So the subject of procrastination has been on my mind for years, I have tried every traditional advice to have an organised to-do list and set myself 'motivation' but only in recent months have I been realising that what works for others doesn't work for me. It doesn't have to, yet despite this realisation I also lacked Discipline, or rather Resilience and always feeling that a schedule is restrictive because I had to follow it to the T.

 

The things that I have been learning about myself on my journey to resilience:

 

1. It's okay to be flexible and change your schedule around as needed.

2. If you are over stimulated and can't concentrate it's okay to take a break to self regulate and bring yourself back to baseline.

3. Change locations as needed, especially if you work home office/remote jobs/entrepreneur/freelancer

4. If something is overwhelming reflect on why this is so, more than often enough it is that you are afraid of being successful, maybe you feel you don't deserve it or you just didn't bother to break down the task into bitesized steps.

5. You don't need to do everything all at once and you don't need to finish it all in one go. I often had all or nothing mentality and until I made a conscious decision not to give into compulsively taking too much on, I used to reach burn out very often.

6. Do something different on your schedule everyday, you don't have to start at the same time each day either.

7. Put time aside in the schedule for learning something new and useful for your business.

8. Put time aside in your schedule for creative flow, it doesn't have to be work related. I love this as this is a pivoting moment for me. It also gives a mental break without feeling like you are wasting time when you take a break.

9. Set the 3 most important tasks for each day that you must finish, everything else can wait - don't worry if you take longer than expected on any given task, you're being thorough and that's okay.

10. One of the last and most recent one - Do the tasks you hate most first thing in the morning/beginning of the week. This is non negotiable, when it's done you can move on to better things and have motivation for doing something that was difficult for you to do.

11. Found an accountability buddy - help set weekly and long term goals and keeping to them by checking in with each other and finding solutions to problems if for some reason either of us are struggling or if something didn't work out as expected.

 

Why I procrastinate:

I probably mentioned some in the Resilience section but namely; 

 

- Overwhelm

- all or nothing attitude

- Difficulty following change mentally, it can be hard to shift mentally and sometimes I have repeated conversations with people that reminded me of the changes discussed in meeting and casual setting. The best way to describe it is an image of a cog in a wheel that is trying to go around but something is shimmied in between the two cogs where there is no traction until the detritus is either bent from pressure or loosens and falls out. It takes a while.

- Starting tasks - this one is a conundrum that cannot be explained. Mentally I know what I should be doing but physically I cannot do it.

- over or under stimulation.

- Being afraid of being successful - afraid to take risks

- Social Media distractions

 

Ways I found to overcome procrastination:

 

Starting Tasks:

- Have a daily morning routine, don't like it tough it out and do it anyway, you always thank yourself and feel better for it anyways. Sometimes things that are good for us are the hardest things to do. Show some love and self discipline.

- Before action there is movement - Before motivation there is action - before inspiration there is motivation. 

- Also Finishing a task is hard.

 

Being Afraid of Success:

I was listening to a podcast the other day and they were talking about motivation and procrastination, regrets that people inevitably have and self love and respect. And I really cannot the following sentences (paraphrased as I don't remember the right wording):

 

'Can't make yourself do something? Have no motivation? Too tired? This is what your enemy wants, this is what your enemies wish your way. Don't let them win. Be your authentic self, love yourself and have respect for yourself. It's okay if you are tired at times, take rest, but don't give up. I wouldn't so why should you?'

Personally I don't feel like I have any enemies but just incase, I would never want to give them the satisfaction.

 

Overwhelm & all or nothing attitude:

I put these together as they influence and affect one another. The way I manage this is breaking down steps to be manageable and reducing my list to the top 3 must do tasks if I am having a difficult day.

 

Over or Under Stimulation:

- I am sensitive to temperature so if home is too cold or hot I go to work in a cafe or a communal work space

- Comfort eating -  I love flavours and textures, learning intuitive eating and separating comfort eating from hunger cues and just a need to have a flavour other than neutral in my mouth.

- Changing locations often

- Taking breaks often

- allocating focus time and using pomedoro technique to take care of bodily needs

- Having something tactile on hand to fiddle with

- Move on breaks often -  very important

- Following flow state rather than sticking to a schedule strictly.

 

Social Media & Happy Accident:

This is very counter intuitive but I recently decided to try a game on my phone. It is a strategy game that requires patience and time. Since I started playing it I noticed that I significantly reduced my social media intake. Also when I check up on the game I only play it a few minutes at a time as I have to wait for the game to naturally progress before I check on it again.

 

I am by no means a gamer either.

 

Why slinkies:

Well I feel like that they are ageless and I have literally never seen them break. No matter how far you stretch them they always retract back. This symbolises resilience for me.

 

Comfort zone:

I learnt quite a few years ago, from my best friend and now husband:

 

'It's not about stepping out of your comfort zone, its about expanding it. The more you do something that is uncomfortable the more you expand yourself to new opportunities, possibilities and life experiences'

 

Since then I made an effort to do things that make me uncomfortable that I would have been afraid to do by myself. If anybody happens to read this to the end, I hope that this can help somebody else that has the same struggles as I do. 

 

Thank you for the video course, they really helped me put somethings into perspective. Currently working on making up a list of zero energy, mindless tasks list that I can pull out when in doubt.