What If Procrastination Is a Flight Response

❔ What if procrastination is a Flight Response?

➡️ Not a character flaw.

❔ What are we scared of?

➡️ Social rejection, being not good enough, all the things we were told we were as children.

❔What if we processed the fear instead of heaping blame?

➡️ There’s science to support this.

Our nervous system evolved long before we were even human. It can’t tell the difference between a lion and a report that’s due on Friday. Or, if you’re a leader, what that report might reveal.

The same Flight Response that makes us flee the lion also sees social rejection as life threatening.

And up until about 10,000 years ago, it was. Banishment meant you were unlikely to survive on your own.

That ancient threat of banishment triggers real fear on tasks that risk judgment or failure, creating the same “escape” impulse as fleeing the lion.

Fortunately, in today’s world we’re free to join another group.

But even when modern banishment threats are real, such as when a bad report could lead to job and financial insecurity, fleeing and avoiding are rarely the best response.

❔So, what do we do?

➡️ I always recommend validating the fear before challenging it.
🔹 “Thank you, Unconscious Mind, for trying to keep me safe.”
🔹 Then the challenge, “Am I really in mortal danger at this moment?"
🔹 After that, assuaging it, “I’ve got it now, you can relax.”
🔹 Now you can do your favorite Task Initiation technique.
🔹 Finally, work through the Fear Response: Regulate through breathwork or discharge through rhythmic exertion.

❔ Why thank the fear first?

➡️ Simply challenging it can perpetuate the feeling that “I can’t trust my brain.”

And just like any emotionally charged situation,
☯️ De-escalate yourself first, so you’re not fighting yourself, and your techniques can work.

What’s your version of, “I’ve got it now”?

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This is the Somatic Layer of my coaching: Where your body, nervous system, and resilience become leadership assets.

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The 21st century needs ADHD Leaders.
If this is you, I want to support you.

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Watch this space.

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This article was very helful in writing this post:

https://neurolaunch.com/why-is-the-fight-flight-or-freeze-reaction-often-inappropriate-in-the-modern-world/