Procrastination - Failure to Launch

So you are ready to get to work, you've written everything down so your mind is clear, you've switched off your distractions.

And your brain has gone into hiding. 

What's happened? You are overwhelmed by your 'To Do' list, so your brain goes into overdrive looking for avoidance behaviours, you know, more coffee, having a 'rest', just one more check of Facebook, or perhaps even some advanced procrastination strategies, like that DIY project that you've been putting off for months. In fact anything at all that is not on your list to take you towards your goals!

So whats the solution? 

Think about your goals, look at your 'list', and decide what is the most important thing on that list that will take you towards your goals? Perhaps it's marketing, or writing that ebook, or setting up a website. 

Then write down the second most important thing, then the third, etc. Hint - filing is probably not going to be at the top of this list.

To help you order your list, here are some ideas and their relative value, for least to most important:

Now, refer to your new list of tasks for the day, in order of importance, that are going to take you towards your goals.

Start on the most IMPORTANT one.

When do you start on the second one? Only AFTER you have completed the first one! That way, even if you only do one thing that day, at least you have worked on the most important thing.

I have a simple mantra - "Started is Half Finished!". Often getting started is the hardest part. e.g. Once you are at the gym it's easy to work out, getting there is the challenge. And you know what, us humans are creatures of completion, once we get going, we like to finish things off. Have you ever gone into the kitchen, just to load the dishwasher, and found yourself cleaning the whole kitchen? While that may be an advanced form of procrastination, it proves the point.

If I'm not getting into a task, for whatever reason, maybe I don't like it, or I don't know how to do it, or I'm considering checking Facebook one more time, I have another mantra - "10 Focused Minutes!". You can do anything for 10 minutes, right? So I commit to spending 10 minutes purely focused on task at hand, nothing else for that 10 minutes. That is usually enough to get engaged in the task, and see it through. Worst case scenario is that at least it got started, and I can throw another 10 minutes at it later. Usually though, the "started is half finished" thing comes into play and the job gets done.

To your Success,
Trevor Long

Procrastination - Mind Viruses

Just as viruses and spyware can sit on your computer and without you knowing it, use up valuable resources that could be used for real tasks, slowing down your computer or rendering it useless, mind viruses can sit on your brain and use up your resources that could otherwise be used for getting stuff done.

I had an IT friend who often told me that his relationship problems were using up too many CPU cycles in his brain.

You might have heard someone say they just can't get anything done, because they "have too much on their mind".

Maybe you have bills to pay, you are worried about your health, your partner is nagging you, etc. So instead of getting those important tasks done that will propel you to your goals, you end up organising your desk, then relaxing and having a coffee and cake 'because you deserve it', and before you know it, it's too late to start any real work, so you kick back in front of the TV with a stubbie, recuperating for the productive day tomorrow.

Perhaps you've heard that we can only hold 7 +/- 2 chunks of information in our conscious mind at anyone time? That's why you have to turn off the radio when you park your car, there's just too much going on for you to be able to concentrate, so you remove one of the distractions (hey, there's an idea). This is why it's hard to get stuff done when you are worried, or your brain is overloaded.

 BUT THERE IS A DEVILISHLY SIMPLE SOLUTION!

You could just wait for your mind to clear, it will eventually, but how has that strategy been working out for you? If you are like most people, not well.

OR, here it is... you WRITE IT DOWN!

Technically, what's going on inside your brain is an 'open loop', "I've gotta pay that bill, I must pay that bill, if I don't pay the bill the power is going to get shut off, my partner is going to give me hell about it if i don't do it" etc. etc. Writing it down effectively closes the loop, giving you one more chunk of brain power to use for getting important stuff done. You have freed up your mental RAM.

Here's how I do it. I start every day with my 'Success Six', a list of the six most important things I have to do that day. When I have a thought or idea, I write it down on the list, below my 'success six' list (I'll do another blog on that another time, I just added it to my 'blog ideas' list so I can close that loop and carry on with this). If I get through my list of six most important things to do that day, I can get on with the next things on the list, or add it to tomorrows 'success six' list.

Told you it was simple. Success is not hard. It is a series of small habits that build up to an avalanche of success.

More on procrastination to come... eventually!

To your success,
Trevor Long