Do you have trouble starting? Have so many ideas. Then you overthink what you should do with them all and end up doing nothing?
Do you second guess yourself or the response you may get to a post you want to write?
Distracted by Facebook? Paralysis by analysis? Fear not, I’m here with some tips to make procrastination a thing of the past.
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Find the cause
Only by knowing why you procrastinate can you try to remedy the problem. I procrastinate when I am trying to make sure everything is perfect or when I’m scared something will bomb and I will fail. At these times I must remember progress is better than perfection (and more attainable).
If you wait for perfection you could be waiting forever. Just take the first step and get it done. There are no mistakes, just some things that didn’t work out and you can learn from these. Ask yourself why is didn’t work and what you can do to ensure it does next time.
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Keep why you started in mind
It can be easy to go off tangent and start going down the wrong road. Keep focused by holding the reasons why you started your blog or a certain project close.
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Set daily goals
Being specific and having daily goals can help you stay motivated and on task. Daily goals also help you split up a large and possibly daunting task. Don’t overwhelm yourself though. Try picking 3 things you need to accomplish each day and only write those down.
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Timed accountability
You will need a friend or helpful other half to help you with this. With your goal in mind, set an end date (when you will have achieved the goal). Then set weekly catch ups with your chosen person between now and your goal date. Knowing that you have to check in with this person and update them on your progress should be enough to ignite the productivity within.
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Form a goal group
This idea is an extension of the above idea. However, this time you join a group of like-minded people (maybe 4 or 5) and you all hold each other accountable with regular update meetings. The group members can also act as a sounding board. Like a mini-mastermind.
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Get rid of all distractions
Try to reduce the ‘noise’ when you are working. Notifications, the TV, the phone buzzing away can all be very distracting and provide you with many reasons why you don’t just get on with the task in hand.
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Put your feelings to the side.
Some tasks we have to do are just plain boring and if we wait until we feel like doing those tasks they probably won’t get done. Remind yourself that how you feel about task X doesn’t matter. Getting it completed does. Don’t wait for the day when you will feel like it, just get it done.
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Just grab a pen and write
If you have a post in mind, but can’t think how to approach it, just grab a pen and start writing what you are feeling. Get all your thoughts out and onto paper. Often from these words, your ideas can become more concrete and you can find your way.
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Keep writing
When the words start just keep going, don’t worry about editing just let the words come out for as long as they want to. Write first and edit later.
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Catch ideas and act on them immediately
Have you ever had an idea which you didn’t act on, then days or even weeks later someone else publishes your post. The post you meant to write, but didn’t commit fully to the idea. You didn’t write it down and start working on it. I recently read a book by Elizabeth Gilbert called Big Magic* She sees ideas as having their own lives. If they come to you and you’re not open and receptive, they will move on to find someone else who will take them on. So cherish the good ideas when they arrive, give them space in your mind and at least write them down, before the idea flies off in search of a new home.
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Concentrate on one task at a time
As I explained in my time-saving post, deep and narrow is the way to get things done. Multitasking is not being more productive, it’s splitting your mind in multiple directions for reduced benefit all round.
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Reduce the time-suck activities
It would be easy to procrastinate all day. The internet makes this perfectly possible and probably quite enjoyable too. You can check your stats, then worry that they aren’t high enough. Go and read someone’s post about increasing traffic, then decide their sidebar is well laid out and decide you need to do X, Y and Z on yours too. This could continue ad infinitum unless you break the cycle. Give each aspect of your work a specific time and leave dealing with it until that time. Sit down with the intention of producing X, not to ‘work on your blog’ and you will be a lot more focused.
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Use technology to help you stay on track
There are many apps/programmes on the market that can help you stay focused and limit distractions. Mac Freedom will turn off the internet for a particular amount of time (great if you want to brainstorm and put pen to paper). Rescue Time tracks your activities, so you can see if you are still spending too much time on Facebook or in your email!
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Will it help my business?
When you run your own business time is money and you need to keep this in mind. When you’re doing the boring tasks that you dislike, think does it help my business? If you do not see a return on the time invested in this task then stop doing it. We must make sure our work and efforts are rewarded or even that we are building towards a return on the time invested (bearing in mind some things take time to grow and allow us to reap a reward).
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Take breaks
If you feel stale and uninspired then take a break. Learn to know yourselves enough that you can identify when you need to take a break and recharge, even if it is only for a quick walk to breathe in some fresh air.
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Keep at it
Providing your heart is still in it, then keep going and have the strength to work through the tough times. It will be so worth it in the end.
Do you procrastinate too much? Would you say it is the pursuit of perfection or the fear of failure which stops you from acting?
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*Disclosure: This is an affiliate link, meaning I earn a small % in return for recommending the product. I only recommend products I love.
Comments 23
Some great tips, thank you. I’ve also had great results with procrastination bulldozer method.
Perfect once again thanks Aby 🙂 writing things down on paper and doing one job at a time is really helping me and I love the analogy about ideas going to another person, so true!!
These are such good tips! I’m still getting into the swing of things with blogging and often experience writer’s block! I’m going to try these, thank you. #TheList
Some great tips #thelist
I really like what you say about ideas almost being living things and then that if you don’t give them the attention they will go and find someone else. I will have to check out the book as I am a big believer in things like that. I am also very bad when it comes to doing things that I am worried about or that I think I will fail and I put them off! Really useful list 🙂 #thelist
Another brilliant advice post. Setting daily goals has helped me soooooo much, plus your previous advice re having an editorial calendar has helped to keep me motivated and organised.
Also, as soon as I have an idea for a post I stick it in the notes section of my phone with just a few words as what it is about – all my best posts start life this way :
Thanks for sharing as always X #thelist
Trying to find the route cause is always a hard one!! Great post
http://workingmumy.blogspot.com
#TheList
I seem to be getting caught up in more time suck activities or being distracted by social media. Great advice to just grab that pen and write. I have been trying to get back to that. Thank you for sharing
Great advice Aby – agree with every one of these! I’ve been trialling Rescue Time and it’s quite enlightening to see what you actually DO with your time when you think you’re working 🙂
Thanks for some sound advice again Aby! You seem to know what I’m thinking and some of the points i tend to fall into a lot! but a new laptop and a pad full of ideas plus all your tips, i can’t wait to get started again 🙂 #TheList
Lists and organization keep me focused 🙂 #TheList)
Acting on ideas immediately is great advice – as a journalist this is my number one rule! #thelist
I’m a terrible one for procrastination. So your tips will definitely help. I need to clear all distractions and focus on goals. Another thing I do which is frustrating is not acting on an idea. I sometimes have these fab thoughts, then I don’t put a note somewhere and by the time I’m sat to type them up, they’re gone! Such a silly mistake. Off the subject slightly, would you think about doing a blog or vlog on your daily goals? Thanks for hosting #thelist too hun! x
Hi Aby, another fab post as ususal! I dont think I ever walk away from one of your posts not having picked up or learnt something 🙂 I love the sound of Mac Freedome and Rescue Time and will definitely be checking these out! Emily
Forgot to add that I was popping across from #TheList Emily
Thanks for these tips, they are very useful! #TheList
you always share such fab advice, I hope you know what a beautiful person you are for sharing and helping others! I do procrastinate, although not as much as I used to. It used to be a fear of failure, but now it is me distracted by Instagram lol #TheList
So true, sometimes you need to just keep at it and other times doing one of your other chores and coming back to it works better. It depends on why you’re procrastinating in the first place!
Yes, I was totally doing this today. My daughter was in nursery for the first time in a month (due to our house move) and I couldn’t wait to sit down and write freely, but suddenly found it so difficult to concentrate. After 3 hours of nothing I just started typing anything, the writing flowed from there and I was able to finish a couple of my draft posts. Thank you – these are all handy tips so I am bookmarking this post for next time! #TheList
Oh I feel as though this post was written for me – I procrastinate far too much and definitely have perfectionist issues which aren’t productive at all! I’ve started to give myself less time to write posts recently and have tried to stop re-reading and editing as I write which has helped a little. Hopefully I’ll get better with it the longer I do it! #TheList xx
Some great tips! Being very new to the world of blogging I am finding this, and lots of your other posts very helpful 🙂 X
This is great. I go from having no ideas for posts to loads. Really need to start writing them down as they usually come to me in the middle of the night feed! #thelist
Yes, I do all of those forms of procrastination. It’s partly a perfectionism thing for me too, partly something I do when I feel overwhelmed by everything that needs doing. Useful tips – I definitely need to start trying to o one thing at a time, not several at once. #thelist