WHY PUT OFF TIL TOMORROW WHAT YOU COULD DO TODAY?

On my Facebook Group recently I shared some of the ways I ‘try’ and beat procrastination. And today, I proved to myself just how well I’ve mastered the skill of procrastination by writing this post when I should have been doing any number of other things. Usually it’s dog videos on you tube or deadheading the roses – in fact I’m extremely accomplished (and indeed, creative) about finding things that HAVE to be done before I get down to writing that important email or making an awkward phone call . But at least these days I catch myself at it and have a few tools up my sleeve to slap myself with. Here are my top 10 ideas…

Break your big projects into smaller tasks. A large project can be overwhelming and easy to put off when you don’t know what the one ’next step’ will be. Post It notes are great for this. If you* can get everything out of your head onto a Post It note you can then prioritise in terms of what’s easy, what’s urgent, things you need help with, and what you can ignore.
* and when I say ‘you’, I mean, ‘me’.

Make sure your to-do list is made up of single action steps.Notice the difference between ‘Plan Open Studio Week’ and‘Write Press release for Open Studio week’. If your to-do list has “big” verbs such as discuss, create, or implement, replace them with actionsteps to just get started. Identify the one thing that can move you forward right now. A quick and easy win will reduce overwhelm and make you feel a whole lot better about getting stuck in.

Know your big life goals and share them; if you know that what you do today fits into a larger plan you may find it more motivating, even if it’s a task you don’t enjoy. And if you tell your community , they may even hold you accountable. Visualise yourself into this successful future. Dream it and it will come- if you put in the work today!

Know when your most productive times are- and structure your day around them. My highest energy levels are mid morning and mid to late afternoon; I’m hopeless after lunch and late at night. I know I need to start my day with a few ‘quick wins’ , almost like a warm up exercise. If I know I’m not going to be productive after half an hour of faffing around, I will deliberately take myself off and walk the dogs, or ‘consciously rest’ (nap), for half an hour or so before I put myself back in the ring.

Don’t multitask. Focus, sweetie! You know it makes sense. If it helps, adopt the ‘pomodoro’ technique of twenty minute intervals of intense, unadulterated focus, timed with one of those kitchen timers shaped like a tomato (hence the name pomodoro. Although strictly speaking you could use any timer ???? )

Ditch perfectionism (and learn to be ok with failure). Done is better than perfect, and simply because you worried it may not be perfect is no reason not to start. (Note to self ???? )

Starting is often the hardest part of any task. If this is the case Do the activity for 10 minutes; by the end of it, the chances are you’ll be so caught up in the flow of it that it won’t occur to you to stop- or you’ll have finished it altogether!

Change your environment If you know you are likely to be distracted go somewhere that will minimise the risks; turn off WiFi and clear your space.

Understand; is it procrastination thats preventing you from moving forward or is it intuition telling you it’s not right? Are you trying to please someone else? Do you need more information? If you are repeatedly putting off doing something you dislike, ask why you are doing it in the first place? Often I have delayed doing something which turns out was not the right thing for me to be doing after all. This takes a good deal of self awareness and honesty!

And don’t forget the 5 second rule…count 5-4-3-2-1 and DO IT, before your over-thinking brain gives you lots of reasons not to.

Compared with the uplifting experience of getting something done, procrastinating is like dragging a ball and chain around behind you. We’ve all seen children avoiding stuff and expending FAR more energy than if they’d just gone and done it when asked. So funny.

What ideas do you have for beating procrastination?