My tips for starting soon… the guide to procrastination

Hurray, it is Monday! The first working day January and a good time to start my new year’s resolutions full of energy. I am full of vibrant new creative ideas and I want to start them off as soon as possible. Just kick them off and make them a reality. These ideas are important for me since this is going to be the next step for me, the place where I am going to be meaningful, give myself purpose and earn more money. But what is blocking me from actually starting? At the end of the day, I realize I have not even started working on my new ideas… what happened to my time… why haven’t I started?

What influenced my day that I got distracted that I did not work on my high priority ideas? Let’s share my favorite tips for starting soon. My excuses for why I have not started. Soon means just right after all these other things I like to do. I allow myself to be distracted. It is safe to assume that there are always other things that can help you being distracted from realizing your highest priorities. And these things are tempting enough to keep you from the task. Here is a list of things you can do before you start your main task

I wonder where the time has gone when I realize I have not completed one thing from my list. But at least I have enjoyed my time spent today. Or do I? I will have to do some more research. Enjoy these tips and let me know if they help you:

• I Google for videos about your priority task, creativity end inspiration in general.
• Talk to co-workers about your priorities and listen to their priorities. Discuss the difficulty of starting with them. Perhaps enjoy some coffee with this.
• Process my email since nothing is more satisfying than starting my new project with an empty inbox.
• Google some more about your priorities and I read inspiring articles about other people with the same challenges.
• Read some articles about how to manage lists and become more productive. Even view some videos explaining the process.
• Listening to music that might inspire me to be more creative.
• See if I can do some online shopping while starting. So they will be delivered after completing my first task. Yes, I deserve this reward for having worked this hard, soon. 
• Create a mind map of all the things I have to do today. Perhaps I will even make a mind map of all the things I ever need to do.
• List all the other tasks I need to do. And sort them on a list management tool. I can even start my own Trello board to manage this. Even start searching for the best tool for sorting your thoughts online. And find a good background image for this list management tool. Since nothing inspires me more than a nice background image.
• Google to check if I have forgotten any other priorities. So I can explore more alternatives.
• Read my social media and make sure you congratulate the people who have had a birthday or job change in the past days.
• Talk some more to co-workers and check if they are ready to have lunch (is it that time already?). And now that we are on the topic; perhaps even google for some healthier lunch alternatives. 
• Send out more messages on social media to make sure other people know you are busy.
• Find something nice to put on your Linkedin timeline to make sure your network knows you are working on your priorities. And make sure you find a suitable picture to brighten this status update.
• Check my social media updates again. Check all updates till I am sure there is nothing new there. And I make sure to check again.
• Walk around in the office to check if there is someone who needs your help with something. Or at least someone who is ready talk to you.
• I work best with some nice music. I have to create a playlist before I start. And review some of the public playlists of my friends.
• Google for a nice vacation destination. Ah, I think I also have to make a list of favorite vacation destinations. And select a good list tool for this.

And hey now my first day is gone and I am all ready to start. The best way is to have a good night's rest and start tomorrow on my new tasks. Since today was spend being productive preparing to start. I get a very uncomfortable feeling of my tasks piling up and growing. The urge to start soon.

How can I stop this senseless searching and procrastination and start working on my priorities? I found the following tips helpful breaking the endless loop of time-wasting. Perhaps they work for you too.

• Identify this behavior and be aware of your procrastination patterns.
• Lower your own standards, don't expect the first start to be perfect.
• Change the voice in your mind from "I have to..." to "I choose to".
• Realize you can not get everything done.
• Chunk down large overwhelming tasks to smaller, shorter tasks.

And finally: just start. You have no idea how fast time flies and before you know it the year is over.

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