Stop Procrastinating and Finally Make Progress With Your Business and Dreams
Procrastination confession- I procrastinated on writing this blog post. No joke. I am sitting in my backyard on a sunny, spring, warm Sunday during Covid-19 shelter-in-place, knowing what an important topic procrastination is and how we all need a bit of an antidote for it right about now. Staying sane through a pandemic gets a tad harder the longer this drags out, and if anyone is feeling like I am, motivation, inspiration and sheer energy to work on dreams and goals has gone somewhat flat. So, I am writing this post to give you and I some much needed guidance in getting back to those things that are actually going to move the needle, which doesn’t include binging another season of Outlander on Netflix right now.
So, it’s time we get a good kick in the toosh to squash our procrastinating ways and get back to being badasses. Will it be easy? Probably not, but persistency at the start will make easy habits!
“He who fails to plan is planning to fail.” —Winston Churchill
THIS! If you get nothing else from this post, take the quote above and run!
Make a plan, write it out. Tattoo it on your forehead, embroider it on a sweater, anything! Just write it down and keep it in a place you see often! For extra success points, write a plan with a schedule. You don’t need to take a ton of time planning out your plan either. Write down the things you have been avoiding, the things that NEED to get done and a loose timeline for this. Plan your next week— what weekly goal do you want to achieve? What small daily goals will help to get there? Put it in your calendar/ planner and make the goals challenging, but attainable. If it weren’t challenging, we probably wouldn’t be putting it off, right? But, don’t make your goals and plans so challenging or unattainable that you can’t reasonably achieve them in a week. This can lead to feeling deflated and uninspired and can trigger a lack of belief in yourself that can lead to even more procrastination.
My sample plan & schedule for building up my blog:
Goal- 2 new blog posts per month!
1st week of the month— brainstorm blog topics list and start writing new post A.
2nd week of the month— publish blog post A and share on social accounts.
3rd week of the month— brainstorm blog topics list and start writing new blog post B.
Friday— publish blog post B and share on social accounts.
There we go! A simple and obtainable plan with goals and a schedule :) Once I get in the habit of publishing one blog post every couple of weeks, it will feel easier to move to one blog post per week. That’s the power of habit!
Motivation is what gets you started, HABIT is what keeps you going.
It seems as if there is an absurd amount personal development bloggers that boast ample amounts of self motivation and this is what keeps them constantly going. For me, I stare wide eyed at the motivation train and wonder why I’m on the struggle bus with this most days. Well, it’s because most of us do and this is 100% natural as a human being! Motivation can only get you so far. Without habit in place, you can’t keep this up.
Habit is a VERY powerful thing. Habit can have profoundly positive impacts on our lives and very negative ones as well. This is all very much to our benefit, because we can always teach our brain new habits. We build a habit by persistence and repetition. We often create habits (usually bad habits) unconsciously. So, to create good habits, we have to consciously make some changes and make some room for these changes.
“A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.”
— James N. Watkins
The most impactful habits for me:
Get up early— this is my golden rule. I don’t know of anyone that accomplishes badass things without waking up early to make the time (or go to bed later, if that’s your thang.) Make the decision and just do it. Be tenacious and persistent about this.
I always have a to-do list ready to go for the next day with goals and plans that will actually move the needle. Again, these goals challenge me, but are obtainable and can feasibly be accomplished in a day, if I am focused.
Mindfulness meditation— If you want to have a clearer head, more energy, less stress and an all around better general sense of calm and well-being, then meditation is a must. This isn’t just new age bulls**t- there are tons of studies proving that meditation is extremely beneficial. Leave a comment below if you want my pointers on how to get started on your own meditation practice- I hold this subject very near and dear to my heart.
A few more tips that I find helpful for busting procrastination:
Find motivating places to do your work!
Things can get boring in a drab workplace, so spice it up a bit. Choose to work outside, or improve your current work space with a comfy chair, functional decor, etc.
More work isn’t always most productive.
Sometimes, the secret to getting more done is to take time off. Knowing the difference between procrastination and burnout is key. If you legitimately feel stuck, despite your best efforts to keep working, you are likely working hard, but in a meaningless way. I’ve been there! Best to take a step back and return with a clearer head.
Find ways to reward yourself for small efforts.
To me, this is so important! If I have a task I am particularly procrastinating about, I find ways to break it up into small and manageable tasks. Then I reward myself when I complete “x” tasks by going and grabbing a coffee I love or other treat, or going for a walk with my pup. Use what you love to reward yourself!
Don’t overthink it!
Overthinking can be just as paralyzing as procrastination. For me, overthinking usually involves becoming overwhelmed with the mountainous work I have to do to get to a big goal and overthink the strategies to get there and then feel stuck due to burnout. You can’t do everything you need to do all at once. Break it up in a way that makes sense— just start taking small steps and you will get there!
Drop a comment below and let me know your best tactics for beating procrastination!
Angela
