Recently, I've taken several #timemanagement trainings and have some thoughts on how it relates to... #procrastination

I'm not a therapist, these are reflections on how time management , procrastination, and #mentalhealth are connected based on my own experience 1/n

In the trainings, I was heartened to see #procrastination finally acknowledged for what it is—

difficulty coping negative emotions around certain tasks
#MentalHealthAwareness

i.e., more complicated than just a "time management" problem 2/n

In other words, if you have a pattern of procrastination (e.g., missing deadlines, self-sabotage, etc.),

you're likely going to need more than #timemangement techniques like a planner, reminders, pomodoro, etc.

Working through/understanding the emotions is important too 3/n

In #gradschol, I procrastinated on certain tasks, big time

Before I understood what procrastination really was, I'd feel such shame when time management techniques that worked for other people, didn't work for me 4/n

My breakthrough came with I started examining *why* I had negative emotions about certain tasks.

#ProTip if you want to find the root cause of something, ask "why" five times
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_whys 

5/n

Often, my "root cause" was that I had some deep, subconscious belief about myself/abilities ( #impostorsynrome!), and so #procrastination became an avoidance tactic

Even just acknowledging that pattern can be v liberating, though work in therapy/coaching helpful too

6/n

My main point is, it's important to both

1. Acknowledge what procrastination really is and remove feelings of shame when #optimization, #timemanagement techniques fail

2. Normalize the struggle

#MentalHealthAwareness

7/7