Do you feel that ….
- You’ve got a pretty long to do list….and not much is crossed out?
- You always claim you perform better under pressure and wait until the last minute?
- You do all the small tiny tasks that don’t really matter, and the big important ones fall to the wayside?
Hello Procrastinator! I say that with love 🙂
And…you’re not alone.
Here are a few stats:
- 20% of the population are procrastinators
- Procrastination has more than quadrupled in the last 30 years!
- 1 out of 5 people procrastinate so badly it is putting their jobs, relationships and even their health in jeopardy.
Let’s be real, everyone is a procrastinator to some extent. You know what you want or what you have to do…but you just don’t do it.
This can stem from two different ways of thinking:
1. I just don’t want to do it.
This is actually an issue of self-control or self-regulation. The definition of self-regulation is – the ability to act in your long-term best interest, consistent with your deepest values.
Most of us self-regulate unconsciously all the time – this is why we don’t eat cake for breakfast 🙂 It’s the old – I don’t want to do it now, I’ll do it tomorrow that gets us. We all know it never happens tomorrow.
Sometimes what we have to do feels so big and overwhelming, so we neglect the self-regulation and put it off.
2. It has to be perfect.
Ah, perfectionism – you don’t want to tackle it because what if you fall short? Might as well not do it at all to save yourself pain.
Once again, it’s about overwhelm, but overwhelm that causes paralysis. The old – I don’t want to do it wrong.
So yes, procrastination is based in the emotional root of self-control. However, I want to share with you two tips that can support you when the emotion of procrastination comes out to rule the roost.
Tip #1:
We procrastinate because the task at hand seems too large. It’s easier to do it tomorrow. Though we have no idea what tomorrow will bring.
What if you eliminated the thoughts:
I need 4 hours to get this project done.
I don’t have time.
I’ll do it later.
What if it wasn’t about completing a project but starting one? What if it was making things appear more manageable to our emotional sensibilities? What if it wasn’t black or white?
When I feel myself procrastinating, I use The Pomodoro Method.
- Decide on the task to be done.
- Set the timer for 20 minutes.
- Focus on whatever it is you decided to work on.
- When the timer goes off, stop working! Put a checkmark or a gold star on a piece of paper 🙂
- After each Pomodoro take a 3-5 min break.
- After four pomodoros, take a longer break (15–30 minutes),
- Rinse, wash and repeat.
I invite you to try this. You’ll be shocked at how much you can get accomplished. You can even change the time frames to make them work for you as well. For example, if 20 minutes isn’t enough time then change it to 30 or 40 min.
Here’s the thing, you can do anything for 20 min! When your emotional being wants to procrastinate, create a little bargain and say ”Let’s just do 20 min.”
Tip #2:
Overwhelm and procrastination can occur when we become reactive instead of proactive. We reactively check FB, text messages, Instagram, email…you name it! That can easily start to feel like a time suck and energy drain.
I invite you to turn off all notifications on your smartphone or computer.
Yes, you read that right. Seriously, shut off everything!
When you hear the ding of the text message, you inevitably stop whatever it is you’re doing and check to see what it is. Curiosity is human nature. Then we handle whatever is required of us for that distraction and get taken down a different path then what we began.
If you can stop being reactive, you’ll eliminate distractions, spirals and self beat up for going off task. You can even turn off all notifications JUST for the duration of the Pomodoro. You’ll thank me for it.
First step in applying any productivity is to know thyself and what makes you tick. And to recognize that being productive is a learnable skill. You just get to make it work for you.
