Kicking Procrastination to the Curb
I’ve actually been procrastinating writing this for at least a year. That’s the thing about procrastinated tasks—they don’t go away until you take action and get them done! I’m going to give you my tips on how to take better control of your time and tasks and reverse procrastination.
Two Kinds of Procrastination
There are two kinds of procrastination—deliberate and productive.
Deliberate procrastination is when you make a conscious decision to put it off—“I’m going to wait until tomorrow.” Unfortunately, tomorrow never comes in most cases. This article was in the Tomorrow Land for a year!!!
Productive procrastination is much sneakier. You are so busy doing mundane tasks that you don’t get around to those tasks that will bring you more results—for example, throwing another load of laundry in the washing machine instead of making those 5 prospecting calls that you know are critical to moving you forward in your business. At the end of the day, you feel a sense of accomplishment about all the things you did, but you did not complete the necessary tasks to accomplish your important business goals. I call this “Busy being BROKE”.
Why do people procrastinate? There are many reasons, but FEAR is the generally the root cause. Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of rejection, fear of not being worthy—fear stops most people in their tracks and steals their dreams. I recommend reading Fight or Flight: Overcoming Your Fears by Brian Tracy.
If this has happened to you, here are my 9 steps to conquering procrastination.
- Identify Tasks
Make a list of all the tasks you need to do to achieve yours goals for this year (this may be a really REALLY long list). Next, identify which activities you have been putting off—for example, I might be avoiding prospecting calls. Then ask yourself, “Why have I been procrastinating starting and/or completing these activities? What fear is stopping me?”
- Select the Most important Task
Look at your procrastination list and pick the one task that will be most important in accomplishing your goals this year. Commit to getting started on it. Put the energy you’ve been directing toward excuses into the task you’ve been avoiding. Action eliminates anxiety. I love the Nike slogan “JUST DO IT.”
- Designate Time
Schedule a specific time in your calendar to work on this task—and remember, keep it SHORT. Find a 1-hour period in which to accomplish this task (or get started on it). For example, set aside the hour from 7 to 8 on Tuesday night to make prospecting calls. I call this a power hour, because you’ll be surprised at how much you can actually accomplish in just an hour. Get the support of your family or co-workers to not disturb you during this time.
- Ready, Fire, Aim
Don’t worry about perfection. Just get started, learn from the experience and get better as you continue. For example, my first prospecting call was a complete disaster. I called my accountant. I had a head cold, low energy and I read from a script. He gave me a polite “NO! I am not interested.” After I hung up the phone I thought, “Well, that didn’t go well, but I can only get better!” What can I learn from this experience? The next call was much better and I became better and better with every call I made. Now I am a master prospector.
- Visualize the Worst-Case Scenario
If fear is holding you back, ask yourself, “What is the worst thing that could happen if I did this today?” Picture the worst possible thing that could happen, and accept that that may happen. Most of the time, the worst case scenario would really only be a temporary setback that you could learn from in order to get better.
- Visualize the Perfect Outcome
Vividly imagine the perfect outcome of the task—what would be the best possible results of this task being accomplished? Also picture how you’ll feel once it’s complete—the inner relief and freedom you’ll experience can be enormously liberating. Accomplishing put-off tasks usually gives a person a great boost of confidence and energy. You can even use that energy to complete the NEXT task on your list!
- Ask For Help
If you are really stuck, don’t be too proud to ask for help from a friend, business partner, or team leader. You may even want to hire a coach or a technical expert. For example, if you have been avoiding building your website, hire a web developer to build your website for you. If you’ve been waiting to create a blog because you don’t have the time to learn how to use WordPress, hire someone to teach you or to do it for you.
- De-clutter Your Office
Create a beautiful and functional environment in your home or office, a place you love and that motivates you. If your office looks like a public storage space, I can guarantee that you’ll avoid working there. All the clutter will demand your attention and drain your energy. A clean and de-cluttered office will boost your energy to be more productive and procrastinate less.
- Time Management
Good time management means that you maximize the daily return on the energy and mental effort you expend. Your time management skills will determine how many tasks you accomplish. If you need some guidance on time management, I’d recommend The ABC Method of Setting Priorities by Brian Tracy.
Summary
We’re all guilty of procrastination to some degree. Occasionally your tasks will seem too daunting—but if you can put aside your fear, fire before you aim, and manage your time wisely, you’ll start to see results. It’s an exciting feeling to have more items checked off than not on your task list, and you can use that energy to pave your way to a more productive and fearless tomorrow!
