What’s really keeping my clients from taking action?
What if your clients aren’t actually procrastinating?
So many space holders are taught to treat inaction like a mindset issue or motivation gap. But the truth is, most clients aren’t stuck because they’re lazy or uncommitted.
In this blog, I explore why I don’t believe in procrastination, what might really be going on when clients struggle to follow through, and how we can support them with care instead of pathologizing.
As space holders, it’s tempting to focus on tools and strategies to help clients take action.
But if we’re not careful, we start treating the lack of action like a problem to solve.
In our world, we’re taught to treat inaction like a mindset issue or a motivation gap.
But the truth is, most clients aren’t stuck because they’re lazy or uncommitted.
What if they aren’t actually procrastinating?
In this blog, I share why I don’t believe in procrastination, take you on a closer look at what might really be going on when clients struggle to follow through, and how we can support them with care instead of pathologizing.
Procrastination isn’t real. Not in the way we’ve been taught.
In my world, I don't believe in procrastination. At all.
The word procrastination might seem harmless, but it often does more harm than good.
When we say “I’m procrastinating,” what we usually mean is: I’m bad. I’m lazy. I should be better than this. It becomes a shortcut to judgment and shame.
It frames our deeper needs and feelings as irrational avoidance.
It reinforces capitalist values of urgency and productivity. Labeling delay as “bad” assumes that faster = better, and doing = worth. It treats slowness or pause as failure.
The more we identify with a label, the harder it is to imagine another way of being. 'I procrastinate' becomes 'I am a procrastinator,' and that reinforcing belief becomes a self-fulfilling cycle.
It’s a label that flattens all the nuance of what’s really going on underneath.
Insight, change, and follow-through do not happen from this place.
That’s why I don’t even say the P word.
In most cases, what we call procrastination is actually a form of protection.
Some of the real (and completely valid) reasons our clients struggle to follow through
There is glorious untapped wisdom in everything we do, and everything we don’t do. Here are some of them:
Nervous systems are overwhelmed. The world is burning, and they’re still expected to show up like everything’s fine.
Carry shame around chronic illness, neurodivergence, or needing a different pace of care.
Don’t know where to begin, or feel pulled in too many directions to focus.
Caught in urgency culture, where everything feels like it should’ve happened yesterday.
Already holding too much. There’s no space left for more stuff.
Deep physical, mental, and/or spiritual exhaustion.
Never learned how to work with their brain and body.
Learned not to trust themselves, so every step comes with second-guessing.
Afraid of failing, of succeeding, of being seen, of getting it wrong.
Don’t have access to the resources they need: time, money, childcare, insurance, information, support, community, etc.
Have lived through experiences that made them question their worth, their voice, or their right to take up space.
Carry the trauma of living in an ableist, racist, neurotypical, cisnormative, capitalist society that prizes conformity and productivity.
None of those is procrastination. They’re needs and patterned responses to the conditions we live in. They deserve to be met with curiosity, not blame.
Most time management tools often reinforce the very shame and urgency we’re trying to relieve.
No planner or Pomodoro session can fix our nervous systems, the systems we live in, or our needs.
One, because we don’t need fixing. Two, because we need to help our people acknowledge what’s really going on underneath the surface with compassion and context.
This is where liberatory, relational, sustainable follow-through begins.
Where to go from insight?
Naming these patterns is powerful. Helping clients see the systems they’re up against and affirming that it’s not their fault is an important first step.
But if we stop there, we leave them in the burning house, aware but still overwhelmed.
Insight alone rarely changes patterns.
What actually helps is letting go of the surface task and resourcing that underlying need.
As a space holder, you can make follow through 10000x easier without any of the guilt, urgency, or shame.
Click here to register for it.
And if you’re thinking, “But how can I help clients follow through when I still struggle with it too?”
You’re not alone. Perfectionism says you have to “master” it first. But we know that’s a lie.
We’re all living under the same oppressive systems, with big dreams and very real limitations.
That doesn’t disqualify you. It makes you human.
And honestly? The more you honor yourself and do this work, the easier it’ll be for you to teach your people how to do the same.
This is why we created the Holistic Time Practitioner Certification.
Not to teach better time hacks. Not to help people squeeze more out of themselves.
But to offer a completely different relationship with time.
We train practitioners who know that time is political, personal, and sacred.
Inside the certification, you’ll learn how to help your clients honor their capacity, not punish it, how to untangle time from shame, and follow-through from self-worth.
You’ll learn frameworks and tools, and more importantly, how to meet your clients in these tender places where time gets messy.
Learn more about the certification and enroll here. We start July 31st.
Search for something!