15 Empowering Procrastination Journal Prompts to Help You Take Action
If you want to get your life together once and for all, check out these empowering procrastination journal prompts.
I use these journal prompts myself and when I’m helping my clients tackle the root of their procrastination habits and find alternative realistic solutions for getting their tasks done.
So if you’re fed up with wasting time doing nothing, you need to make an effort to work through these prompts and break your negative cycle.
This article is broken down into 3 types of journal prompts, so pick and choose what you need at the time:
- Understanding your procrastination patterns and triggers
- Mindset shift you need to beat procrastination
- Taking imperfect action
I’ve also included some useful tips to help you add these prompts to your daily routine without feeling overwhelmed.
What is procrastination and why do you do it?
If you’re stuck in the perfectionism-procrastination loop then you definitely know how painful procrastination can feel. It’s a sensation where you feel guilty for not doing the task that you need to do and want to do and yet for some reason you still don’t do it.
Surprisingly, it’s a form of self-protection rather than self-sabotage. It’s because you put so much pressure on yourself to meet your high standards that it just feels too overwhelming to start. So instead of going through the discomfort of doing the task, you choose the discomfort of not doing it since you’re more familiar with that feeling.
There are 2 types of procrastination according to psychologists:
- Active procrastination: you convince yourself that you ‘work better under pressure’ so delay working on the task until the last possible moment
- Passive procrastination: you’re waiting for the ‘right time’ to do the task and keep delaying it until it goes away or it becomes a problem
Why journaling helps with procrastination
I always encourage my clients to develop journaling habits so that they can increase their self-awareness and notice their perfectionism triggers.
I’m currently doing a daily journaling challenge, and it’s helped me realise that certain types of blog posts cause me to procrastinate more. For example, I love writing feature-style articles, listicles, and inspirational essays, but the moment I have to write an opinion piece, I suddenly have the desire to tidy my room.
Journaling helped me cut through the lies I tell myself because I literally have a record of my thoughts, feelings and patterns in one central place.
Related Post: Are You Stuck in the Perfectionism-Procrastination Loop? Here’s How to Get Out
1. Understanding your procrastination patterns and triggers
Use these journal prompts if you want to understand the root cause behind your procrastination and identify the types of tasks that trigger you. Be honest with yourself when answering these questions because otherwise, you will continue to repeat the cycle getting worse each time.
- What am I avoiding right now and why?
- What feelings come up when I think about starting this task?
- When I procrastinate, what do I usually do instead?
- What story do I tell myself when I delay doing the things I need to do?
- Am I actively procrastinating (choosing to do something different because ‘I work better under pressure’) or passively procrastinating (waiting for the right time)?
Related Post: I Know It’s Hard to Start, But You’ll Feel So Much Better Once You Do
2. Mindset shift you need to beat procrastination
These prompts are designed to help you shift your mindset away from lack and towards an abundance mindset. There are opportunities out there specifically for you but only if you believe you are good enough to reach them.
- What would progress look like for me today?
- What strengths or skills do I have that prove I am capable of doing this task?
- Would taking one small step forward feel better than taking no steps at all?
- Can I forgive myself for procrastinating and start fresh?
- What one thing have I already done towards my task (big or small)?
Related Post: 100 Empowering Daily Affirmations To Overcome Procrastination
3. Taking imperfect action
Use these prompts when you need help breaking down your to-do list into manageable impossible-to-fail tasks. There is no such thing as perfection, so learning how to take imperfect action is going to release you of the need to get everything right the first time. You can always improve on something, you can’t improve on nothing.
- What is the smallest impossible-to-fail action I can do right now?
- If I only had 5 minutes, what is one thing I could start?
- What will I gain from just starting this task, even if I don’t finish it?
- How would it feel to focus on the effort I put in rather than the outcome?
- What is the minimum viable product (MVP) needed for this task to be good enough?
Related Post: 5 Quick Procrastination Hacks You Can Try Right Now
Top tips for using these journal prompts
- Start small and scrappy. You don’t need to work through the whole list of journal prompts, instead just pick one or two and spend a couple minutes answering them. The LAST thing I want, is for you to feel overwhelmed by this list which is why I broke it down into 3 manageable sections.
- Be consistent. Try to journal every day even if it is just one sentence because it all adds up so just pick a specific time and stick to it. For example, I find it easier to write more detailed journal entries in the morning rather than in the evening.
- Be honest with yourself. There is absolutely no point lying in your journal, it benefits no one and actively hinders your progress so just don’t do it. Try to be honest about your struggles and
- Celebrate your small wins! Life is for living, so you should celebrate every milestone and all the effort you put into your tasks. For example, on low-energy days, I write down at least 3 things I have done to help me achieve my goals and they can be as small as waking up on time or opening my laptop. Do what you need to do to break your negative thinking cycle
Related post: 81 Things To Write In A Journal When You’re Bored
So what journal prompts for procrastination are you going to use?
I hope you found these procrastination journal prompts helpful! You should now be equipped with the tools to help you increase your self-awareness and break your toxic procrastination cycle.
You don’t have to keep living the way you are currently living, there is always a way out and a way to live the life you’ve always dreamed of.
You can create that reality one step at a time.
Join the community of recovering perfectionists healing from hustle-culture
If you would like to receive productivity and self-development tips designed specifically for perfectionists PLUS exclusive coaching offers join my weekly newsletter ‘The Sunday Reset’.
Remember, you are the ONLY person you are going to be with for your whole entire life, so you might as well invest in yourself.
Investing in yourself can be in the form of coaching, courses, reading, journaling, practising self-care and many more things.
Related Posts:
- 55 Boundaries Journal Prompts You NEED To Use
- The Ultimate Guide To One-Line-A-Day Journaling
- How Long Does A Bullet Journal Last?
- 81 Things To Write In A Journal When You’re Bored
- 52 ESSENTIAL Journal Prompts For When You Feel Stuck In Life
- 35 Ridiculously Simple Morning Journal Prompts For Productivity
- 117 Mindfulness Journal Prompts for Living Your Best Life
