Recognising and Beating Procrastination

Do you find yourself procrastinating about doing your marketing?

You’re not alone – many of my clients struggle with this.

You see everyone else marketing themselves and making it look easy. But you feel overwhelmed with all the things you think you should be doing and end up doing nothing.

What is Procrastination?

Basically, procrastination is when you avoid acting on the most important thing(s). It often hides plain sight, disguising itself as something that’s valid but it’s really a disguise.

There’s the version where you’re busy being busy, making things more urgent than they really are. Or, you get side-tracked by social media, pretending you’re working, but you’re scrolling and watching random dog videos. Or a friend messages to ask you to lunch because their free and know you work for yourself and you willingly accept as it’s a welcome distraction.

Why People Procrastinate

Procrastination often comes when you step outside of your comfort zone. Fear walks hand in hand with procrastination and will stop you in your tracks. Whether it’s the fear of failure or the fear of being visible, it will stop you from finishing what you start. You may not even get started in the first place.

Perfectionists often fear being judged or criticized which can show up as procrastination. You avoid doing anything that makes you visible because you feel vulnerable. If you stay hidden, no one will be able to pass judgement on you or what you do.

It’s also easy to procrastinate when you’re doing something you don’t enjoy - you could be having so much more fun somewhere else. Because you must wear so many hats in your business, there will be certain tasks that are ‘necessary evils’ as I like to call them. These are the ones you ideally delegate when you are more established, but for now, you must do them yourself.

Relationship to Time

Your relationship to time is skewed when it comes to procrastination. You have a project or task, and you delay starting it because think you have more time than you do (think about doing your accounts or submitting your CPD). Suddenly you’re under a huge amount of pressure trying to get it done because you left it too late to get started.

Know Your Go-to Procrastination Habits

We all have our favourite go-to habits when we’re procrastinating. Think about what you do to avoid working on the important things in your business. This awareness will help you to recognise when you are procrastinating and help you to interrupt the habit and decide to do something more useful instead.

Listen to the stories you’re telling yourself about these habits. You may find you’re trying to convince yourself what you’re doing has value or is more important than the thing you’re procrastinating over.

Moving Past Procrastination

Do you have a big project you’re putting off getting started? What is the one thing you’d love to finish or launch which will help to move your business forward? Use the following tips to help you move past procrastination.

#1 Minimise any distractions so turn off your phone, shut down your emails and find a place to work where you won’t be interrupted.

#2 Identify your most important task(s) for the day and commit to doing them before you do anything else. If you pick your top two or three things to focus on first and it will free you up for the rest of the day.

#3 Change the stories you’re telling yourself about the task at hand. Notice what you say to yourself and make sure you’re being positive and encouraging about completing it.

#4 Create systems that you can follow step by step. This will stop you from having to think too much about what needs to be done, and instead flow through tasks.

#5 Celebrate completing the most important tasks and recognise your achievements. You could treat yourself to a little reward such as a coffee with a friend or taking a long lunch and going for a lovely walk.

#6 Have someone to keep you accountable. This works wonders in focusing the mind and helping you to achieve more. It can be a business buddy, a coach or a mentor, as part of a membership or mastermind group. Do whatever works best for you.

We all procrastinate occasionally, but when it becomes chronic - it kills dreams. If procrastination is getting in the way of your holistic business thriving, it's time to address it.

If you struggle with procrastination, book a call and let’s have a chat about how I can help you.