3 tips for beating procrastination.

By the time this reaches your inbox, it will be August! Do you have anything fun planned? Any vacations or staycations or restful days??

I’ve been lucky enough to take time here and there this summer, but in a few weeks I’ll be heading to France for some family and personal time - and croissants! - for almost ten days. I’m so excited!?

One of the things I’ve noticed with my clients - and myself - this summer is that the closer we get to being able to take a break, the harder it is to get us to do our work. My Chief of Staff told me in the States they call this “senioritis.” When high school seniors get close to graduation, their work declines in quality significantly, they start missing assignments and skipping school.?

While “senioritis” is a cute name - let’s just call it what it is - procrastination.?

When we know something is fun, it’s easy to want to do it again. But most of the time, we are waiting for that idea of fun to take hold over us to get us motivated to do the thing. Unfortunately, this happens before we’ve even tried. So we’re stuck in this perpetual cycle of waiting for motivation - waiting for the fun - to do the thing, but not being able to do the thing because we haven’t done it yet so we don’t know if it’s fun.?

I know that sounded like a riddle, but there’s no better way to explain it. If I want to learn how to play the piano, there’s a pretty low likelihood that I will sit down to learn how to read music because it’s daunting. I don’t have the “fun” memories of playing the piano to rely on as motivation to learn how to read music. So I procrastinate. And procrastinate. And procrastinate, waiting for the motivation to strike.?

But, what if you could push past that initial procrastination and see how fun it is to learn music - to see what you’re learning come to life as you start to play the keys? You’d obviously be more inclined to get better at reading music. You would still be relying on the fun to be a motivator, but you’d have proven to yourself it is fun by ignoring the procrastination tendency.?

So here are a few ways to bust through procrastination, experience the thing, and find that motivation, finally:

1. Shift your “shoulds.” When you start to think about how you “should” do something, set an actual time to sit down and do it. Make an appointment with yourself and be flexible about what you get done during that time. I’m not saying you should set an appointment to learn how to read music and then give yourself grace if you end up reading a book during that time. No. What I’m saying is, set the appointment, show up to the appointment, and even if you spend the whole 30 minutes struggling to remember the difference between a quarter note and a half note, it’s okay.?
2. Don’t let your perfectionism drive your procrastination. In the example above, a perfectionist would get angry at themselves for not being able to remember the difference between those two notes. When this happens, their perfectionism is encouraging them to procrastinate - because if it’s too hard and we can’t do it correctly the first time, it’s not worth doing, right? Wrong. Instead of letting your perfectionism drive your procrastination, acknowledge that your frustration in that moment is perfectionism rearing it’s ugly head, and then keep going.?
3. Make a to do list and set priorities. When you want to learn something new and feel overwhelmed, it helps to organize the steps into a to do list that you can tick off as you complete them. I don’t know about you, but there is nothing better than checking off that box on your to do list and seeing that you’ve completed a project or task because you set your mind to it.?
4. Treat yourself like a toddler. One of the biggest things that makes us procrastinate is the size of a task. If it’s too big, we will be immediately overwhelmed and not want to start. To combat this, you have to treat yourself like a toddler. You’d never expect a 2 year old to learn how to read music in one session. You’d break it down to them in a way that they understood, that made them want to learn more, and that helped them build confidence in the subject. You have to do the same thing for yourself.
5. Reward yourself when you complete the goal. What’s the point in doing the thing if you don’t get to clap yourself on the back at the end? Celebrating and rewarding your efforts is another part of the fun that can propel you through those procrastination tendencies. It also sets a reminder that learning/doing new things is fun, which will help push you to start another project without procrastinating first.?

And when all else fails, just start. You don’t have to wait till you feel inspired or motivated to do the thing. The best way to do the thing is still… just to do the thing.?

P.S.: I’m launching my Get Unstuck! Coaching Certificate this fall! Ever wanted to help your clients finally stop making excuses, and create the life they’ve always wanted? I’m looking for 15 coaches to become Certified Get Unstuck! Coaches. Hit reply if you’re interested!!