What You Resist Is What Most Needs Done

There is work you need to do, but you resist that work. You know you need to do this work, how to do this work, the importance of doing it, and when it needs to be done. Yet, that work sits, not yet started and nowhere near finished, the source of your procrastination unknown and unresolved.

There are a number of sources of procrastination that, once identified, can be overcome.

Comfort: It is easy to seek comfort over work. Work requires that you lean in, giving what needs to be done your focus and energy. Comfort doesn’t require the same focus or energy. Comfort allows you to lean back, to be still and passive instead of creating movement and proactivity. Comfort is warm, easy, and seductive. Unless you give yourself over to it, your work may not be any of these.

Entertaining Distractions: You live in an age of infinite distractions, the smallest and largest of which lives in your left hand or your pocket. In any case, it is never more than a few feet away from you. You have news, television, radio, movies, magazines, video games, the internet, cameras, video cameras, online shopping, and countless other distractions vying for your attention. Then there are text messages, phone calls, and notifications. Distractions provide entertainment and escapism, making them something easier than work.

Conflict: You may avoid some of the work that you need to do because you have conflicts around that work. Is it the right work for you to do? Is it something that you should have said no to when asked? Is it something you believe should not be done or should be done some other way? These conflicts can be the root cause of procrastination.

Fear: When work is creative in nature and opens you up to being judged by others, the fear of that judgment can be the source of your procrastination. If the work is great, some may still be critical. If the work is poor, some will still find it valuable. Procrastination prevents you from acting and sharing your gift with the world, making the unattainable goal of perfection so far out of reach so as to make it difficult to start.

For whatever reason, by allowing what most needs to be done to go undone, you move the results you need to produce further away from you, shorten the time you have to do the work, and increase the stress—and the eventual negative consequences of not having done it.

What most needs done is what you most resist. Understand why you resist and do the work that most needs done right now.