Tips for Dealing with Procrastination | Lexington, KY
Today's post is all about procrastination. I consider myself to be an expert in this area, not only because I have struggled with procrastination for the majority of my life (my first memories are from Kindergarten), but also because my dissertation studied how procrastination and perfectionism intersect and affect those in ABD status in their doctoral studies.
Procrastination affects both our business and personal lives. Neil Fiore of "The Now Habit" is one of my favorites in the field.
He redefines procrastination this way. - “Procrastination is not the cause of our problems with accomplishing tasks; it is an attempt to resolve a variety of underlying issues, including low self-esteem, perfectionism, fear of failure and of success, indecisiveness, an imbalance between work and play, ineffective goal-setting, and negative concepts about work and yourself.”
Here's the truth according to Janelle: Procrastination can seriously decrease your quality of life. It's completely unnecessary and you truly can overcome this habitual way of being.
Here are some helpful tools garnered from Fiore:
Stop using "I have to..." when describing anything. This automatically evokes a defensive, defeated, burdened, possibly even rebellious attitude. Instead say, " I choose to..." This changes the energy with which you approach the task.
Schedule "guilt-free play" into your daily life. Treat it like a dental appointment, don't be late and don't miss it. The more you realize that you're required to have relaxing, fun, down time, the better you'll feel, which leads to increased energy and focus when working.
Utilize "Persistent Starting." For example, instead of saying that you have to write a FB post for FY CEO, say that you're choosing to get started on the post. Every time you work on it, say that you're getting started on it. Essentially you'll keep getting started on it until there's nothing more to start on and it will be complete. See? It takes some of the pressure off.
Fiore has many more suggestions and techniques to get a handle on this habitual way of reacting to tasks. The change in your quality of life, increase in productivity, and overall satisfaction can be life-changing!
May today you choose to get started on something that you've been putting off!
Dr. Janelle McNeal, 10/16/18