“Procrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday.”
Napoleon Hill
Okay, I’ll be honest. Even though part of my job is helping my clients move out of procrastination mode and into action mode, I sometimes experience the same struggle. Particularly when I have a lot of writing to do, or when I need to develop content for an upcoming workshop.
When I’m in procrastination mode, I spend a lot of time and energy thinking about the projects, and really feel them hanging over my head! And I feel stuck and unmotivated to actually begin them, because, well, I secretly think I still have a lot of time and I always work better under pressure!
And while it may be true (sometimes) that I work better under pressure, I can really feel how having these things hang over my head, zap my energy and make me feel cranky, particularly with my family!
So this week, I talked to myself as if I were a client and applied these three strategies to get me unstuck…and they really worked!
1-Stop waiting for “the perfect time” to start.
One of the things I realized, is that I often feel like I need a huge chunk of time to start a writing project-like at least three or four hours. Well, like any of us, I rarely have three or four hours of open time on my calendar. So I took my own advice (from my free CD, 7 Productivity Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs) and set aside two 90 minute time periods this week (on different days) to start my project.
2-Stop filling up your calendar with “busy work”
In analyzing my reasons for procrastinating on two big projects, I realized that I had successfully filled my calendar with so many “busy work” kinds of things on the calendar-they had totally sucked up any available time to work “on” my business. Blocking out times to strategize, plan, write, work on projects is absolutely crucial to get them underway.
3-Just do it!
While waiting for the “perfect time” to start, but realizing I hadn’t even left any available time in my calendar to start, I felt so overwhelmed and stressed until I challenged myself. I took the next 15 minutes to see how much I could get done. I turned off my phone, Facebook, the “ding” on my computer, signaling a new email and I set the timer on my phone and just dug in. For only fifteen minutes. The results were amazing-it got me started, in fact at the end of the time I didn’t even want to quit. I was on a roll. In fact, I couldn’t wait to get back to my writing-which was a total turnaround to how I was feeling before I spent the focused 15 minutes on it.
We all get stuck and we all have our stories to tell around why. Sometimes it just takes a few simple steps to unhook us, prop us up and get moving on the things that will significantly make an impact in our businesses.
I would love to hear from you in the comment section below, some of the tips you use, when you get stuck and procrastination sets in!
 Mandy works with talented, high energy self employed professionals and very small businesses who struggle to market their business effectively, stretch their capacity and play a bigger game. Mandy’s client’s receive proven, specific information on what they need to do to get more clients and grow their business. As a result, those who coach with Mandy increase their business, get more clients and make more money, faster and easier than they ever would have on their own. Sign up for her free Cd “7 Productivity Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs” right down below. |
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