I'm sick of being controlled by this ever-pervasive habit of procrastination! I'm getting truthy about my life-long struggles with it over on The Maven Circle today and feel like it's one of my last barriers to getting where I want to go in life.
I think procrastination can be good in some ways- especially when it comes to creative projects- but in lots of ways, it's so not helpful. It creates stress and pressure and overwhelm that doesn't even need to exist, and I'm sick of feeling the guilt of not getting stuff done. I'm sick of feeling like I'm always catching up with yesterday, rather than participating in today!
So edging upon my 30th birthday, I've decided it's high time to break this nasty habit of mine- it's time for Project: Kick Procrastination's Ass!
(see, I could've taken time to figure out a better name, but instead I'm doing it now and just putting it out there! ;) Plus the accountability factor of having you guys out there listening along and expecting things really helps me get into gear!
It's time I actually use some of the many resources I've bought on a whim to help me figure out why I'm procrastinating so much and how to take steps to fix it. And since I know it's something that so many of us struggle with, I want to do it here, in front of you all to share my journey, progress and hopefully all the oh so helpful tips I learn along the way.
So my first step? Stop calling myself a procrastinator and instead, a "do-it-now-er, in training!"
My second step? I'm going to listen to this Overcoming Procrastination self-hypnosis mp3 that I downloaded, uh, last year, and see what happens!
Self-hypnosis is basically like a guided meditation, very relaxing and helps imprint things into your subconscious mind. And it's supposed to be more effective if you listen to the same script for 5 days in a row to really help those subliminal triggers and messages start to shift- so that's my plan. I'm going to listen once a day, for at least 5 days in a row, and report back next week if I notice any differences in my thinking or behavior.
Are you a procrastinator too? Want to change that? Join me here and hopefully this new series can work some wonders for us both! :)
Jena, I think this is awesome! I don't know about you, but as a self-employed person who works from a home office, I feel like I'm busy busy busy all day but don't get much done. I find that daily motivation helps, during my meal and snack breaks I usually peruse the interwebs for work, fitness, health, and creative motivation (Pinterest can be used for something productive). Also, planning out my days or week in advance (day planners = life SAVERS) helps. After I'm done with my morning me-time, I look at what I have planned for today, tomorrow, etc and *do* something on that list. The lists change daily, naturally, but having them there is a good kickstart for me.
I look forward to seeing how your meditation works out! I'll have to give that a shot too, I haven't tried that yet.
Posted by: sillylittlelady | Jul 24, 2012 at 11:55 AM
Yes the self-employed lifestyle is not as idyllic as it seems- so much freedom is hard to manage, haha! I have felt that busy busy and not getting stuff done- I'm not there so much anymore, I feel like I get lots done, there's just always more and I know I'd be so much further along if I could reign in the delay tactics and be as productive as I was today, for example!
Breaks for fitness and health and creativity are essential- glad to hear you do that, I do too! Will let you know how the hypnosis pans out. Thanks for saying hello! :)
Posted by: Miss Modish | Jul 24, 2012 at 05:28 PM