How to Conquer Procrastination and Accomplish More
And… go! We all know it isn’t that easy. Entrepreneurs sometimes struggle with motivation to move forward. The arch nemesis of production, procrastination, keeps us from accomplishing our business and personal goals.
Many times, it’s not that we don’t want to do the work. It’s that we don’t know what work to do first or even how to start that big project.
Think about it. When we have absolute clarity and know exactly how to do something, we can execute effortlessly at lightning speed. When we are unclear, we can stall for hours, even days, until the looming deadline can no longer be ignored.
If you are struggling with procrastination, here are a few methods you can use to gain some momentum.
Method #1 – Identify the Cause Behind Your Lack of Motion
It’s easy to be hard on ourselves when we don’t focus and start the project we know we need to complete. However, it helps to consider what we are up against psychologically, notes Marco LeRoc in Influencive. Are you tired? Do you have a fear of success? Do you just not like the particular task? Knowing what underlies your procrastination can be powerful in building the momentum toward completion. Once you know the root cause, it’s easy to remove the blocker that is slowing you down. I love this image from Procrastination.com - the green circle says it all.
Method #2 – Develop Better Organization and Prioritization
Often we fail to move forward because things feel overwhelming and unmanageable. Mind Tools recommends great tactics to get yourself in order so that your mind is uncluttered and free to proceed. Here are some additional tips to consider:
· Always work off an action list so you have clarity of the path forward
· Prioritize your schedule with Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Urgent/Important Principle. The former US president described his perspective on time management in a 1954 speech: “I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important,” he said. “The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent." Ideally, you should focus your time on the tasks that are truly important to moving your business forward.
· Don’t try to multi-task. Instead, zero yourself in on one project and use batching as highlighted in a previous blog.
Method #3 – Take One Step, Just One
Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to just start. A big project can be overwhelming when it’s not broken into smaller pieces. It helps to just take one step, explains Gary Keller in the book The One Thing. After that first step, the next one gets easier and you can see the path to completion.
Method #4 – Go For a Walk
Moving the body moves the mind. When you feel stuck, try some light exercise to get the blood and creative juices flowing. You will be amazed how quickly a 15 minute stroll clears your mind and recharges you to tackle what previously seemed to be a big problem.
When I worked in the corporate world, many times I would hold walking meetings outside. It was a great way to get exercise and get work done at the same time.
Method #5 – Get Inspiration from Stephen King
Jon Nastor, in an Entrepreneur article, points to a comment from Stephen King that he finds particularly meaningful related to getting things done: “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration,” said King. “The rest of us just get up and go to work.” You’ll find that once you are in motion doing some work, procrastination disappears.
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The above tips will help you work more efficiently each day. Want to really optimize your approach? At Gain Advantages, we maximize business productivity and bottom line revenues by implementing the most effective systems and processes. Download your free list today.
