Procrastinate vs Hibernate (part 1)

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What is the difference between to Procrastinate and Hibernate?

These 2 words were never active in my life when I was holding a 65-70 hours a week kind of job. I was so goal and task orientated that I have no excuse to procrastinate or reason to hibernate. Solving hands on problems and planning 2 years ahead is a common routine in my previous job until I left it all behind in end 2008. I had so much time in hand that I knew not how to manage.

“Wait upon the Lord” or “Rest in the Lord” became a common phrase I often used whenever friends became curious about how I spend my time. I realized these phrase no longer validate my state of existence after a year of wandering. That was the time when I questioned whether I was in the the state of procrastination or hibernation.

How I know I am procrastinating :
– I know something need to be done (task) but I do not like to do it.
– I am constantly reminded that it has yet to be done.
– It weighs me down and the sense of anxiety and guilt set in because I have not done it.
– I suddenly realized my putting off the matter has allowed it to roll into a bigger issue/matter and has now
become too overwhelming for me to handle.
– I would procrastinate even longer…that is when the danger of depression kicks in… I start to self-sabotage my
self-worth and often got angry with myself & others.

Why do I procrastinate
– too lazy (there is always a tomorrow)
– too busy (there are other better/important/interesting thing to do)
– too tired (taking more than you can handle)
– afraid to fail, or afraid to succeed (afraid to take responsibility or face reality)

This is what I have learned to put in-place some practice to manage my habit of procrastination :
a) give dead-lines – this is important for tasks that require more than a week to complete.
b) have a routine weekly time table – this works well for me since my mind often run wild and drift into
different directions and million inspirations of new things to do.
c) learn how to say ‘no’ – narrow down and be selective to requests/invitations to tasks or meet-ups with people.
d) sufficient sleep – having insufficient sleep puts me into an ‘anxiety’ mode which I often find difficulty in
focusing and not able to do well or complete the task. Having too much sleep slothed me in a
‘dreamy’ state : wanting only to ‘rest’ not doing anything or only selecting task that only edify my self-
importance
(I also realized the time I go to bed and wake up affects my thought life and energy level too.)

These are the little routines I find helpful in managing me back into a more fruitful lifestyle.

Hibernation is a much bigger subject which I will share later….. to be continued