Read Time – 3 Minutes

Every January, searches for the word “procrastination” spike.

At the same time, we’re bombarded with advice about goal setting and productivity hacks.

The underlying message?

That procrastination is a time management issue, and that better planning is the fix.

Sounds simple, right?

But it’s not the whole story.

The truth is, procrastination isn’t a scheduling or planning problem – it’s an emotional one.

It’s not about laziness or disorganization but about avoiding uncomfortable feelings.

Whether it’s fear of failure, anxiety about being judged, perfectionism or even boredom. These uncomfortable emotions keep you stuck.

And no amount of new planners or to-do lists will address the real issue.

Sound Familiar?

Imagine you’ve been putting off preparing for a presentation.

You should have started last week. You wanted to get feedback from key stakeholders on the first draft, but you just haven’t had the time.

You’ve been so busy recently. You haven’t had the “right moment” to start.

But today is the day! You’ve blocked time in your calendar to write the first draft of the presentation.

Hours pass by. You still haven’t made a start.

You justify your inaction with the fact that you’ve done lots of other work.

Important work.

But not the presentation.

More time passes. Still not started.

Time is running out and you’re under real pressure now. Tick tock. Tick tock.

You’re beating yourself up now. Again! Why do I put myself in these situations?! What the @%£* is wrong with me?

But it’s late in the day and you’re tired now. Not a good time to start a new piece of work.

You decide that you’ll get up early tomorrow morning, and start it then.

You reprimand yourself (again). Must get better organized and manage my time better!

As you close your laptop, you make a mental note to check out that new planner your friend mentioned to you last week …

Debunking the Myth

You might think poor time management is causing your procrastination problem.

But the reality?

You’re avoiding the negative emotions tied to the task – anxiety, fear, shame, doubt, guilt.

Research supports this – procrastination is linked to emotion regulation, not time management.

When we’re uncomfortable, we distract ourselves to make the difficult feelings go away.

But unfortunately this only reinforces the cycle.

As a recovering procrastinator myself – I know this all too well! 

Believing the myth that procrastination is a time management issue is the very thing that’s keeping you stuck in the cycle.

You waste your time, energy and money on more planners, goal getting and productivity stuff, thinking that it will solve the problem.

But the harsh truth is that it won’t. 😔

What to Do Instead

The key isn’t to manage your time better.

Instead, you need to deal with the negative emotions and limiting beliefs that are fuelling your procrastination.

In a nutshell – this is why I developed Breakthrough Coaching.

It’s my flagship one-on-one coaching program designed to quickly and easily remove ALL the unhelpful beliefs, behaviours and negative emotions that are holding you back and keeping you stuck.

If 2025 is the time for you to finally stop procrastinating then I invite you to join me for Breakthrough Coaching. You can learn more, and book your free Discovery Call here.

This is your year to succeed and thrive.

Cheering you on,

P.S. Procrastination is caused by negative emotions and limiting beliefs. Breakthrough Coaching is designed to quickly and easily remove them, so you can finally put procrastination behind you in 2025. Find out more here.

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