Speaking from my experience of managing multiple roles at once – including life coach, editor, presenter, and model – I know that becoming more productive is not a question of working more, but of being smart about allocating your time.
That often implies having less on your mind so you can work with clarity and focus. As with many things in life, your resistance to doing certain things is in your mind. It’s this resistance you want to address before you begin with any productivity techniques to do the actual work more efficiently.
In my previous article, I covered possible and the most frequent reasons for procrastination. Understanding the nature of the problem is the first stem in tackling any issues it causes.
Identify the reasons
Identify tasks that are at the core of your anxiety.
Identify the reason why you’re delaying. Discover why you’re postponing the work – see previous article. As anxious-inducing as it may be, finding out more about the work ahead of you, will be the best way to proceed. It’s often our fear of the unknown that causes
Dosing
Break down your goals into ‘bite-size’ tasks and measures.
The old saying goes that a thousand-mile journey starts with one step. Looking at the entire journey in front of you might be frightening and rightly so. Break down your goals into ‘bite-size’ tasks and measures. Something that you can achieve on a daily or weekly basis. Install one new habit at a time if you are working on your personal development. Plan time, prepare it, implement it thoroughly and do it until it’s automatic. Make sure you have all the necessary means. Doing things halfway just gives you more work without a sense of accomplishment.
Being accountable
Think of someone who will hold you accountable without judging you and without imposing their vision on to you.
People who surround us often keep us accountable – teachers, parents, partners, managers. But when it comes to personal development, it might be better to think of other resources. Think of someone who will hold you accountable without judging you and without imposing their vision on to you.
‘Begin’ instead of ‘stop procrastinating’
Focus on things you want, not the things you don’t
Your subconscious doesn’t process negatives. What do you think of when you tell yourself to stop procrastinating? You probably see yourself procrastinating, right? So every time you tell yourself to stop it, you’re actually strengthening that image. Instead, focus on what you will do. What’s the first thing you’ll do? Take one small thing and start doing it, now.
Just do something!
When you think too much about something, it tends to become an incredible obstacle
We often stop ourselves from starting because we think we’re not ready yet. We don’t know enough yet, still have to do all kinds of things first… But how often is that really true? What stops you is often less impressive from close by than it initially seems.
When you think too much about something, it tends to become an incredible obstacle as all possible scenarios pop through your head. So stop thinking and make the first move, try some stuff out! Trust your instincts and improvisation. Often, the next steps flow automatically from just doing.
