Is It Procrastination or Is It Only Your Type?

Many individuals malign themselves for putting things off. The more they do it, the more they believe something is "wrong" (or at least not right) with them. Chastising and berating yourself simply doesn't help produce positive results.

I bring this up because the inner-directed individuals (what you might more commonly know as introverted, highly sensitive, shy or timid types) with which I do the majority of my work often fall into this trap. Lack of action leads to self-pugilism, which in turn reduces self-confidence, self-respect, self-esteem and self-worth.

What if that wasn't so? What if there was more to it than simply delaying things? Let's look at 5 reasons why inner-directed individuals procrastinate (or appear to):

1. Susceptibility to overwhelm and its negative effects: Overwhelm can be paralyzing. It weakens you while decreasing your rational and intuitive abilities. Any action or step forward is difficult when overwhelmed.

2. Reliance on figuring things out: Many inner-directed individuals are mind-centered, wanting evidence or facts before making decision or taking a first step. This tendency denies their clear natural intuitive ability, where one knows things and gets strong signals without external evidence.

3. Cautious, peace-loving nature: Often taking action can mean you might upset someone or anticipate hostility, perhaps even rejection, in return. It's quite natural, as a cautious and peaceful being, to avoid action when that action would take you exactly where you least want to be.

4. Wanting an overview before acting: [This is the "J" profile in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)] These folks want to see the landscape of things before committing or taking action. They want an overview of what things could look like in order to assess their own involvement and ability to give something of value. Yet, their hesitancy can feel or look much like procrastination.

5. Perfectionist tendencies: Somewhere along the road of development, inner-directed individuals got the message that the better they produced things, then the more they would be liked, included, loved or other desirable things would come to them. While in the stream of perfecting something, you are not called to act publicly on it. That makes perfectionism a low standard to live to because it excuses away your need to act.

My colleague and good friend, Kerul Kassel of www.stopprocrastinatingnow.com, believes there are 2 types of procrastination: negative and positive. The negative form keeps you from doing what you can do and puts you behind the eight-ball of inaction. It distinguishes itself from the positive form by its damaging effect on your life: your relationships, work, finances, goals and dreams. The positive type recognizes that there are valid reasons for delay, such as needing more information, having the wrong goal, and/or it being the inappropriate time to take action. This type of postponement really isn't destructive or detrimental, entirely apart from the messages your ego could be giving you about it. Positive procrastination is actually beneficial, and is a demonstration of time mastery. The key is to know the differences and which one you tend to use.

In considering these common inner-directed traits, here are some ways to wrestle negative procrastination out of your repertoire:

1. Learn to end overwhelm. Master the techniques to eliminate overwhelm from your life. Continue to use them to keep overwhelm from recurring.

2. Open up to new ways of navigating life, including your inherent intuitive nature. Learn to trust other things besides your mind. Switching from external to internal guidance, or intentionally using both, can ease the way to getting into action. Get in touch with your body clues that cue you to signals from your intuition. Act on a few small "hits" out and see what results you get. Keep trying and you'll see results improve quite quickly.

3. Realize that life isn't completely peaceful. Conflict can bring better outcomes than keeping the peace. So choose carefully and learn to get through the fray of differing perspectives. You will likely be surprised how nice life is on the other side of it.

4. Learn to ask for the overview you need. Be proactive and get what you need to make your decision. Others may be amazed at you when you do it. Go ahead and surprise them.

5. Realize that many times action is better than perfection. Perfect things along the way instead of needing it that way before you act. What small step forward can you take to start getting results?

Stop self-pugilism and see where you can take a different approach to get into action quicker. Possibly, your procrastination is only part of your personality.