How to stop getting off at Procrastination Station
What was the last business task you procrastinated on?
We all have them.
The days where everything in your office is spotless because you suddenly needed to clean rather than press on with work, or where you're suddenly super social on social media because it's a massive distraction from doing that thing you PROMISED yourself you would get done!
Procrastination can be good in small doses; it allows us time to think and creates some breathing room between tasks. What's not so great is when procrastination turns into an everyday occurrence or where it leads to a whole load of completely avoidable stress down the track.
NEED HELP GROWING YOUR BUSINESS?
SIGN UP BELOW TO RECEIVE A FREE DOSE OF BIZ INSIGHTS AND TACTICS DELIVERED WEEKLY!.
If you're finding yourself just not getting things done, here's six ways I've found to stop being a regular visitor at Procrastination Station:
1. Understand the Lure of Perfection
You haven't deployed the new website as it needs some tweaking, you have emails to editors in your draft folder and you have started, but never sent, an IG DM to that influencer multiple times but didn't know if it would come across desperate. If procrastination was a kingdom, its queen would be perfectionism. Keen to remind you that nothing you do will ever be good enough, perfectionism is a mindset that keeps you trapped in a limbo land where you can safely remain hidden and never have your ecommerce site, course, membership group, retreat, photoshoot, event, keynote or FB Live critiqued in any way. Then again, you can never have those things actually influence your ideal client in a way that guides them to transact with you. Stop the overthinking and remove the idea that something has to "perfect" before you put it out into the world. This Sunday email has been, by far, my biggest driver of new client enquiries and brand loyalty. My emails are not perfect (my sister likes to jokingly point out my spelling errors each week - thanks SDG!) but I send them week in, week out. I know my ideal audience isn't going to unsubscribe if I've left a word out or stuffed up the grammar.
2. Set Yourself a Deadline
I've been a published writer for almost two decades and I can tell you, when I first started out I hit every single deadline given to me by an editor. As the years progressed and editors knew I'd deliver, many of them stopped giving me a concrete deadline, instead saying things like "Well, the new issue is out in August, so as long as you can get something to me by June that would be great". Without a deadline in place, I floundered and would spend days "researching" and then suddenly remember a piece was due and frantically rush to get it in by, say, the 30 June! One of the best things you can do when tackling a task in your small biz is set a deadline. I set these in my paper diary, in my Google Calendar and — and this one is the best I find at keeping me accountable! — on the 2-week breakdown whiteboard I have hanging above my desk. There's something so satisfying about crossing a task off that whiteboard so it pushes me to get it done in time. If things need to get done TODAY, I use the tomato timer countdown tool to just get on with it.
3. Start Eating That Frog
if you have ever come to my workshops, you'll know I mention Brian Tracy's book, Eat That Frog, in my list of business book resources. The premise of the book is that if you had to eat a frog, it does you no good to just stare at it, nor to put off eating it. The frog represents the hardest task you have on your daily to-do list. I can't count how many times I've been working on strategy documents for a consulting client and done all the "easy" ones first then spent WAYYY too long procrastinating on the larger pieces. When I flip the script and do the hardest parts first - or those that require the most brain power - I find I get through them then enjoy doing all the "easy" tasks at the end. Consider daily the three most important tasks you need to complete then get the worst / hardest of these done first.
4. Make It Public
This one is a little controversial so decide for yourself if it'll work for you. One of the best ways I have found to stay accountable and stop procrastinating on tasks is to make them public. That means, rocking up on IG Stories and TELLING people about something I'm launching or telling my brilliant VAs that "this is definitely happening by date". This is daunting and there's definitely been times I've said something is "out next month" then spent another three months before it gets done. But! The extra pressure I feel to get it done, because I've told people, sometimes means the difference between doing it and letting it slide. Group Coaching was one of these for me, as is the Marketing for Your Small Business online course (launching this week!!! ahhh!!). Both of these may have just fallen by the wayside for another few months (read: years) if I hadn't felt a need to stick to my word.
5. Plan Your Reward
I've spoken before about my love of trash TV and I'm just not going to apologise for it or act like I'm better than that (#ImNot). Often my reward for getting through a difficult task is a 15-min session of trash TV over my lunch break. Another reward I gift myself is buying a new book. With most consulting client payments, I buy myself a business book. If I hit my annual revenue and profit figures, I try to take a holiday during most of January, as this was something I could NEVER do working in retail marketing roles. Having a reward in mind can be a massive driver to help you get on with things.
6. Start Small
This last tip is possibly the most important of all . Just start small. When I was initially planning out the online version of Marketing for Your Small Business, a live workshop I've sold out the last three years, I found it quite overwhelming. It wasn't until I took the time to break it all down into smaller steps (right down to which lessons needed PDFs, transcripts or Canva templates) that it became something I could see myself getting done between client work. Often we procrastinate because the task at hand feels far too big to ever get done. Instead of thinking of it as a whole task, consider breaking it down. What's the next ONE thing you can do to move it forward? What's stopping you from doing just that one thing right now?
Stopping work for short bursts can be fantastic for your mindset and mental health. But stopping work altogether because you're putting off what could potentially elevate your business is harmful and only leads to future stress. I hope the tactics above help you get more done and feel in control when it comes to growing your small business.