Build U Up

3 Reasons Avoidance May Be Adding to Your Stress

You Won’t Stop Thinking About It

If you’ve ever experienced trauma, it can be tempting to avoid all thoughts of things that may remind you of the trauma you experienced. Although this may be less painful in the short run, the truth is, long term, this will stress you out more because the thoughts of your trauma will always return until you genuinely learn to deal with them rather than avoid them. The same holds for certain physical tasks, such as investing in your business to take it to the next level, changing your career, or hiring help in an area you need support. I recently invested in my business in a few areas that I could do on my own, but realized by choosing to get help, I was able to accomplish more in less time, which took the pressure off.

You may put off making the decision because you don’t want to think about it, but this will only stress you out more because you’ll keep thinking about it instead of simply getting it done now. Does that sound familiar?

You’ll Run Out Of Time

When you put off a task, you may momentarily relieve your stress by telling yourself you will complete the task later. But this is worse than doing the job now because later you will experience more pressure as you are faced with a fast-approaching deadline. This is especially true if you haven’t left yourself enough time to complete the task and have to rush at the last minute. I see this happen repeatedly with clients who were contemplating applying for a promotion or a new job but never took the time to be prepared when the opportunity came about. They stress out and feel pressured to get it done quick, adding undo stress and pressure.

Avoidance Creates Conflict

Maybe a coworker is waiting for you to complete your work so they can get started on theirs. And if you didn’t leave yourself enough time before the deadline, you may cause them to be late on meeting their deadline as well. This can cause a conflict between you as your coworker may be upset that you made them late. And when you experience conflict in your relationships, this only adds to your overall stress level rather than lowering it.

Although it can be extremely tempting to avoid certain tasks or put them off, this is a flawed approach as it will only cause you more stress in the long run.

This is because avoidance doesn’t solve any problems. Instead, it just creates conflict, which leads to increased stress in the future.

If you’re avoiding something in your career and could use some support on how to move forward rather than procrastinate, let’s have a conversation to see if I can help you take the next step so you can avoid the added stress and pressure of trying to do it alone. Sound good? Let’s talk, schedule a convenient time here.