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The Confident Mother

Helping ambitious women in technology fully unlock their leadership potential

12th February 2014

6 sharp tips to help busy mums who procrastinate

Stop procrastinating and get on with it!

Many of us procrastinate. And there are many different reasons for doing so. Before you can figure out a great strategy to stop procrastinating, first you need to understand, what is the main cause of your procrastination. Why are you delaying or putting off what needs to be done?

Sometimes people put things off because the change or goal is too overwhelming or too big. Or it could be that what you are putting off is not exciting or challenging enough. Is it aligned with your goals?

For some, it’s the fear of failure that prevents them from starting, whereas for others, it’s the fear of success.  Sometimes it is just that the procrastinator is unable or unwilling to make a decision. Many procrastinators are in fact perfectionists. Perfectionists can find it hard to continue with a task or a piece of work if they foresee imperfection, rather than just getting started. Often procrastination has become a habit and it can be a hard habit to break.

Here are my six sharp tips to break the procrastination cycle:

  1. Break the task down into smaller steps. Don’t try to do it all at once.
  2. Tell others what you are planning to do to keep yourself accountable and to get support.
  3. Just jump right in. Instead of telling yourself that you’ll check your email first, or get a fresh cup of coffee, simply go ahead and start. Often the tasks we put off, are nowhere near as difficult or as tiresome once you get going.
  4. If lack of interest is what stops you from getting started, then give yourself small rewards at each milestone. Or maybe for you, it will work better if you set yourself penalties?
  5. If fear of failure is putting you off, develop a clear vision of how you will feel when you have finished. Perhaps draw a picture (see earlier blog) or write out in words how you will feel or what you will think when the task is done.
  6. If indecision is the key player in your procrastination, set a deadline by which to make the decision (and remember 2 above, tell others to hold yourself accountable).

If you are putting something off because you feel overwhelmed, try just one of these six tips. And let me know which one works best for you.

p.s. like my writing? Sign up here to get my weekly newsletter packed full of tips and tricks to manage your career confidence. 

 

Article by Sherry Bevan / Goals, Inspiration, Procrastination / Coaching, Goals, Inspiration, Procrastination 5 Comments

Trackbacks

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    30th December 2014 at 9:07 am

    […] Six sharp tips to stop procrastination published in February 2014.  […]

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  3. How to deal with overwhelm so you get more done | Sherry Bevan Consulting says:
    22nd June 2015 at 1:24 pm

    […] of us procrastinate when we feel overwhelmed … read this post for top tips on dealing with […]

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  4. What’s stopping you today? | Sherry Bevan Consulting says:
    15th October 2015 at 9:32 am

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  5. Imperfect action achieves more than perfect inaction | Sherry Bevan Consulting says:
    16th October 2015 at 6:56 pm

    […] true. When you try to be perfect (which by the way is impossible), it encourages you to procrastinate and put things off. Not having the perfect product or the perfect website or the perfect CV or the […]

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