I’m assuming (and somewhat hoping!) that it’s not just me who puts things off. Since helping you always helps me this month's newsletter is designed so we can both stroke things off our list!
Procrastinate No More – 10 Tips to Put Procrastinating Behind You (and me)!
What needs to get done? What’s on you list that you are avoiding, running from or ignoring completely? A call you have to make, a program you need to start, a commitment you need to keep?
With so many things to do, so many things screaming priority and some of them may be things you are not that excited about doing, right?
The truth is procrastination hurts. It hurts your feelings, it hurts your confidence, it hurts your self-esteem. We don’t feel good about ourselves when we are procrastinating and when we don’t feel good about ourselves, we can’t give our best to our patients, our families, our world.
We need you to give your best to the world, so are you ready to stamp out procrastination in your life? If so read on …
- See it and feel it. Visualize how you will feel when it is done. Don’t just focus on the task, focus on the end result.
- Identify and remove the obstacles. Figure out what is preventing you from getting the ‘job’ done and finds ways to deal with those issues. They might be good reasons, but chances are they are really good excuses.
- Perfectionism kills. Done is better than perfect, done is better than perfect, and let me repeat that – done is better than perfect. And it’s definitely better than not done.
- Make a game out of it. Set the kitchen timer or your cell phone alarm – how much can you get done in ‘x’ amount of minutes?
- Do what you dread most, first. Get it over with, put it to bed, and be done with it already! Do it first!
- Don’t think about it so much. There will always be 100 reasons why not to do it, and 100 others things you could be doing. Stop thinking so much, just do it!
- Withhold a pleasure. No morning coffee until I …, No checking my email until I …, No social media until I …, No lunch until I …, No _______________________ until I …, you get the idea!
- Plan a reward. Yes, especially for the ‘biggies’ if you can finally did it, reward yourself.
- Block time. Set it in your calendar and honor the commitment you have made, like a promise to a best friend.
- Break it down. When the task is big and overwhelming we often don’t know where to start – so we don’t start anywhere. Break the big task down into small manageable steps and start there.
When you do “gett’er done’” you will most likely say, “that wasn’t so bad!” Your self-esteem will take a jump for doing it and that little rush of adrenaline that your body releases when you scratch it off your ‘to-do’ list will feel oh- so good!
Soooo… I’m off to get my next project off the ground! What are you going to get done now? Let me know!
