Do You Procrastinate? I Do! Learn Why and How
How does the word procrastination resonate with you? Immediately, I think of all the things I should be doing!! Organize my closet, clean out the freezer, make the beds, finish my work related projects, take the recycling, call my aunt, do the laundry…and the list goes on!! Most of us procrastinate for one reason or another. One thing I do know, is the sense of relief and/or accomplishment I have when I finish a project, task, problem or goal.. it feels amazing!!
If there is a positive shift in energy, why do we fall victim to procrastination?
I had the pleasure of speaking with Randi Bale, Organizational Consultant, about procrastination and the reasons why we do it!! Listen to my interview as she shares her top five reasons why people procrastinate. She agreed to take me on as a client, walk me through her process, and help me resolve my issues with procrastination on a work-related project.
Our initial conversation involved questions to prompt me to communicate my reasons for procrastinating on this particular project. She also asked other poignant questions to understand who I am. In this particular case, her advice was to “chunk things down into bite sized pieces” on paper. The project was overwhelming me and I couldn’t move forward. She gave me a simple analogy; “in order to eat an elephant, you need to eat it one bite at a time!”
Even though my project seemed to overwhelm me, listing out each task on paper took the fear out and brought further clarity. “Chunking things down” and putting them on paper can be different for everyone. Some of her suggestions included: writing out a list; creating a list on an excel spreadsheet; purchasing color coded folders for each task; use colored pencils to identify different tasks or mind-mapping.
I am a visual person and needed the whole project concept in front of me! First I wrote out a list of tasks on a yellow pad. I wanted this to be fun, visual and creative so I created a colorful storyboard with all of the elements listed. I used colored pencils, sticky notes and drawings!! Once I had a large visual, I knew I could get this done!!
My storyboard was titled: New Product Development
To comfortably move ahead I decided to:
a. Hire a professional proofreader – I hate proofreading! This was the major obstacle holding me back.
b. Have my design team create 3 sample ideas for me to review. I wanted to control this element, but the design team designs!!
c. Allow my webmaster to come up with a template for the sales page, with graphics and verbiage markers. Once the verbiage and photograph’s are done, the page can go live. No need to wait until everything is done!!
d. Sales & marketing verbiage. This will be my focus. It’s my product and I need to convey what the product is all about in my words. I will then circle back to the professional proofreader to clean things up!!
Randi’s process helped me see things clearly. My role is to oversee the project and ensure everything comes together as I envisioned.
WOW!!
Listen in as Randi Bale shares the 5 reasons we procrastinate and how we can navigate through with ease.
