Work It Wednesday ~ today focus on your list of all the tasks that stack up.  You know the ones you keep procrastinating about getting done!  Tasks that are easy to complete or take you doing something you dread tend to stack up – let the stack get too high and you get overwhelmed and shut down.  Use Work It Wednesday each week to jump on those types of tasks and stop avoiding and procrastinating getting them done.

Procrastinating…

“Procrastinating  is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.” –Wayne Dyer

We all know procrastinating well – in fact most of us have become masters in our practice of “procrastination”, wouldn’t you say?

I can honestly say in procrastinating not a lot of good comes out of it.  Not only does procrastinating effect business it also effects us mentally and emotionally –

• Unfinished work piles up your list and leaves clutter around you, this drags us down
• A negative self reflection on oneself because things are not getting done, this drags us down
• When other people see items not getting done in a timely manner – you can be labeled as unreliable or lazy, this brings us down
• The longer you put a certain task off the more dreaded it becomes until you just really “hate the thought” of doing it, this brings us down

There are ways to start facing procrastinating head on and put an end to it.  When you start completing tasks in a timely fashion that you would have normally avoided you seem to gain a sense of accomplishment and control over your time and days.  By sitting back and not completing certain tasks and always putting them off, procrastinating, you give THEM the control over your thoughts and it stresses you out. It is nearly impossible to stop procrastinating with out a plan of action – a process and a procedure you will begin to use to move forward in getting things done… we suggest a Tickler File and you can see below how each step fits into this system.

5 Steps to Stop Procrastinating…

Plan Daily – you want a process where you can see what was completed and have a clear plan for the next day.  At then end of your work day evaluate what was completed, cross them off – move the items that did not get completed to tomorrow and when you open your Tickler File, you will know exactly where to start in the morning!  By looking at your list each night and planning the next day you are leaving the procrastinating thoughts behind!

Revenue Generating Tasks First – for you in your business it might be following up on contracts, following up with prospects that showed interest in your opportunity, creating products, writing content and sales copy – what ever this task is for you and your business, do it first thing!  We created Monetize Monday in our productivity system so that procrastinating does not interfere with us generating revenue at the beginning of the week.

Stop the Fear – procrastinating is fed a lot by fear. Is it the task you fear so much or is the outcome of being a success or failure you fear?  There are some tasks we fear – they are far too big in our minds but that is not the main reason are procrastinating some tasks – everyone fears being a “failure” and that is easy to know why, but did you  know we also fear being a “success” almost more than the former?  Success brings a lot of new expectations set upon us and so we fear the unknown… do let procrastinating stop you from your successes!

Make Action Notes – as you do your daily notes, project notes, and use your follow up tracker – be sure to keep good notes with small details and note what action you want to take while you are creating the task – this helps you from recreating the thought and helps you stop procrastinating about it because you cannot remember what you wanted to do first.

Rewards – in our Weekly Productivity Program we teach and consult on, we require the team to set goals/milestones in projects and tasks.  With the goal/milestone comes a NAMED reward.  It has to be named and written down.  If we focus on getting work done, making sales, achieving a level in a company but we have no personal rewards you burn out and get into procrastinating because there is nothing you are working towards.  This is not the grand daddy of rewards these are small personal achievement rewards.  They make a difference!

I am sure you have great reasons or “excuses” for why you are procrastinating about certain tasks.  Procrastinating and avoiding them seems to work for you now, but does it really?  Stop coming up with reasons for why you cannot or are not completing something and DO IT – stop waiting. Procrastinating is not in your business plan.

“Waiting is a trap. There will always be reasons to wait. The truth is, there are only two things in life, reasons and results, and reasons simply don’t count.” –Robert Anthony

What tasks are you procrastinating about getting done?

• Procrastinating on getting a website started?  Don’t know how – seek assistance – but get it done!
• Procrastinating on Blogging? Don’t have time to write a blog post?  Sit down and write three at a time once a week.  In one month you will have 12 posts written but will only have used 4 so far (if you post once a week)
• Procrastinating on going to a meeting and networking? Find someone you can go with and have them hold you accountable to going.  Network and build your business.
• Procrastinating on making follow up calls?  Pick up the phone, I guarantee once the first one is done you will get in a flow and get them all done.
• Procrastinating on jumping into Social Media?  Create an action plan, start small 5 mins a day and move up to 15 mins a day tops – build relationships and build your business.

You deserve to get out ahead of your “things to do” stop procrastinating and start doing.  Get with a friend, a business partner, a networking buddy and set up an accountability team – help each other stop procrastinating on tasks and push each other.  Putting off, procrastinating, is far more damaging than any outcome can be from a completed task.  Without completion you have no direction so when you stop procrastinating about your task and complete it, even if it was not the most positive results – you have a direction to go next!

If you find yourself procrastinating and being “stuck”  – contact us and we are happy to share some ideas for you to help stop procrastinating and move forward – we are here for your success!