Episode 26 | How to Stop Procrastinating

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Welcome to the Boss It Podcast. My name is Sophia Noreen and I took an Etsy startup and launched it in big box retailers within 12 months. As a creative with an entrepreneurial drive, I left my full time career in healthcare to find better harmony between career, family and self care. We believe you can have it all. Yes, you can launch and run a successful scalable business while maintaining harmony in all aspects of your life. We believe we can learn from each other and draw on many experiences to create the best life possible. During each episode, we will share proven life hacks that will keep you on top and striving every day. There should be no hesitation. Make a plan. Take action. We are here for you. Hello everyone. Welcome to another amazing episode of the Boss It Podcast. My name is Sophia Noreen, and I'm going to be your host for today. Before we get started, I want to share with you a review from ramaz917 and this is what she had to say: "Hooked. I love listening to podcasts in general, but when I found out about the Boss It Podcast, I was hooked. Noreen really makes the info she shares easy to follow and provides tangible steps to get you on your way to being a boss lady. Amazing resources for everyone inspiring to be an entrepreneur or anyone who is in the thick of it. Thank you for being clear, concise and giving easy directions to accomplishing goals. Thank you so much for that wonderful review, ramaz917. Guys.,If there's anything that you would like to learn or you want to give us a five star review on iTunes, we would more than appreciate it. We do share our reviews every now and then. And we love hearing all of the feedback. If you have any suggestions for the show, feel free to email us at [email protected] .And now let's get on with our show. Today, I want to talk to you guys specifically about procrastination and how to prevent procrastination. I have some theories about procrastination and why you may be stuck and not proceeding forward with actioning your goals. I'm going to highlight a few big topics and then we'll break it down and see how we can help you prevent procrastination moving forward. I'm going to talk to you guys about five strategies specifically that will help you combat your need to procrastinate. And there's a ton of different strategies that you guys can use. But I'm going to talk about only five today. We do have more resources on our website at bossitclub.com and we also have a challenge that's up and coming. I f you go to bossitclub.com, you might be able to catch our challenge to prevent procrastination. So the first thing I'm going to talk to you about is the story. If you go back to Episode 22, we talk about specifically how your story might be preventing your success. Usually, if you are procrastinating on an item, what could be happening is that the story that you've told yourself about who you are or what you're able to accomplish is preventing you from moving forward? Is it preventing you from moving forward on a specific task? One of the first things that you can do to see if procrastination is being prevented by your story is to really dig deep and find out how you hit that upper limit. And again, in Episode 22, we go a lot more into a story is. Why you might be using your story to prevent yourself from moving into action. What the excuses that you've embodied throughout your lifetime. Or what have you been told by society or by external influences. These things do impact you. And they do have an impression which allows you to create a story about who you are as a person and what you're able to accomplish. So for example, if you have a big goal and you don't even know how to get started, and you say to yourself that goal is just so far away. And who am I to go ahead and try to accomplish that goal? I don't have that skill. I don't have that money. Whatever the excuse is. So what happens is people use the story to prevent themselves from even attempting the goal. And they could see that as them procrastinating on a specific action plan because their story is making them feel less able. So the first thing I would suggest everyone to do when they are procrastinating is to go back and see if there is some underlying unconscious bias or underlying story that they're telling themselves. Some people would say that's a limiting belief. You could frame your story within a limiting belief. You could frame your story within hitting your upper limit, which is also a way of categorizing when you have gotten to a point in life and you're like, this is too good to be true. And you go. And you self-sabotage. Its a whole episode on hitting your upper limit. But that can tie into your story. So really dig deep ask yourself if you can unpin what may be preventing you from moving forward. And is it an unconscious bias? Another thing that comes up a lot when individuals are procrastinating is they are going ahead and thinking that it needs to be done. So we have a list of priorities that we want to accomplish every day. The priorities could be something for your personal self. Your priorities could be something for your home. Your priorities could be something for your business or for your job or your career or whatever it is. You have a set of priorities. And what happens is sometimes those priorities are not really lining up with what your personal goal is. For example, you could say my house should be at this level of cleanliness, Because somebody else is saying you should be doing it this way. But you're not embodying that as one of your goals. So if you're procrastinating in an item, then you have to ask yourself: is that item coming from you to accomplish and complete? Or is it coming from an external force or an expectation, an external expectation that has been provided to you because somebody else feels that you should be behaving that way. One great example is the organization of your home. Everyone can relate to that. People are comfortable with different levels of organization. And that is just a fact of life. If I walk into your house, you may have your house being immaculate. You might be organized to the T. You may have all your linen closet. Maybe your linen closet could be color coordinated. Your wardrobe could be color coordinated. And so that to me might be like, wow, she's so organized or wow, he's so organized. But to you, that's completely normal. That's what you've grown up with. That is what you have been doing your whole life. And no other level of organization is acceptable. So now when you hold yourself to that standard, and it's something that you are not embodying for yourself, it's something that you don't think is a priority for you. And it's somebody else's external expectations being placed on you that could be attributing to you not wanting to do that task. One great example that I like to share with people is I don't mind if there's a little bit of clutter on my desk. And if you follow me on Instagram, you'll sometimes see my desk. It's not the most immaculate, but I'm okay with that. I can live with a little bit of a messy desk. I'm still able to process information. I'm still able to complete tasks. But my desk is not that clean. When I say clean, I have papers here and there. And let's face it: with my kids being homeschooled right now, they're just coming and throwing their papers all over the place anyways. But to you or to somebody else that might be like, "oh my gosh, how is she working in that chaos? What is she thinking? How is she even getting anything done? I wouldn't be able to do anything". So for me, I could be like, I "should" be cleaning up my desk 'cause that's what the expectation is, but it's not a must for me. So I don't beat myself up saying, oh, I should be cleaning it". I'm procrastinating on that task of cleaning it because I've realized that's not my expectation. That's somebody else's expectation to have the most tidy desk before they start their workday. Now for you, you may say no, that is a priority for me. No one is telling me that I need to do it. And I'm embodying that for myself. That's my expectation for me. And I am able to own that. And I do like to complete that task. So my procrastination is actually not due to somebody else telling me that I need to get that done. So the next thing for you to do then is to really go and examine the task and see if it's coming from somebody else's expectations of you. Ok. Let's go onto the third item. You do not control what other people think. This is a great topic because your ability to disconnect from other people's thoughts or your perception of other people's thoughts is required for you to be able to function and succeed with having less self doubt. Many individuals, myself included, worry about how we are perceived by the public. It's natural. We are animals by nature, and we have a hind brain that has taught us that if you're not part of the group and we're not being accepted socially, we will die. Because from a social anthropological perspective, you have to stay within your community, your tribe, your network, when you were surviving back before civilization is as it is today; if you didn't have your tribe or your community to protect you, you were less likely to survive. So it's very natural for you to worry about how you're perceived by others. You would like to be accepted by others. And so sometimes what happens is you procrastinate because you're worried about what the result will look like and how it will be perceived by others. And so this is really deep and this leads in term, imposter syndrome is a very big topic, which we still didn't have yet to cover on this podcast. But this leads into imposter syndrome because sometimes you may be trying to go for a goal or trying to accomplish something. And you're like I don't feel like I have the ability to do that. This also ties back into your story, what you've been telling yourself and the limiting beliefs. So you can see how all of these things are intertwined. But now if you are very concerned of what other people think of you, you need to really nail down that this could be preventing you from moving forward with your goal. And that's why you're procrastinating. You're afraid that the outcome being positive, the outcome being not so positive. And you may be concerned that people might doubt your abilities if your outcome is not so positive. I'll give you a great example. Many people are afraid of going on video, especially on social media. So if they're trying to build up their social brand or they're trying to build up their company's brand, a lot of people like to engage with the owner behind the brand, or they like to engage with the person via video. And now video is very impactful. You feel like the person a little bit more and you have a greater connection. Video is encouraged on social media and to promote your brand. People are afraid of how they look on video. And because they're so afraid of how they look on video, they procrastinate on getting the video done and they wait and they delay it and they wait and they delay. So it's not so much imposter syndrome at that point because you feel like you have the ability, but in this situation, it's just because you're not feeling as comfortable on video. And now you are procrastinating to actually complete the video. So ask yourself, are you worried about what other people think? And that is why you're procrastinating on that task. The next one, the number four is how are you going to accomplish that task? We have spoken about S-M-A-R-T goals in the past. So S-M-A-R-T goals are specific measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. And you guys can go back to episode number 16 to 19, we speak specifically about productivity and we speak about S-M-A-R-T goals during that episode series about productivity. And the reason why I'm bringing up S-M-A-R-T goals again, is because sometimes people don't understand how to even get started on their goal. And because they don't know how to get started or air quotes, "how to get started", then they'll procrastinate. By breaking your goal down into specific tasks and making sure that they're measurable, making sure that the tasks that you're asking yourself to do in that time is attainable and it's a realistic tasks that's completed. So that's how you would take your goal. You would take it and break it down into small actionable tasks and you would apply the S-M-A-R-T goal method. And the very last point I have for you is when you do it, when you actually go ahead and you complete that actionable task, I want you to reward yourself. I want you to go and do something that you can associate with your accomplishment and do it consistently. Great example I have for myself is that whenever I complete a very big goal. I will book myself a massage and then other times for smaller tasks, what I'll do for myself as a reward is I will have a really nice hot shower. And I actually have a speaker now in the shower and I'll put on music and I'll just enjoy being in the shower without having to get out of it quickly. Now you have to decide what you really like to do. How can you pair up that reward, that time you're giving to yourself? Give yourself the permission to have time to reward yourself. So your rewards could be like mine, where they're actually more of a self-care routine that I do consistently. That will help motivate me to get my tasks done more regularly. So then I can say, I really want to go for a massage next week. So I'm going to go ahead and finish all these tasks. And my reward is seeing my registered massage therapist. Or for example, I have five big items I want to accomplish today, or I have three big items I kinda want to accomplish today. And if I do that, I'm going to draw myself a nice bubble bath or have a nice warm shower without having a time limit on the shower. Something like that. That's what I do. You really have to dig deep. But I really firmly believe that if you've associated your task that you want to do and you're procrastinating on it, pair it with a reward. Go ahead and look at what the task is, how often and frequently do you need to get it done and think logically, what reward can you give yourself now? I want you to be careful with your rewards. If it has to do with spending money, please be mindful. I know some people like to do the retail therapy thing and go online and go shopping. Just be mindful that you're not doing that regularly and jeopardizing any of your savings. And then I one last point. So if you are multitasking please stop and just really pay attention 'cause we're going to do a nice big summary for you so you can actually take some tangible items away from this episode. So from the top, we talked about your story. Is that preventing you from starting your task or is that preventing you from starting on your goal? Are you embodying somebody else's expectations and that expectation is resulting in your thought that this task needs to be completed? Is that the situation or are you afraid of what other people think? And that's why you are not starting your task. Or is your task just too big and you need to break it down and put it into a S-M-A-R-T goal perspective so it's easy for you to get started? And then finally, we talked about you rewarding yourself once you have completed that task. So once you go through this entire activity, you need to understand what's preventing you from starting the task. And once you get the task done, you are going to reward yourself. And the final thing is you are going to then rinse and repeat what works. So for example, if you find out that it's your story, that's preventing you from starting your task, you have a limiting belief about your abilities. Or you've hit the upper limit of your success, and you feel like you can't go any further, so you're starting to slow down. Or maybe you just need a break. Even if you take a break, you need to get back into the saddle. You can't just take a break forever. Don't let the upper limit hit you. And We'll talk more about your upper limit in a different episode. But once you have realized that this is a situation, you need to rewrite that story, be it through a mantra. What is a phrase that you tell yourself? And then you tell yourself that phrase and you get started on your task. Then you reward yourself. And then finally rinse and repeat. You're going to do this over and over again until it becomes habitual. And again, remember 85% of your actions throughout the day are actually habitual. So the goal which you're currently procrastinating on, we want it to become habitual. Then another example I'll share with you is if you feel like the task perhaps is not as important to you, but it's important to others and you're thinking you should get it done, but you really don't want to. Maybe that task is really not a priority and you just need to get rid of it. And you say to yourself, this is not a priority for me. This is a priority for somebody else. And then you don't have to think about or worry about completing the task because it's not a valid task that takes your priority your time. Again, once that task is eliminated, you don't need to think about it. And that's a very specific example. And the final example I'm going to share is when you fear what other people think. You really need to change that dialogue to move forward in the situation you can use mantras You can use incantations. You need to remind me yourself that it doesn't matter what other people think. It's none of their business and it's none of your business on how they think. We do talk about that in Episode 19. It's circle of control, circle of influence and circle of concern. To be honest, it doesn't matter what other people think of you. And their thoughts actually fall outside of your circle of concern. It depends on who the person is, but my advice to you is don't let other people's perceptions of you prevent you from going forward with your goal and tasks. You really need to stop worrying about what other people think, and then just really focus on what you can control. And again, you can go back to Episode 19. On our website we do have a downloadable link for you to access the PDF and you can fill in the circle of control, circle of influence and circle of concern. So that way you remind yourself that you can't control whay other people think. But what you can control is a task that you want to get completed. So once you've gone through that activity, you can go ahead and break down your goal into smaller tasks and use S-M-A-R-T goal techniques and get started. And once you're completed again, reward yourself and then rinse and repeat. Okay. That was a lot of information. I know I always give you guys everything at once. So if this was a lot, feel free to re-listen to this episode, take notes, make it actionable because I know a lot of people have many big goals and many big dreams and why not try to accomplish them all. If you're listening to this episode, that means you have an innate interest in self development and your business development and your personal growth. And I want to make sure that you are accomplishing everything that you have envisioned for yourself. And the saying goes that if you can envision it, that means you have everything that you need to make it possible. So why not give yourself that opportunity? Okay guys. Remember, if you have any suggestions for future episodes, feel free to email us at [email protected]. Also, a reminder that if you do share your review, do a screenshot of your review and put it on social media and tag us we give you guys a PDF of the 50 best tips I have for you for business and for life. So just reminding you that you do need to take a screenshot and share it on social media and tag us on our Instagram bossitclub, for us to see that you have left a review. We do check, but we don't always have your handles. So we don't know where to send the 50 best tips to. Or if you don't have social media or you don't have Instagram, you can send us your review to [email protected]. And then that way we are able to then also send you the 50 best tips. That's just notice out there. 'Cause I know people are leaving reviews and I want you guys to be able to grab the 50 best tips. So make sure you share it with us on your email account or share it with us on your Instagram account. Okay guys, that's all I got for you today and remember, make a plan and take action and yes, you can't have it all. So my fellow bosses, did you enjoy that episode? Now is time for you to make a solid plan and take action. But first, remember to subscribe and follow the Boss It Podcast so you receive a notification whenever we drop an episode. Remember to leave us a review on iTunes. Take a screenshot of your review and share it on Instagram as a post or a story and tag us @BossItclub. If Instagram is not your thing, no worries. Email your screenshot to [email protected]. As a massive thank you, we will be sending you our Top 50 Tips for Starting and Scaling a Business. This list is exclusively for podcast reviewers. So don't miss out. Now remember bosses: make a plan and take action in all aspects of your life. Yes you can have it all.