3 missing steps that keep procrastination going.
The steps, that in 99,9% of cases of procrastination we miss. The steps, that are almost a 100% guarantee that we’ll take the action we decided upon. Tonny Robbins summed it up in this tweet - this is a step-by-step extended version.
I just wrote a blog about procrastination. Part 2. I wrote in detail about these steps that we miss when we procrastinate. A lot of my clients, when we work together choose procrastination as one of the skills to master. I thought, why not write a blog about it and jot down some ideas here?
Let's imagine we decided to write a book.
“That’s it! I’m writing the book. I’m starting on Monday!” (Let’s say today is Friday).”
And then we get all excited, we imagine how cool it’s gonna be to finally become an author, and then off we go for a walk…
You've just committed a fatal mistake, that would kill your potential to take the action on Monday.
Did you catch it?
....
Let’s rewind. Let’s restart. Let’s do it better.
“That’s it! I’m writing the book. I’m starting on Monday!” (Let’s say today is Friday).”
And then we get all excited, we imagine how cool it’s gonna be to finally become an author, and then… - that’s where everything changes.
We don’t go for a walk. Here’s what we do instead.
1. SCHEDULE IT
Writing a book requires a consistent time commitment, free of anything else, ideally totally in your control and not changeable.
When will you have a couple of hours, Monday to Friday to write your darling? What are the hours it’ll be most likely to happen almost every day unless there’s some emergency?
Let’s say it’s 8-10 am.
We clear our schedule for the next month to start. We make sure everyone is aware of this schedule. We make sure everything is lined up to make the writing happen.
2. MANAGE RESOURCES
Time is taken care of. Now it’s time to ensure we have all the ingredients to mix the writing smoothie on Monday morning.
Do you have a place to write?
Do you have a table and a chair?
Do you have a laptop, a typewriter, pen and paper?
If something is missing, if you need anything else you can think of - this is the time to take care of everything BEFORE Monday.
You don’t say, “I’m gonna mix an awesome, super-good-for-me green smoothie on Monday!” And then, standing in front of a blender on Monday morning, you realize you have no greens. What do you expect to happen then? Mixing a smoothie out of thin air?
3. REMINDERS
To finish off the recipe of the writing smoothie we still need one key ingredient missing - reminders.
Special kind of reminders. James Clear, the habit guy, calls them HOT🔥 reminders.
These are the kind of reminders, that we put in places where we for sure will see them at the exact moment when we can and need to take the action. (We’ll talk more about the most effective, research-based reminders in the anti-procrastination article part 3 next week.)
I’m gonna give you a short walk-through to complete our writing example.
Ideally, you’d have several reminders set up for the weekend and for Monday morning to nudge you to think of writing and to show up.
And that’s the whole decision-making recipe that cancels procrastination out of your life.
DECIDE - PLAN THE EXECUTION - EXECUTE
Do you see now, why you might be procrastinating on so many decisions you make? Big and small projects you want to do? Do you see the difference?
I haven't procrastinated in years. I found an effective process. Neuroscience research confirms - that what works for all former procrastinators, present-day doers-achievers. Try it! Let me know :)
Full blog "Decision-making recipe that killed procrastination."
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