The Organized Mind (and why I haven't achieved it)

It's the first day of classes, and I've managed to spend the past three hours on youtube/facebook/bloglovin/etc. when I should have been reading 25 pages of an article that I have to discuss tomorrow in class.

I've battled procrastination for years. I can pinpoint certain decisions in my childhood that point to me developing negative habits toward this lifestyle. I could talk for ages about how my childhood/young adult decisions led me directly to my struggle with procrastination and distraction. I've actually travelled down that road of revision many times, and it's an extremely valuable thing to gain clarity about your past, but it does nothing for you if the clarity doesn't alter your future.




Here's my problem when it comes to beating my number one addiction, procrastination: I have been thinking for the majority of the last three years of my life that I can fix myself and I don't need anyone else's help. This is the biggest lie I have ever told myself. 

The truth, on the other hand, is a two part equation:

first is that I need God in my life, my heart, and my soul to accomplish anything in this life;

and second is that I need to act.

Sometimes Christians (and I'm a major offender of this) think "God will help me though everything, all I can do is pray and He will do the rest." This is a dangerous and slippery path to slide down-please do not get trapped in this thought!

Yes, God can and will overcome any obstacle in this world. He alone has the power to beat your battles without any effort at all, and that is amazing and it's so important to believe and know this truth.

But, God does not intend for this life to be work-free. In fact, it's the total opposite. 

There are numerous bible verses that remind us how important it is for us to go, to work hard, to take action. And taking action is a decision, just like procrastinating is a decision. I know that it is addicting to procrastinate. It's near impossible for me to just put my phone down instead of spend the next 38 minutes looking at Instagram. But I choose to keep looking at Instagram because it's easier. It requires less thought, energy, and passion.

I know what you're thinking-it's GOT to be harder than just choosing to not do it. What's the 12-step program for anyway? I'm going to prove that you only need one step to overcome your addiction, whatever it is-and I'm going to prove it by beating my personal addiction in 56 days, or a little under two months (double the amount of time it takes to break a habit). Here are some simple decisions that I hope to make throughout my day to help me beat procrastination (these are also decisions that I hope to make for the rest of my life):

- I will decide to get out of bed as soon as I am awake, instead of laying in bed on my phone for 15 minutes.
- I will decide to spend part of my morning in silence to meditate on and organize my thoughts, instead of having constant music/audiobook on in the background.
- I will decide to eliminate unproductive social media usage (mindless scrolling & surfing) by keeping my mind alert throughout the day and eliminating all surrounding distractions (music, visual activity, etc.).
- I will decide to turn the concentrate app on immediately when I arrive at work/school to eliminate the temptation of mindless scrolling.

Pastor Willie George of Church on the Move says that today's culture wants to jump to the top of the building instead of take the stairs. In other words, we see the end goal and think it is immediately attainable, when really the best way to attain it is one step at a time. Don't get discouraged by a slow journey. My procrastination fight alone is three+ years in the making! This is a mindset that we must adapt to achieve the lifestyle and purpose that we are striving for.

"The evidence of commitment is want to."

Thank you for visiting this blog post today! I hope it blessed you and will help you in your journey towards loving yourself more tomorrow than you did today. If you have a journey you're currently embarking on let me know in the comments below, I'd really love to hear about it and pray for you!

Happy Tuesday, Friends.

jordan