Stop Procrastination - Need Helpful Tips As A Small Business Owner?
Procrastination - reality check: we ALL do it!
According to a 2020 survey from IBM, 54% of respondents said, as a result of the pandemic, they would now prefer to permanently work from home and 75% said they would like the option to work remotely part-time. With this shift, it’s important to offset temptations to procrastinate.
As a small business owner, even saying the word, 'procrastination fills me with all sorts of yucky emotions like guilt, frustration, boredom, resentment, and self-doubt - I could go on and perhaps you could think of some words to add to my list, I certainly can!
Procrastination can be seen as the enemy - it's a real danger for us. It gets in the way of us doing the work we’re meant to do, meeting our goals and growing a sustainable business. We have things to accomplish that will help move our lives forward and we don’t want the big ‘P’ to stand in our way.
Why we procrastinate & knowing your triggers
Overwhelm
For me, I recognise overwhelm as a big factor for procrastination. I’m a bit of a perfectionist but I also love to learn and I can become easily distracted taking in new information that I believe will be relevant for my business. This combination of wanting to do my best but with too many options to follow, can lead to procrastination = overwhelm.
You’ll have your own triggers for procrastination - read on for some tips that might help you, or at least help you to recognise your triggers and in turn, identify patterns. The great news? Knowing your triggers and patterns means you’re half-way there to overcoming them.
For any word lovers out there (yes, me!), procrastination comes from the latin verb procrastinare meaning to put off until tomorrow. It also comes from the greek word akrasia - meaning to do something against our better judgement.
It’s about avoidance
Because if you think about it, the very act of procrastinating, is communicating something to you.
We all have those tasks within our business that we hate and will try to avoid at all costs. For me, I dislike bookkeeping and accounting (anyone else?). I know this task has to be done regularly but I often find myself avoiding it. Knowing that we are avoiding something within our business is good information, it’s a clue - I’ll talk more about this later on.
You’re not lazy
Our brains are constantly looking for ways to reward ourselves - to self soothe and self comfort. Any sniff of discomfort and we find ourselves seeking out a feel good alternative. That might show up as eating junk food, binge watching too much tv, and buying stuff we don’t need etc.
We’re all familiar with the ‘feel good’ hormone dopamine but did you know that it doesn’t have a stop button? I know!
Once we climb into that rabbit hole and begin Googling something like ‘office chairs’ (a true and recent story) on the internet, we can find ourselves ‘forgetting’ what we set out to do. Dopamine doesn’t have an off switch - it’s there to get us to seek something out but has no off switch. That’s why we need to get really clear on the outcomes that we want to achieve (see above).
It’s all about fear
Often emotions have a basis of fear around them. The thought of carrying out a particular task might bring up feelings of insecurity, self-doubt, resentment, uncertainty, even anger - well, you can see why you would try to avoid that! These feelings then have a knock on effect and we find ourselves losing motivation - we don’t want to risk experiencing the same negative result.
“In delay there lies no plenty.”
It’s a strange reality knowing that completing a task would make us feel better but we still avoid it, even though procrastinating makes us feel worse.
There are other procrastination triggers too such as lack of confidence, exhaustion etc.
Tips to help you beat procrastination in your work day
Useful tips to consider before starting out on a task and whilst in the middle of a task:
Have a clear outcome for what you want to achieve.
It’s hard to focus if you don’t have a deeper motivation. Use an external motivation if required and get into the ‘flow’ says Leo Babauta of Zen Habits.
Don’t focus on the arduous task ahead. Instead, focus on how good it will feel to reach your goal. Can you imagine yourself reaching your goal? Really paint a picture of how this will look and feel.
Get on board with your end goal. If you don’t like it, change it!
Forgive yourself when you find yourself procrastinating. There is evidence that suggests that self compassion actually ‘spins into other positive emotions and enhances self worth, being kind to yourself. Here is the paper that was involved with this study on procrastination and self-forgiveness.
Change the language - James Clear says: Replace a ‘should’ with ‘I’m going to’, or ‘it’s time to’.
Reward yourself at various stages. Perhaps use an accountability partner.
If it’s appropriate, delegate and use your strengths elsewhere.
Struggling in the moment?
We all need a little help and here are some suggestions that could get you over the hump and move you forward:
Leo from Zen Habits, says to to ‘catch yourself’ when you’re about to feel distracted. How do you feel? Feel the emotions ie. boredom, fear, insecurity - sit with them a moment or two. How does your body 'feel? Are there any other emotions? Honour all these feelings.
Struggling to maintain focus and commitment? James Clear suggests that you: Only do [THING YOU LOVE] while doing [THING YOU PROCRASTINATE ON].
Return to your task - just complete the next step or, break tasks into smaller steps.
Set a timer and do some of those tasks that you’ve not wanted to do - give yourself 5-10 mins. Just one task. Be committed.
James Clear believes that with some practice, you will start to trust yourself, that you’re okay and that you don’t need to follow a trail to distraction. I agree.
Gretchen Rubin suggests ‘distancing yourself from the distraction by creating a little frustration or anxiety ie. removing apps etc. By doing this, you’re adding friction to the procrastination cycle and making the reward value of your temptation less immediate’. Here’s more from Gretchen with her 8 tips to stop procrastinating.
Temporary ADD. Try a ‘brain dump’ and writing down what’s on your mind. I do this with my journal in the morning but the article suggests you create a quick to do list to un-clog your brain and get back to focusing in on your task.
According to an article in The New York Times by Dr Brewer, if we’re to outwit procrastination we have to ‘…give our brains what Dr. Brewer called the “Bigger Better Offer”. In other words we have to find a better reward to continue with the task than avoid it. Plus, the solution must be internal and only dependent upon ourselves.
Resources - TED talks, book
Book - I’d recommend Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Don’t you love a good TED talk?… Here’s a couple:
Click the video above for ‘Inside the mind of a master procrastinator’ by Tim Urban.
Click the video below for ‘The real reason you procrastinate’ with Adam Grant.
I agree with Leo from Zen Habits, as time passes you’ll continue to stretch your anti-procrastination muscle, you’ll develop self trust. You’ll know when to push through and when to hold off and to examine your goals and outcomes.
I hope this post has been helpful and please leave a comment below to share how you combat procrastination in your business.
*An affiliate link for a book that I own and would genuinely recommend.
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