Manifestations of Fear

Procrastination is a manifestation of fear.

Fear that the work won't be good enough and fear that you are not good enough. Easiest on the ego if we avoid facing the possibility that we are less clever, less brilliant, less thoughtful than we imagine ourselves to be and the best way to keep from taking that risk is to avoid the work itself.

I mean, sure, the world provides distraction. Anything other than the work will be more attractive than the work to a certain part of our reptile a brain. And certainly the internet has been custom fabricated to target that reptile brain and deliver military-grade doses of dopamine in drips and drabs. Procrastination is pleasurable, after all. But it's the same pleasure we get from tonguing a loose tooth: more satisfaction of familiar discomfort than true joy because we know underneath the sea of distractions (digital and analogue) we hear the call of our finest selves - the selves that do the work.

And maybe we feel a touch of envy towards that imagined self and start to wonder what creates the difference between us and them. Why can't I focus on the things that truly matter? Is it because my brain is mush from too many entertainments? Is it because I am weak and lack resolve? Is it because I truly am incapable of the task I set before myself?

All these thoughts roll over each other, but not a one of them does you a damn bit of good. Cast them aside. These explanations, like the procrastination itself, are a manifestation of fear. But that's OK: fear is maybe the most common emotion. It's literally the most human thing imaginable. And because humans have been dealing with fear for so long, we know it is not an insurmountable obstacle. It is something in our way, but we have the capacity and the tools to run towards it and stomp it out of existence. Every day.

Maybe this will help? I hope it will help you just as much as I hope it will help me.