Procrastination will ruin your life!
It will destroy your confidence & your identity.
HOWEVER,
It also indicates that you are on the precipice of something BIG.
And that the only reason for procrastinating is that you don’t own the skills YET!
Besides, what skills am I talking about?!
You can learn about them by listening to me by clicking on the video on the right.
OR you can continue reading further.
These will be discussed in-depth later on.
BUT think about it…
If you are like me and countless others who can’t seem to force themselves to start certain tasks no matter how easy they are or no matter how important they seem to be – THEN YOU NEED HELP!
Procrastination is a huge problem for many of us, especially those who are self-employed. Many of us act against our better judgment – we voluntarily delay tasks despite knowing that we would suffer as a result.
In the previous article, I explained, in detail, the science of procrastination.
-
- What is it,
- Why does it happen and
- And What damage it can do to us.
Absorb that article [CLICK ON THE THUMBNAIL ON THE RIGHT] first before continuing further.
The concepts from that article combined with today’s “procrastination-fighting” strategies mentioned here, will give you a considerable edge in increasing efficiency, turning you into a force to be reckoned with.
However, if you prefer to listen to me instead, then directly access the video on the left.
When you will get yourself acquainted with the theory behind procrastination – you can continue further and find practical tips and tricks that can help you boost your productivity and overall performance.
Earlier I wrote about discussing forming skills to counter procrastination.
What I really meant was putting together a combat strategy!
The Very First Thing to Develop is a “Go-Getter Mindset”
I have known many individuals on a personal basis who I can categorize as being financially secure. They appear to have been born with a silver spoon, great income systems in place, a well furnished house and healthy passive income streams like rentals and dividends coming in.
Such people, who have the luxury of living in their comfortable spots, are not driven enough to work very hard.
In contrast, there are those who have risen from places of nothingness, to become global leaders in different fields.
These are the great visionaries of this world
AND
They all had humble beginnings.
The few amongst the well-known are:
- Oprah Winfrey – American talk show host, television producer, actress, author and media proprietor
- Shahid Rafiq “Shad” Khan – Pakistani-American billionaire businessman and sports tycoon.
- Lakshmi Niwas Mittal – Indian steel magnate, based in the United Kingdom.
- Ralph Lauren – American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman
- Bill Gates – American business magnate best known for co-founding the software company Microsoft
- Steve Jobs – American businessman, inventor and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar.
- Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) – Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the “Baadshah of Bollywood” and “King Khan”
These people have set examples for all of us by striving through thick and thin during the times when their circumstances were nothing BUT tough.
But that shouldn’t discourage you.
I don’t intend to claim that only those individuals who face DO-OR-DIE scenarios, excel in their lives.
You can do too,
And for that,
You need to have an extraordinary vision!
If you are comfortable where you are;
Then get out of your comfort zones and put yourself in challenging situations so you would be forced to make most out of your potential
We get our confidence, courage and pride by accomplishing the things we think we cannot.
SO, I DARE YOU!
Search for the things that you don’t want to do,
Because the things that you don’t want to do,
Are the ones that you are actually afraid of!
Determine those things – start reverse engineering in a manner that you can dare yourself to create your own breakthrough to the next level.
Give yourself a vision and shorten the time you need to accomplish it.
My concept is based on the belief of setting a standard yourself that you should try to reach.
And once you reach it,
Choose higher standard tasks to reach higher in your life.
It’s all about mindset – it can destroy you or give you life!
The Second Stepping Stone is the Expansion of Your “Mental Acumen”
Here lies your capability to fully accept the situations that cause procrastination.
And then counteract.
First of all, view procrastination from a different angle – a more positive one.
Look at it as a green light on the highway instead of a RED one.
This signifies that you are standing on the edge of something great.
Your instincts are there to keep you safe and they want you to procrastinate as it feels unsafe.
In fact, the reality is that, at that moment, you are growing.
Don’t use procrastination or EVEN perfection as an excuse not to succeed.
The only thing you can be guilty of is not knowing how to get the job done and that can be dealt with ease by acquiring skills and harnessing your willpower.
Make sure to maintain a complete focus on whatever you are working at a given moment.
Do not allow our mind to deviate to any other outside thoughts otherwise, you would go astray and eventually procrastinate.
Likewise, do not overthink either.
Don’t exert your mind by thinking of all the other tasks that might be pending.
Force yourself to work on one task at a time, so that you can feel the WIN on completing it.
The confidence that comes by completing tasks is magical,
And confidence building happens only by winning.
You need to win everyday to feel the surge in confidence on a daily basis.
Devote yourself towards your targets and tell yourself that they are non-negotiable.
You have to show vigor – complete your actions one after the other.
When you accomplish your goal on time or before the deadline, your vigor kicks in and you should then use that energy to make more success.
I am hoping that as you are advancing to the more complex part of the article, you have already made yourself familiar with all concepts related to procrastination. BUT If you still feel the need to get clarity on the main concepts, have a go at my previous writeup once again.
It may be necessary because I will briefly touch upon Goal Trauma and how to handle it.
“Goal Trauma, in short, is a psychological hurt that can be a great hindrance in a person’s progress.”
- If you feel that you are procrastinating – check if you have Goal Trauma.
- Make an assessment about yourself.
- Then talk about it, confront it and reason with your brain.
- or the person that caused it;
- e.g. if you were involved (in the past) in some action which caused your parents to treat you or make you feel like a failure and if that is STILL affecting you – then go forth, talk to them about it and genuinely set the records straight.
Once you have dealt with this – then carry on with your mission.
Don’t overthink!
Just launch yourself into the day and start the work.
Prioritize the big jobs.
Make sure you make progress on those jobs.
Your daily discipline & consistency would help you in preventing procrastination.
Implementing Actions
The final portion of this piece has brought you to some PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS that I employ on a regular basis and which I highly recommend!
1. “TO-DO” list
I believe in not keeping everything in my head – it is the absolute worst thing that you can do, if you want to become productive.
The more you write things done – the better!
At the time of preparing my TO-DO list, I prefer prioritization.
I DO NOT write all the things that I have to complete randomly, rather starting with the ones I think are most important all the way down to the least.
Being a human, I have to accept that I have a limited number of hours during the day as well as a finite amount of daily energy that I have to distribute wisely according to my action list.
THEREFORE
As a habit, I usually write down the top 5 things I want to do – those I add to the list and work on them ONE AT A TIME.
And upon completing each, the feeling I get from checking out those items is pure ecstasy.
2. TIME-BLOCKING
My preferred tool to use is Google Calendar.
Google is my go-to choice for all of my professional and organizational needs BUT the calendar is particularly very useful.
There are other solutions out there but this I recommend for many reasons, however that is a discussion for another time.
HOW DO I USE IT?
I set aside one to two hours for each particular task during my workday.
This way I do not allow any other task to interrupt me during that time period – that is the window to get that particular work done ONLY.
I use time blocking to manage, literally, everything.
From content creation, to sales visits, client meetings as well as my inner business activities – I even keep time reserved for the spouse and my kids.
In this manner, when I look at the entire day’s schedule, I know where I’m spending my hours OR what my day looks like..
And I have no double thoughts regarding the actions for the day.
So, Let your calendar do the decision making for you!
When you know what’s on your calendar then it will not be easy to break that arrangement since you will be freezing your schedules by allotting time in advance and there will be no IFs and BUTs.
This is a really great way to hold yourself accountable,
AS WELL AS,
Practice discipline to complete a certain task in a certain time period.
Take this example from my life;
I have reserved my best time of the day to brainstorm and create content which is the early hours of the first half of the day – the second half is dedicated to my various business activities.
3. PRO tip – STOP being TOO productive
Accept the fact that you, with all your brilliance, cannot do all things alone.
You need to GET help where you can.
In your business, particularly, do not try to do everything by yourself.
You should know the art of delegation.
Get help from a friend or co-worker or hire a freelancer!
Start using platforms like fiverr and upwork
Delegating work will allow you to get things off your plate
And certain mundane tasks can be completed faster and more professionally like fixing your website or creating package design etc.
More importantly, this will give you a chance to stay in your zone and stick to your time blocks.
The most productive approach to everything is to let someone else handle the “behind-the-scenes” work so you can focus on only the things that need your personal touch.
4. Setting Intentions
Become your best version at work and life by setting your intentions for the week – every sunday night before the week starts.
As well as every night before you start your new day.
- set your intentions,
- write your lists of to-do,
- review your calendar
- and overall focus on the type of day you want to have.
There is a HIDDEN LESSON in all this here; which I want you to realize how crucial is can be for you,
BECAUSE having a business, running it and scaling it
- is part STRATEGY,
- part SYSTEMS,
- but a huge part of it is MINDSET,
- VISUALIZATION & INTENTION.
Personally I have observed that I have better days, when I set my mind to having better days.
When I set my lists for the week, on the sunday night before,
EVEN if somethings are missed out and don’t get everything done,
the fact that I set my mind to it and set my focus on it makes a huge difference.
This is how we can create more productivity in our lives by;
looking at what we need to do on the weekly basis,
and setting up our daily lists to accomplish that weekly vision!
In this manner, we will never get confused,
Not worried about what needs to be done everyday,
OR unsure about what needs to be on our lists.
BUT really looking at our week as a holistic timeframe,
and setting up our do-to lists, our activities and setting up the time blocks to ensure that everything that needs to get done, GETS DONE!!!
So these are the ways I help myself in increasing my productivity and setting up a mindset for my life and my business.
BONUS Tip
Get up earlier in the morning,
Earlier than your family,
Earlier than you are doing right now.
Have 30 minutes to yourself to have a slow morning,
Maybe reading, praying, meditating or even have a cup of tea/coffee
During the alone time – allow yourself to zone in, review your calendar and your to-do lists – it can change the entire outlook of the day or even the week.
Remember the first fifteen to twenty minutes after you wake up are the most productive moments of the day because you have just woken up and your mind is fresh.
You should use this golden hour most wisely and productively.
And nothing beats taking control of the day right in the morning.
Congratulations! You have just equipped yourself with tools that will help you to deal with procrastination!
I hope my tips on work efficiency will come in handy in your journey.
Please use these tips as well as the bonus tip and let me know how it goes.
Comment on how you feel about this content and keep checking for new work that I publish every week.
If you have any queries
OR
suggestions would benefit the other readers,
THEN do contribute.
And share this articles with other
Because this is something we all struggle with.
If you want to hear me talk about this topic live, then click on my video content.
And
Until next time.
Bye.
