Latest / The Nadia Chapman Show / Why You Procrastinate — And How to Break the Cycle

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Why You Procrastinate — And How to Break the Cycle · The Nadia Chapman Show

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  Hey everyone, welcome back to a brand new episode of the Nadia Chapman Show.
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  Today, we are diving into a topic that I love to cover because everybody does
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  it at some point or another. It's procrastination.
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  Yes, I do it too.
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  So today I want to dive into this, into the pattern that almost everyone struggles
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  with, but most people don't actually understand.
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  And I'm not talking about, you know, the simple, cute little way we procrastinate
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  from, let's say, doing laundry.
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  Not that kind. I want to talk about the deeper pattern, the one that follows
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  you around in your goals, in your career, your relationships, maybe, your growth.
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  The kind that quietly shapes where you're heading, the direction of your life.
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  And here's what I want to offer you right now from the start.
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  Procrastination has very little to do with laziness.
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  I need you to understand that. It's not a lack of discipline or a lack of motivation.
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  It's deeper than that. It's almost always connected to one thing.
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  And that is to avoid discomfort. And I'm going to let you think about that for a second.
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  If maybe you've put a project on hold or on the back burner,
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  whether it's like a change of career or something kind of big,
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  and you always procrastinate and procrastinate and procrastinate.
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  Most of the time, it's not because you're lazy or you don't know how to go about it.
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  It's because it brings a certain amount of discomfort. And us humans don't like
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  that. We like comfort, right?
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  So when we think about procrastination, we think about tasks.
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  We think about things to do. You know, the email that we didn't send,
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  the project that we keep delaying, or the workout that we don't start.
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  Maybe you're looking into making better health choices and you keep procrastinating
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  starting working out or changing your eating habits.
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  But the truth is, we're not avoiding the task.
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  We're not avoiding the to-do list. we're avoiding what the task make us feel.
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  And that's where it all begins. So every time that you feel resistance or hesitation,
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  uncertainty, or that sense of, I don't want to, that is not a sign that something is wrong with you.
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  That's simply discomfort showing up.
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  It's basically your brain trying to keep you in the familiar,
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  the predictable, and the easy.
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  Because as we know, the brain likes efficiency and safety.
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  Discomfort feels like the opposite of that.
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  So it pushes you towards anything that feels lighter, faster,
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  or emotionally safer, right?
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  And here's the part that makes procrastination so sneaky.
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  Avoiding discomfort actually feels good. And hear me out for a second.
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  There's a tiny side of relief when you decide, you know what,
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  not today or not this week.
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  It's like a little bit of dopamine hit, like a little temporary lift.
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  And that's exactly how procrastination hooks you, because right after that little
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  relief that I'm not going to have to do it right now comes, drumroll, the guilt.
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  Yes. So after relief comes the guilt and then the guilt slowly morphs into shame.
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  We have relief from not doing what we're supposed to do or what we truly want
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  to do because it brings discomfort. So it brings relief.
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  Then you feel guilty. And because of the guilt, you feel the shame. So it's all connected.
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  And maybe you're recognizing yourself in this. So I'm so glad that you found this podcast.
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  And now the task that you should be doing feels like way heavier than before.
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  Not because it got more complicated, but because there is now an emotional charge attached to it.
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  So every time you avoid something, you're not just delaying the task.
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  You're reinforcing a self-belief and the identity of I don't do hard things.
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  And this is why procrastination can feel so paralyzing and so personal.
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  But the reason I'm doing this podcast right now and the reason I do the work
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  I do is to remind you that discomfort is not the enemy.
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  Discomfort is actually the exact thing that you need to face to grow,
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  to build confidence, to feel in control of your life.
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  And think about any meaningful change that you've made in the past. It wasn't comfortable.
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  It didn't feel easy or natural necessarily. And you probably didn't feel ready. And that's okay.
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  Because discomfort was part of the process, not a sign that you were failing.
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  So when we stop treating discomfort like it's danger, it's something that we
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  should avoid, we stop running from it.
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  And this is what I want you to do starting today.
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  And the moment that you stop running from discomfort, procrastination starts losing the power.
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  And one of the tools that I teach client is something incredibly simple.
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  When you feel yourself, let's say, avoiding something, give it 10 seconds of action.
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  Not even 10 minutes not an hour just
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  10 seconds because the hardest part is never
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  the task it's to start the task it's always
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  starting and once you start your brain starts
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  shifting it shifts out of this avoidance mode and into engagement and that tiny
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  little moment of movement that 10 seconds is often all you need to break the
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  emotional resistance i want you to put that tool in your little toolbox and
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  next time that you're on the verge of procrastinating think about me,
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  think about this podcast,
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  and just shift into action for 10 seconds. And here's a deeper truth.
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  Procrastination isn't a time management problem. It never is.
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  It's an identity problem.
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  So if you've spent years telling yourself that you're someone who,
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  oh, I procrastinate or someone who doesn't follow through or someone who's always
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  wait until the last moment, then your actions are going to match that identity.
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  And that's how your brain works.
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  It looks for consistency between who you think you are and what you do.
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  Now, the good news is that the moment you tell yourself, hey,
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  I'm someone who can handle discomfort, everything start changing.
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  You're not waiting to feel motivated anymore.
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  You're not waiting to feel ready. You're not relying on willpower.
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  You're simply acting from a different identity.
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  One where discomfort is part of the deal.
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  That's it. Not a stop sign. And I want you to hear this clearly.
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  You don't need to concur all procrastination at once.
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  Seriously, you just need to interrupt the pattern once.
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  One task, one decision, one moment of choosing a small amount of discomfort
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  over a familiar relief of avoidance.
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  Every time you do that, you're teaching your brain something new.
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  You're proving to yourself that you can be trusted.
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  You are building that self-respect. And most importantly, you're shifting who
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  you believe yourself to be.
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  Ain't that a beautiful thing? So if there's something that you've been putting off in your life,
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  whatever it is, something that's hanging over your head, something that keeps
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  circling around that you know you want to do, that you know you've got to do,
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  and you're not doing it, this is your moment. We are December 2025.
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  I hope that you save this podcast and listen to it again and again.
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  Mental fitness, work on procrastination, understand why you procrastinate and
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  start shifting your mind and start taking action.
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  You don't have to start and finish right away. You don't have to master everything
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  in order to start. You just have to begin.
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  Give it 10 seconds. I'm telling you, let that momentum meet you halfway. All right.
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  And I'm going to tell you what I told a friend recently.
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  The life that you want isn't built in the moments where everything feels easy
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  and everything is pink and rosy and everything is aligned.
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  Life doesn't work like that. It's really built in those tiny decisions that
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  you're going to take where you choose to lean into that discomfort instead of running away from it.
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  So that single shift is.
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  Is where your confidence grow. That's where your self-trust grows.
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  And that's when you start taking yourself a little bit more seriously.
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  And if you think about it, procrastination isn't who we are.
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  It's not who you are. It's just a habit. And it's normal.
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  You're human. It's a habit that
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  your brain learned. And habits can be unlearned. That's the good news.
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  Identities can shift and momentum can be rebuilt. I'm telling you, starting today.
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  And before I wrap this up today, I want to say this.
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  I hope this episode lands for you in the exact same way you needed today.
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  And I hope that something opened, something clicked, something softened.
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  And maybe you finally understand why you procrastinate. And maybe you see yourself
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  with a little bit more self-compassion.
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  That would be nice. Or maybe you're walking away with a tiny spark of momentum
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  that you didn't have before. And maybe you'll go ahead right now and take your
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  little 10 seconds of action.
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  Whatever it is, I hope that this podcast gave you permission to take a small
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  step forward, not perfectly and dramatically, just a little step forward with
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  less fear of discomfort.
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  Thank you so much for listening and thank you for spending this time with me.
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  I appreciate you. I'm cheering for you always. And I cannot wait to see what's
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  going to shift for you when you start choosing action over avoidance.
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  I'll see you in the next episode.