It is something that comes up again and again in my coaching. Clients often know what they need to be doing, but just can’t seem to find the motivation to get going – so tasks get put off and pushed back. You start procrastinating.
It’s so easy to put things off, but inevitably procrastinating just leads to unnecessary stress. That then leads to blaming and critiquing ourselves and negative self-talk. It’s a completely unhelpful cycle.
The key to overcoming your tendency to procrastinate is finding the Activation Energy required to get off your butt and get started. Starting is the hardest part. Activation energy is a term borrowed from chemistry that denotes the crucial amount of energy required to start a chemical reaction. In life and psychology, that looks like just the right amount of energy to get yourself up and going. It’s the motivation to move your butt.
For more on this topic, listen to episode 8 on the Here to Thrive Podcast. www.thrive.how/iTunes
If you’re prone to procrastination, you need to set up strategies to help you manage your natural tendencies. Here are 6 strategies that can help:
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Get in the Habit of a Daily To-Do List
This is one of the greatest things I have ever been taught. A To-Do list is no joke – it gets the pile of tasks out of your head (where they are often causing unconscious pressure) and safely onto paper. So often we feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start, which leads to procrastination. A To-Do List helps you prioritize as well as celebrate getting stuff done (I love ticking off my to-do list!).
It doesn’t matter whether you are at SAHM or working in an office. Everyone can benefit from taking 2 mins daily to quickly jot down what needs to get done. I speak more about the “how to” another blog (click here to read).
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The 5 Minute Rule
If there is a task that is playing on your mind, and it will take less than 5 mins to complete – DO IT IMMEDIATELY. No excuses. Get going. The stress that putting off doing the small tasks causes us is not worth it in the long run. If looking at that messy bed is making you feel like the house is a tip, just make the bed. You get my drift.
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The Odd Job Hour
This is an extension of the 5-minute rule. Often we end up with a heap of niggly tasks that don’t seem to get done throughout the week but might take a little bit of time. It’s paying the bills, ringing the cable company, opening the mail – those sorts of things. In order to get this stuff off your plate, pop aside an hour each week where you tick-off all the odd jobs. This works well if you are also doing your daily to-do list as you will know exactly what needs to be done in your hour! Be realistic about when is the best time in the week for you to work on this. Is it first thing Monday morning or last thing Friday? Make it a solid reoccurring appointment with yourself in your diary.
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Big Task, Small Goals
If we have big tasks that we are working on, often our brains decide they are too overwhelming. We don’t know where to start, so we avoid them altogether. It may be the assignment you have to write, or the work project that doesn’t excite you that’s deadline is still a decent way off. To get yourself into action mode, start with breaking the Big Task into Small Goals. Set yourself completion dates for each small segment. The beauty of this is that you feel like you are moving forward and achieving something each time you complete a small goal. It also makes the big task feel more manageable in our minds. It addition, it gives us a roadmap on how to achieve the goal which helps our minds overcome the feeling of being overwhelmed.
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Reward Yourself
We’re each motivated by different things, but rewards work. Just like with kids, we seem to be able to summon a little more energy when we know something we want is on the other side of the thing we don’t really want to do. Obviously, the size of your task should reflect the size of the goal. You might treat yourself to a meal out after completing an assignment or let yourself have half an hour off work to watch TV after completing some frustrating work-related tasks. Make any reward meaningful, realistic and motivating to you.
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Make Commitments
In general, we don’t enjoy letting people down. So to up the ante, make a commitment to someone else. I can remember doing this when I made a public commitment that I was going to run a half marathon. I told all my colleagues and friends, and then I didn’t want to look like a fool by not pulling it off! Needless to say, I did once run a half marathon. You may say to your friend that you will get certain things done by the end of the day, or tell your boss she/he can expect something completed by you on a certain date. This is also why accountability partners are great. If you want to exercise more, see if you can find a friend who has the same goal as you and do it together.
We’re all prone to procrastinating at some time or other. These tools will help you manage your own propensity to put off the stuff that needs to be done, and support you in summoning the activation energy to start. You’ll feel so much better when whatever you’re putting off is completed – I promise. So here is to getting the sh*t that needs to get done, done!
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Hi. I’m Kate Snowise. I’m a Life Coach and host of the Here to Thrive Podcast. I help people get clear on what they want, need and crave, and then helps them take the steps to move towards that.
I believe life is about more than surviving and being good enough. Each of us truly has the ability to thrive and live a beautiful, aligned life where we remember and connect with our authentic selves. I have an MSc in Psychology (the positive kind that concentrates on what is right with you). To read more about my signature coaching program The Thriving Life Project
