How to beat procrastination for anything!
It's been a month since I published my last newsletter.
I'm frustrated - how can one loose a habit so quickly?
I went on a 10-day trip, and when I got back, I was overwhelmed with the amount of work: coaching, corporate workshops....
In parallel, I've also joined WILLA Expats, an incubator programme, which has been very inspiring while meeting experts around the world, but also very time-consuming.
I also had family visiting, and commitments to various causes.
And yet, I still try to keep up with my workout routine, but failed.
Do you see what I'm doing?
I'm looking for excuses and justifications for my lack of consistency.
Here are my tips to overcome procrastination and twist it to turn it into your enemy best friend.
Sneak peak from my trek in Bhutan, camping at -5ºC
Today's talk:
- Strategy 1: Question your ally
- Strategy 2: Design your environment
- Strategy 3: The 2-minute rule
- Progress better than perfect
Question your ally
We've always labelled procrastination as 'bad' in our society.
We tend to picture the procrastinator as a lazy person slouched on a sofa watching Netflix, and usually feel guilt afterwards.
But.
What if I tell you that procrastination can be your best ally?
We're not equal in terms of identifying all our intricate emotions. Sometimes it's hard to put words into how we feel.
What if I tell you procrastination is the best compass for your fears?
If there is procrastination, there is an underlying fear.
Fear of not being good enough as a partner, fear of failing an exam, fear of not being perfect for a work project, fear of not making the best financial investment, fear of being hurt while exercising, you name it.
So next time, you spot yourself procrastinating, instead of beating yourself up, question yourself.
What are you the most afraid of?
Design your environment
The #1 consequence for procrastinators is doing something else.
The fear is so huge that it makes you think that doing something else is better than doing what you're supposed to do.
The 'something else' usually gives you some sort of instant gratification preventing you from overthinking. On top of the list of activities, we have scrolling social media, watching Youtube/Netflix and eating.
And before you realise it, you just spend 2 hours on it [the average person spends 2 hours and 27 minutes on social media daily].
I'm not blaming you - I, myself get lured into that smooth user friendly apps. The temptation is so big (they are designed to be).
You want to limit your time on social media? Binge watching series? Eating junk food? Buying useless stuff?
Leverage your environment instead of being a victim of it.
Instead of having notification for your apps, you could: remove all notifications, all saved password, limit time on apps, or even uninstall apps. -> You will be shocked how many times you opened your social media app without being conscious - Don't believe me? Go check your stats on your smartphone!
Instead of storing unhealthy snacks (or not having storage at all), you could: store fruits, dried fruits, cereal bars, nuts, all staples... -> Feeling hungry? Eat what you have before you spend all your paycheck on takeaway or binge eating your chocolate.
Instead of shopping online everything on sale, you could: not save your credit card on the websites, put all promotions emails into a separate inbox or even the spam folder -> Do you really want them? Test your desires by putting your shopping list on standby and only if you remember after 7 or 30 days, you can go pick up your credit card.
Be creative, what can you do to make your environment more prone of who you want to be?
The 2-minute rule
That has been popularised by productivity guru Ali Abdaal.
Well it's easier said than done, but it works.
Doing something for 2 minutes straight is less scary than doing anything BIG.
I know sometimes, even doing the 2 minutes can be challenging, but what do you have to loose? Two tiny minutes?
If I tell myself to go for a 5k run every morning, I will find all the reasons not to because I don't have 30 minutes to allocate, I'm not feeling well today, my ankle doesn't feel right....
Instead, if I tell myself to go for a walk around the block every morning, it will be harder to find a reason not to.
Likewise, if I want to write an inspiring newsletter, but sitting down the whole morning to write something interesting is mentally challenging: what if it isn't good enough? What if I don't have any idea?...
Instead, I told myself, I will just write a couple lines to see what comes up for 2 minutes straight. If it doesn't, I will just do something else (it's been 30-minute, I'm still typing these words!).
What prevents you from doing something for 2 minutes straight?
Progress better than perfect
If you twist your view on our productivity as a work in progress, then you will never be worried about being perfect.
Perfection doesn't exist, so aiming for perfection is just mission impossible.
What if now I'm telling you whatever you do today, you will outgrow the yesterday version of you.
Because no matter what you try, you will be better off than not trying, regardless of the result.
Let me give you a few examples:
Want to run everyday, but failed? Instead you went for a walk everydayfor 15-30 minutes. And perhaps sometimes, you felt like jogging for a km or two. Results: you walk 5k steps everyday (vs not moving your body at all)
Want to save $1,000 but failed? Instead, set a maximum amount of weekly spending, and if don't have enough by Saturday, you eat pasta on Sunday (or worst case scenario, wire money from your savings account). Results: you save $500 (vs nothing)
"If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word." Margaret Atwood
So, what can you do today what isn't perfect, but will make you a step ahead compared to yesterday?
Thank you for reading & build your money mindset 💪
Sophie
