Overcoming Procrastination
We are all about planning this month in our business community and in sticking to the ‘plan’, I have set aside a whole day to plan for a very busy few months ahead. Yet as I sit down to get things done, I’m finding anything and everything put in front of me distracting. I know I need to move things forward but procrastination is sneaking in…
As we know, procrastination is the act of delaying something — it is actually the limitation of growth. As we continually delay our to do list we can easily move into a state of overwhelm.
To combat this, I tried a quick method that I have used in the past to activate my frontal cortex by counting from 5 backwards to 1. It usually works a treat, but today I seem to be distracted more than usual – maybe because it is a sunny day and I wish I was out there…
In order to settle in for a great day of planning and to recalibrate generally, I know I need personal preparation and to bring things back to basics.
Here are the five things I do to get back in flow and to ensure I stay on task:
- Drink more water – Nothing new here but dehydration can lead to low energy, fatigue and being more easily distracted. I am definitely guilty of not drinking enough H2O.
- Get enough sleep – Early to bed, and early to rise as the saying goes. The point is, I actually do my best work early in the day… so I need regular, wonderful sleep.
- Low sugar diet – I find that if I eat sugar I get energy spikes, but then I dip and I cannot concentrate. If I am doing something I find a chore I often ‘reward’ myself with a sugar hit and this can spiral into an unproductive day.
- Turnoff social media – I have no alerts on anything, not email, social – I don’t even have a ringer on my phone.
- Eliminate Multitasking – In the book The One Thing the research presents that you simply cannot do a few things at the same time if you want to produce great work. You must focus on the thing that needs to get done — no matter how hard it seems.
You can check out The One Thing by clicking on the image.
I always find that when I reel things back to basics, my mind focuses on the task a lot easier and then the next thing I know, my planning is almost done!
Great plans take personal commitment… what tactics are you using to stick to your plans?
Also published on Medium.
Magdalena says
Good point! What if procrastination lasts a couple of days? How to get back on track?
Amy says
Great list of things to get on track and avoid procrastination.
Two more to consider…
6. Good enough – understand when the task is good enough to say it is complete. Avoiding perfectionism will get things done.
7. Breakdown the task – yes, focus on one thing at a time, but breakdown the task so there is a sense of completion as you move forward.
Stephanie says
I also revisit my vision and find that it helps to get me started on the tasks I am avoiding…
Karen Burchell says
I aim bigh each month and of I achieved half the aim I feel i have a happy! I agree with Naomi about the other suggestions!