Why are you procrastinating? What’s the reason behind it? What are the effects of procastination and how can you change it so you can be more productive and stop wasting time?
Let’s get real – we all procrastinate. It’s natural to want to avoid doing something you don’t like to do. It could be finishing a deck or making phone calls or sending deal points – you know logically that you’re better off following through with the task, and yet something is holding you back.
It seems harmless, but don’t underestimate the long-term effects of procrastination on your productivity, and even your career. If you want to nip procrastination in the bud, then follow this simple two-step process:
Identify What Belief is Holding You Back
The first step to overcoming procrastination is examining the task at hand and figuring out what reason or belief is hindering you from actually executing. What is making you put it off?
Let’s take the example of making cold calls. For many of us, making cold calls sucks for a variety of reasons and most of them boil down to a fear of rejection or failure. Expecting negative results, your brain seeks to protect itself, triggering a procrastination loop. If you don’t make the calls, you won’t get rejected. You know not making the calls will get you nowhere and just like that you created your self-fulfilling prophecy.
If you want to get out of that loop and stop the effects of procrastination, then you need to CHANGE YOUR MINDSET around the task.
Retrain Your Brain: Change the Habit
Once you’ve identified the reason behind your procrastination, start retraining your mind by implementing protocols. In other words, turn the task into a habit. It takes 21-60 days to break or form a habit. So, for two months, do the task (you know which one I mean!) without fail. I suggest scheduling it for first thing in the morning to get it out of the way.
If you follow through, then at the end of the two-month trial period, you will have worked the task into your routine and effectively retrained your brain. And, while you might still fear the negative results on some level, you will also be able to acknowledge that they are just a possibility, not a guarantee.
By understanding what causes you to procrastinate and learning how to cope with it as it arises, then you can overcome it and can increase your productivity. So, what’s holding you back? Comment below and share with the procrastinators in your life!
Let’s Grow,
Beate
Beate Chelette is The Growth Architect & Founder of The Women’s Code, a training company specialized in providing companies an ROI on Balanced Leadership. She has been named one of 50 must-follow women entrepreneurs by the Huffington Post. A first-generation immigrant who found herself $135,000 in debt as a single parent, she bootstrapped her passion for photography into a highly-successful global business, and eventually sold it to Bill Gates in a multimillion-dollar deal.
Beate works with business leaders and supports organizations by developing and providing training the training, tools, and expertise to create and maintain a balanced, equal and inclusive work environment that fosters creativity, employee engagement and corporate growth.
Recent clients include Merck, Women’s Legislative Caucus of California, Cal State University Dominguez Hills, Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), NFTE, CreativeLive, the Association of Corporate Growth, and TracyLocke.
Beate is the author of the #1 International Amazon Bestseller “Happy Woman Happy World – How to Go From Overwhelmed to Awesome” a book that corporate trainer and best-selling author Brian Tracy calls “a handbook for every woman who wants health, success and a fulfilling career.
To book Beate to speak or train please connect here.