February 2018 – Productivity Success Cake

SOMETIMES PROCRASTINATION IS “GOOD!”

Let’s be real. Do you procrastinate?

If “yes” then welcome to Being Human. There is NOTHING wrong with you. (Can I stop reading now?) Procrastination is our way of avoiding something unpleasant. Our bodies and minds are saying, NO! My challenge to you is, why is it unpleasant? This question equals, “why am I procrastinating?”

Ask yourself:

What is your expectation?
How did you establish said expectation? Did it come from childhood? Teachers? Supervisors?
What might happen if this expectation did not exist? That you CHANGE it to another one?

Example of expectation:
I must spend every moment of my workday being productive. I cannot afford to take a lunch – that’s for lazy people. I’m productive, busy, professional, and irreplaceable…I need to keep my game face on.

Example of changing this expectation:
I am important in my company. I empower others and lead by example. I know that taking frequent breaks clears my mind and allows me to do my best work.

When you change unrealistic expectations, you honor yourself more. When you honor yourself more, you are far less likely to be distracted, and to procrastinate.

And now, on to the Productivity Success Plan.

Last time, we dove into the first step in this plan. Step One was to identify what procrastination looks like for YOU (in other words, when you procrastinate what are you actually DOING?)

Step Two: The Procrastination Rescue Ritual
OK, so now you realize you are procrastinating. How do you Get Out of Procrastination-ville right away? Start your own Procrastination Rescue Ritual!

What’s a Procrastination Rescue Ritual?

This is a SIMPLE WAY to get you back on track. It’s so easy to get off track, right? So, first, NOTICE, and then, come up with a Really Simple Ritual so you can do it and you start actually getting stuff done!

Here are your 3 steps:

Check in
Center Yourself
Re-motivate

Sound simple? Too simple? Yes, it’s simple…and simple WORKS.

Here’s what this might look like:

You sit down at your computer. You check Facebook for work posts. The next thing you know, you see a sponsored ad for something cool, or you sister posted fun vacation photos. **YOU NOTICE***
Yikes! Am I procrastinating (yes) (ask why? See above, too boring of a task, too long of a time allocated, what is it?)
Procrastination Rescue Ritual time:
- Check In: What do I need right now? A cup of tea and headphones? A quick walk? Shut down all my browser windows?
- Center Yourself: Breathe. Do a mini meditation.
- Re-motivate: Ask yourself, why is this important (relate it to your larger mission). Visualize yourself in your success. Cool, you are doing this!

STEP THREE.
Once you’ve rescued yourself, it’s time to Move into the Now. Ask yourself three essential questions to maximize your time and energy (we will do this 3/5)

And here’s a preview of the next 3 steps!

STEP FOUR
Removing Distractions

STEP FIVE
What needs to change?

STEP SIX
Celebrate!

Plus…here’s a BONUS TIP!

Sometimes thinking about the task is much bigger than actually doing it. Right? Go on, just start…something.

I love to procrastinate. It feels so good. Wait, what?

It does! I like to have fun you know; I’m not “all business”. While I love my work, I love fun even more. So, when I don’t really wish to “dive in” to a project, I get really busy doing things I can check off my list. Does this sound familiar? And yes, this is a form of procrastination.

Are you interested in what you might be doing to procrastinate, where you might honor it, and where you might tweak it, SO THAT you may become your Best Self? If yes, read on.

FIRST, ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS:

Do you:

Pretend to work while playing computer games or watching shows, thus making the work take hours because you keep getting sucked into the game or show or YouTube or Facebook?
Start to work on something, then remember something else that’s more urgent, dropping that midway to hop onto something else… only to finally return to the first task a couple hours later, exhausted, and just call it a day?
Clean up things that don’t really need to be cleaned up (like the tabs on your browser) to avoid doing what REALLY needs to be done (hint: you don’t like it, could be bookkeeping, could be “real” filing…what’s on your “I hate this” list?)

Do you wish you could:

Spend several hours of guilt-free quality time with your partner or friends every day (because all those projects you used to procrastinate on are no longer hanging over your head)?
Get into a daily rhythm that keeps you well-rested, happy, and doing your very best work?
Follow through with your goals consistently, making solid progress without always having to battle procrastination?

>>>Well, wish no more. We’re going to dive deep on March 5th into the Productivity Success Plan<<<

In the meantime, here are some first steps to get you started NOW.

Productivity Success Plan: Beat Procrastination, Step by Step.

STEP ONE. Identify how YOU procrastinate.
Go ahead, list out some scenarios…what does procrastination look like for YOU?
1.
2.
3.

HINT – identity what IS and what IS NOT ‘procrastination’.

What is procrastination, anyhow? Before we can determine how Ugly it is, or how Wonderful it is, let’s determine WHAT it is.

Here’s what it’s NOT!

– Big thinking time: If you are thinking big, I would not call this procrastination. If you are thinking big during the time where every moment counts, with a looming deadline that you are putting off, that’s procrastination.
– Scheduled downtime: Are you 100% productive and billable during 100% of your day? NO. You’re not a machine. And, even your machines need scheduled downtime (or they take the unscheduled downtime…right?)
– Energy-based downtime: When we pay really amazing attention to our most productive times of the day, and how long we can stay productive during those times, we are working WITH our bodies (not against them). So is this procrastinating? I say no.

STEP TWO.
OK, so now you realize you are procrastinating. How do you Get Out right away? Start your own Procrastination Rescue Ritual (more on that coming).

STEP THREE.
Once you’ve rescued yourself, it’s time to Move into the Now. Ask yourself three essential questions to maximize your time and energy (we will do this 3/5).

And here’s a preview of the next 3 steps; more will be coming in future articles and on our call 3/5/18:

STEP FOUR
Removing Distractions

STEP FIVE
What needs to change?

STEP SIX
Celebrate!

Yes, some procrastination is good…more on that next time. In the meantime, just start on step one and watch your productivity skyrocket!