I just wrote the title of this blog post, and before even writing this first sentence felt a compulsion to check Instagram. Hello, my name is Carrie and I am a chronic procrastinator.

As I am writing this, it is Tuesday afternoon (late afternoon, if I’m being TOTALLY honest). This is not good. Blog posts are supposed to go up Tuesday morning. I often put things off until the last minute – even things I actually WANT to do (like, ahem, writing). It’s been a pattern I’ve witnessed myself fall in and out of for years.

Now, if you’re a fellow chronic procrastinator, you probably don’t need me to lecture you about what a shitty habit this is. You’ve seen first hand the way it messes with your life. You’ve done your own frantic scrambling to pull things off in the final hours, and you know how not fun that is.

Many people have already written more eloquently than I could about the nasty cycle of procrastination that many of us fall into. This article is one of my favorites. And so right now, I’m not going to delve into the myriad of reasons we procrastinate. I’m not even going to touch on the psychology of procrastination.

What I’m going to say today is this: only you can change you. And most of us only follow through on change when the agony of staying stuck in our tired, ridiculous patterns becomes worse than the discomfort of working on ourselves.

Strip everything away: the excuses, justifications and rationalizations you use to blanket your procrastination. What remains? You. You are responsible for you.

If you can’t take ownership of your procrastination, you’re dead in the water.
(tweet this)

It sounds harsh, but sometimes a slap in the face is exactly what chronic procrastinators need when all else fails. Because if you’re a chronic procrastinator, you’ve already tried many tactics – bribing yourself, shaming yourself, babying yourself, beating yourself – and you’re still…procrastinating.

And so I am here to offer you (and myself) a slap in the face – but only out of love. Because we deserve more. We deserve a life that feels spacious. We deserve to feel accomplished. We deserve to live with real integrity; to be accountable to ourselves and accomplish the things that truly matter to us.

When you clear away all the excuses and rubble, your options boil down thusly: give up. Procrastinate your life away. Reach your death bed only to blink incredulously with no idea how you got there. Or…devote. Really, devote – to the process of self-discovery and transformation.

Do you want to step out of this bull honkey? Great! You can. Build new habits. Redirect yourself when you fall of course. Find the right blend of self-love and self-discipline.

Let’s get out of our own way and let fresh versions of ourselves emerge.
(tweet this)

Yours in solidarity,

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