Have you noticed that item on your ‘to do list’ that’s not moving? How long has it been there? 1 day? 1 week? 1 month? Longer? Bust procrastination in the butt in 3 simple steps.
As a fairly new entrepreneur time management has become even more critical to me than ever, as every bit of time I lose through procrastination, I’m literally reducing my own income.
It has allowed me to become more aware of when I am procrastinating, and why I do so.
Usually I’m procrastinating because I really don’t want to do the task at hand. This usually falls into 2 sections:
- I don’t know how to do it
- I’m scared of what may happen when I do
I can procrastinate over anything really, like putting my own self care first because as a health coach I’m used to looking after others. Or even some of the technical aspects of my business like web design or responding to long emails.
It’s so funny, anything and everything can pop up as a distraction from getting the job done. Suddenly I become hungry, the little voice starts talking to me about what new goodies I have in the fridge. Or the ‘cleaning job’ may need to be done right now, or in the case its the cleaning job that I’m procrastinating over then there are always a million things I can do before that.
Some things that I have used over time to help me jump out of this mode are:
Step 1. Be aware that indeed I AM procrastinating! This self awareness kicks me straight into step 2.
Step 2. Ask why? Is it fear? Is it lack of skill? If its lack of skill, I consider paying someone else to do it, as my time lost in procrastination is generally more than the cost of paying someone else to do the job. If it’s fear, then I remind myself of the importance of why it needs doing and acceptance that fear is just fear.
Step 3. I put it as my first task of the day as this is when we generally have the most energy, I say to myself everything I want to do that day can be done the moment the task is done. I use this as a motivator to just get on with it!
These tools have been valuable in helping me to become more results orientated, feel free of the shackles of a task not done and of course have more productive days. So what are you procrastinating over right now? Go bust procrastination in the butt!
