At the start of this month, people were memeing about wasting 7 months of 2018. And how they looked forward to wasting 5 more. It’s actually funny. Really, though, we need to rethink the opportunity cost of not doing the right thing at the right time.
There is a domino effect to procrastinating. Your work and your business never really do as well as they should. Someone said that “being busy” is only a symptom of either poor time management or low productivity. That personal responsibility twist to it is some good vibe, don’t you think? You should get out of your own way by addressing the reasons for procrastinating.
Now, nobody is living a perfect life (I only try, haha). More importantly, people approach activities differently but we also have varying energy levels to put into things. All the same, you should try harder in your effort to self-regulate and focus on what’s most valuable to you. Self regulation is how we reference laziness in 2018, be nice.
This is considered the main reason people procrastinate. The Feeling Good Hand Book adds that you could be shirking work because you feel obligated. You have tuned your mindset to feel like you should do stuff rather than feel that you want to do them.
That is one way. We believe you’ve heard about other ways to get out of your own way, and overcome procrastination. But what is the process like? This is what any entrepreneur worth her salt is interested in anyway – the process.
Conserve your energy
Do you think effectiveness matters, if it not accompanied by efficiency? If yes, never again complain about Kenya’s eternal deficit spending. Conserving your energy levels allows you to remain motivated for the sequence of your responsibilities. You should know that you are in a fight for your focus from the moment your begin your morning commute. Commuting is bad, it drains you early. What a wonderful world we’ve built.
The base of staying motivated is accomplishing goals, effectiveness, every day. You can aid yourself by having a day-to-day to-do list and therefore prioritize things. You can also break down big or complex objectives to avoid vagueness. The clearer you’re goal is, the more likely you will achieve it. Saying, “this is my year” does not cut it.
Efficiency, on the other hand, is achieved by constraining yourself. Small businesses are limited by available resources, so, this is nothing new. Except, on a personal level, you should appreciate how constrained of time you are. Can you believe there is a section on ‘African Time‘ on Wikipedia? It’s our way but we can’t compete with it. You have to start boxing your activities within tighter time frames. You will feel so productive, and hopefully good too, when you go over time because of the momentum of your effort.
Accept the pain
As a millennial, I’m an expert on instant gratification. So you should trust me. You don’t want to avoid the negative aspects of doing the hard work now. It will only pile up and you end up associating particular activities with more negativity. Try building tolerance as people do in gyms and for alcohol.
The great thing is that self discipline, to avoid procrastinating, is built incrementally. Do an extra task. Get things done for an additional 20 minutes. You’ll get there. If you can make systemic changes to your life, on notice, you’re way better than most people. Get out of your own way and do you, friend.
Even though you are supposed to be changing from “should do” to “want to do,” it’s still okay to feel bad about not doing your duties. Remind yourself. If you feel guilty about poor self regulation, you would want to avoid the feel. It’s better for everyone if you avoid it by folding your sleeves rather than distracting yourself.
People with tattoos lie that they do it to remind themselves of all sorts of stuff. Don’t lie. You can remind yourself by telling someone close to you, your goals. Weirdly, it will hold you accountable to your own ambitions. Can you imagine telling people it will be your year and it not actually being your year?
Reward yourself
When you do good, you should reward yourself. This will cause you to want to do good again. Threats incentivize people to do things, but rewards work even better. You should promise to set high standards for “good” though.
We’ll reward you with the song ‘Get out of Your Own Way’ because why not?
https://youtu.be/LWhsDL3IAS0