Breaking Free from the Last-Minute Trap: Reclaim Your Power Over Procrastination

I am one who usually waits until the last minute to start a project. I would do everything but the thing the was expected of mean. I’d binge movies, run errands, clean, all the while thinking about what I should  be doing.  I would feel the pressure weighing me down. I would almost panic that the deadline was near. Once I began the work, I’d stress about whether I would complete it and if the quality of work would be sufficient. Now, I was fully aware of my capabilities and the possibility of excellence when I am fully locked in.

When I was in  college, I had a twenty-five page paper to write. I don’t know why professors think that should be a thing. Well, this was one of the times I actually tried to begin it early. I wrote a  page. When I came back to it the train of thought just wasn’t there. I couldn’t seem to flow from where I left off. From that moment, I found myself completely frustrated. What a waste of time and brain juice. I decided I wouldn’t do the research until it was due.

I remember that Friday morning like yesterday. I woke up that morning knowing I was under the gun. I pulled together the resources for the paper, hi-lighting the parts that I thought would work for my topic. By noon I was ready to start writing. This is when the worst case of writer’s block decided to kick in. I was stressed to the point of tears. I remember crying myself into a nap. When I woke up, I knew there was no way that this was going to happen. If by any chance I completed it, it wouldn’t be good.

When my juices started flowing it was about eight in the evening and my class was nine o’ clock the following morning. I pulled an all night-er making sure the MLA format was properly executed. I pressed print around ten and headed to my class in Brooklyn (I lived in THE Bronx). I made it to my class a few minutes before its end time.  I handed in my paper and left feeling light and relieved.  Now I had to wait for my last paper’s grade.

The following week, I sat in class anxiously waiting. Almost everyone had received their paper when the professor said, “The next three students did exceptionally well. I don’t give out A+’s easily.”  Then he placed my paper in my hand. Wait, what? I got an A+ on a last minute paper that I stayed up all night writing. That was that. I officially dubbed myself as one who worked best under pressure and ran with it.

But why would anyone want to put themselves through such a stressful state before they choose to accomplish a task?  Why would one choose procrastination over pursuit? According to Oxfordlearnersdictionary.com procrastination is defined as the act of delaying something that you should do, usually because you do not want to do it.  What prevents you from wanting to do the tasks? There are many reasons for procrastination. Let’s explore!

The justifications for procrastination can include reasons connected to physical, emotional, mental or environmental factors. Physical reasons may include low energy, tiredness or sickness. Your emotional state can influence your desire to begin a task. If you are stressed or have a diagnosis that impacts your mental health, that may give you cause to delay action. Distractions in your environment such as noise,  will prevent you from starting a task early enough to bring the best opportunity for success.

These justifications may feel valid in the moment, but they ultimately create a pattern that keeps you stuck. While physical, emotional, mental, or environmental challenges are real, allowing them to dictate your actions turns them into obstacles rather than temporary difficulties to navigate. Recognizing when a reason has shifted into an excuse is the first step in breaking free from procrastination’s grip.

Any reason that you use to make procrastination a welcomed guest in your life is an excuse that hinders you from putting your best effort forward. It is easy to find a cause when it comes to our needed justification for this behavior. Excuses give us permission to continue with actions even when they are causing us harm. The only way to change the behavior is to eliminate the excuse. Do not come in agreement with unwanted guests, that do not serve you well, by making excuses.

Instead of excepting excuses that keep you in the pattern of procrastination, be intentional about moving with purpose toward the tasks that you have to do. In order to shift from excuses to execution, you have to revoke the rights of the excuses and give permission for your desires to be executed. What do I mean by that?  Excuses thrive because we validate them—we give them authority in our lives causing inaction. Each time we say an excuse, that thought is given the power to dictate our reality. We allow it to set the limits on what we can achieve.

When you revoke their rights, you strip those excuses of their influence. You stop justifying inaction and start reclaiming your power. Instead of saying, “I can’t,” you begin asking, “How can I?”  Giving permission for your desires to be executed means making a conscious decision to act despite fear, doubt, or imperfection. It means prioritizing progress over perfection and refusing to let procrastination hold your dreams hostage.

Your business, your purpose, your success—they are waiting on your yes. Will you finally give yourself permission to leave procrastination behind and move with purposeful pursuit?