How Can Somatic Therapy Help with Procrastination?
Become unstuck by paying closer attention to what your body has to say about why you are putting something off
3 min read
To procrastinate is to intentionally and habitually put off doing something. Embedded in this definition is the implication that the delay is due to apathy. However, as any New Yorker attempting to juggle an advancing career, an expanding social life and/or a growing family well knows, it isn’t necessarily laziness that causes us to avoid doing some of the things on our to-do lists. Often, there are deeper emotions involved.
Why do we avoid doing things, and how might we reduce our tendency to procrastinate?
New Yorkers put things off for a multitude of reasons: fear of failure, anxiety, feelings of incompetence/imposter syndrome, boredom or disinterest, resentment towards the person or entity expecting the task to be completed, just to name a few. Yet we often reduce it to a self-critical explanation: we’re just lazy.
Somatic therapy can be an effective way to explore the root causes of our procrastination. It can also offer opportunities for how to change our habits and take better control of our lives.
“Avoidance, for many people, is a protective defense mechanism.”
As Stefan Allen-Hickey, a therapist at Downtown Somatic Therapy in lower Manhattan, notes: “By paying attention to the feelings that arise in your body when you consider tackling a task you have been avoiding, you can begin to understand the meaning of your procrastination.”
Stefan says that delineating the reason a person procrastinates is an important step that is often overlooked. “People generally assume procrastination to be a negative thing, so they arrive at therapy requesting help discontinuing this behavior. Many people appear unaware, however, that their procrastination is a form of protest (against a boring job or unfulfilling relationship) or a guard against traumatic or stressful feelings.”
Avoidance, for many people, is a protective defense mechanism. By exploring the felt impact of this avoidance in their bodies, people can come to see the benefits of asserting themselves in a more proactive manner.
Many New Yorkers are ambitious people hoping to make a name, or a comfortable living, for themselves in highly competitive job markets. The saturation of talent and ambition in New York City lends itself to the ubiquity of perfectionism, a key driver for much of the procrastination Stefan regularly encounters with his clients.
“Many people appear unaware that their procrastination is a form of protest (against a boring job or unfulfilling relationship) or a guard against traumatic or stressful feelings.”
At the root of perfectionism, Stefan says, “is a fear of not getting it right, a fear of being seen as incompetent. Perfectionism is linked to having a tenuous relationship with self-esteem. Somatic therapy is a good way to regulate this anxiety.”
When we avoid doing something, we are really avoiding dealing with the feelings that doing that task would elicit. Somatic Therapy modalities like Internal Family Systems, AEDP and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy allow people to explore in depth the feelings that procrastination allows them to avoid dealing with. This process, in turn, can render the things previously avoided as less frightening, or it can make clear the action that a person wants, or needs, to take.
Therapists at Downtown Somatic Therapy are equipped to help people struggling with procrastination. If you would like to gain insight into your tendency to procrastinate, as well as improve your ability to manage the feelings that arise when triggered by anxiety, please reach out to Downtown Somatic Therapy today to schedule an initial free consultation.