Hands up if you have a procrastination problem! Mine is in the air. It’s nothing to be ashamed of – its actually the default position of the human race – we are programmed for pleasure now, not later. Back in our hunter gathering days when food was hard to come by that served us well. We didn’t know when we would next eat and needed the energy to hunt and gather. These days however it’s doesn’t work as well for us, especially if we are solopreneurs working from home. What can we do?
Procrastination in the modern world comes in many guises: Constant and easy access to instant gratification: Entertainment, fast food, shopping….. the list goes on. If you are setting your own goals, managing your own time and answerable only to yourself these can be destructive temptations. Here are some of the ways I’ve managed to at least reduce my own procrastination.
Ways To Fight Procrastination
- Own it. When you know you should really be getting something productive done but find yourself opening a book, logging into Netflicks or catching some rays, stop for a second and admit to yourself that you are about to procrastinate (again) What I do is to make a little deal with myself: I will do one of the things on my list first, THEN I can watch a little TV, read a couple of chapters – whatever. I actually find that this often gets me in flow and I get through a few items on my list.
- HAVE a list! Although I’m not a fan of long to do lists (I find that can actually encourage procrastination) I do find that a short, achievable list is a good thing. I try and put that together the night before. That way I’m starting the day with some kind of structure and can put point 1 into practice
- Lose the distraction temptation. Social media, TV, email, the internet – these are all food for procrastination. They can and will change the course of your day if you let them. Get away from them for a while. Create a dedicated workspace, switch off your least important notifications and alerts and knuckle down, Go back to number 1 above and switch those things from being distractions to rewards.
- Break it down into bite-sized chunks. Often a task can seem huge but usually it can be broken down so that you are not “trying to eat the elephant” in one go. Do a bit, take a break, do another bit ……
- Get something out of it: If you do end up procrastinating, instead of beating yourself up over It, see if there’s something good you can get from it. In my line of work as an Internet marketer of personal development related courses, inspiration can come from almost anywhere. If I go for a walk I can take a camera and shoot a video. If I’m reading a book or watching a great TV series I can repurpose an insight I get from it.
- Try a meta story. Sometimes in business you have dry spells. These can lead to serious procrastination: You lose a bit of faith in what you are doing. If you focus on a time when you had a great day, week or month and write it down you can read it anytime you feel like this. It reminds you that if you did it before you can do it again. A meta story starts to re-programme the mind positively.
As with so many things in life overcoming procrastination involves recognizing the little games our monkey brain plays on us. Then we can play some games of our own. It’s really all about pleasure and pain. Putting some filters in between can help a lot.
