” to the fact that we’re no longer focused as intended.

The moment we recognize that we are no longer focused on the breath, Joseph teaches us that we can actually delight in that moment of awareness rather than judge ourselves for having been lost. It’s in this moment that we renew our focus and “simply begin again.”"

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Reflection;

Procrastination is an emotional regulation issue which could be overcome by mindfulness.

Do you have a habit of procrastinating? If so, how do you motivate yourself to get things done?

#Procrastination #Mindfulness #EmotionalRegulation #MentalHealth