by Amanda Rosinski, M.A.
It seems like I just cleaned my apartment yesterday and today it is filthy again. My bathroom needs to be scrubbed, things need to be put away, the floor needs to be vacuumed, and it seems like the list goes on and on, and I can never catch up. As I noticed my messy apartment, I thought to myself, “I can’t believe it’s time for me to clean again already.” But how long has it really been since the last time I cleaned? Well, after spending some time thinking about it, it’s actually been much longer than I originally thought. I probably haven’t cleaned in a month! So why am I procrastinating on the task of cleaning my apartment?
In REBT, the act of procrastination is considered a behavioral “C” or consequence. So what is the “A” or activating event that really leads me to procrastination? Whatever the “A” is, I’m responding to it by avoiding cleaning. After spending some time thinking about the “A” that I’m avoiding, I realized that my least favorite tasks about cleaning include putting things away and going through my stacks of mail. This makes so much sense from an REBT perspective. The “A” that I’m avoiding is where things should go when they have to be put away. What should be thrown out, and what should go where? Things should be put away neatly and should be organized. Everything should have a home in my apartment. These rigid and demanding beliefs cause me to feel anxiety and interfere with my goal because I end up procrastinating cleaning. Therefore, I can adapt my beliefs to be less rigid and more helpful. For example, “I would prefer if everything was neat and organized, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way.” These more flexible beliefs will both reduce my anxiety about cleaning, and help me stop avoiding the task itself. And now with my new flexible beliefs, I’m off to go clean!
