Be honest, is there anything you should be doing now that you're putting off until later?
Procrastination is the enemy of progress, and we all fall victim to it.
We know that there are things we have to do today that will grow our business tomorrow, but often these things come at the expense of our day to day tasks or our free time.
As business gets busier, the temptation to leave some things until later gets stronger.
The problem is, later often never comes, and we either forget about it completely or it gets lost in a sea of “this won’t make me any money today, so I’ll do it when I have time.” This is what kills businesses… At best, you’re going to see each year as a photocopy of the previous year with no growth to show for all your hard work.
At worst, I’ve seen businesses fail because they’ve procrastinated
on seizing new opportunities and moving with the times.
I know the importance of setting aside time to work ON your business so that it can grow.
As a business coach I have to keep reminding business owners even through it’s not a priority in your day you have to stay focused on business building.
Here are 5 things you should be doing to stop procrastination
today and set your business up for a better tomorrow…
Know your Goal and know Where you're going
The vision workshop that I run with my clients helps them align their business and personal goals to create a holistic vision.
I find that when business and personal goals are linked my clients have more motivation to reach their business goals, and are less inclined to procrastinate doing anything that will get them there.
In general, having clear and inspirational goals will help your motivation. Taking action towards goals puts you one step closer to your ultimate goal.
Schedule Time for all your tasks each week
Not having a set schedule is a breeding ground for procrastination.
If there’s anything that you find easy to put off as soon as you get even the slightest bit busy, put it in your schedule.
You wouldn’t procrastinate a scheduled meeting with a hot prospect or high-value client…Treat everything in your schedule the same way.
Eat the Frog
A great book that I recommend to all my clients is ‘Eat That Frog’ by Brian Tracey. One takeaway from this book (and the reason for its rather quirky title) is that:
if you ate a live frog at the start of each day,
suddenly everything else
you have to do
seems less daunting!
The frog is, of course, a metaphor for a daunting and unpleasant task that you’ve been avoiding.
Getting into the habit of starting your day by getting through the procrastinate-able tasks will also have the flow on effect of making the rest of your day more productive and pleasant.
A win-win!
Break down the Task
Newton’s 1st law dictates that
things in motion stay in motion,
and things at rest stay at rest.
If you’re met with a task that seems daunting,
the best thing you can do is to just start it.
Once you’ve started, you’ll likely find yourself doing more
than you thought or planned for, that’s the law of physics!
What helps with this is,
if you break down the task or goal
into smaller increments
that can be completed
in shorter amounts of time.
Not only will this make you
feel more accomplished
and give you and your team
more positive reinforcement
that you’re on your way to success,
but bite-sized tasks are
easier to fit into your day
than a bigger one.
This is why I recommend attending a 90 day planning session where we help business owners break down their goals into small tasks they can keep track of weekly.
These sessions are complementary as part of the coaching program but are open to anyone who would like to register, if you’d like to find out more, give me a call or email me.
Talk with Cindy
0427 214 502
Reward yourself!
For many people, rewarding yourself for
completing tasks can become an afterthought…
But they’re also invaluable to your desire to complete the task itself.
It’s human nature to love to celebrate our achievements!
So much so that the celebration is what often keeps
us going when we’re in the midst of an arduous task.
It’s a powerful way to help you stay on track.
So don’t be shy to treat yourself to something that
will give you that extra motivation to stop procrastinating
and start working towards your goals!
If you’d like to start breaking those habits by
setting great goals you’ll stop at nothing to achieve,
book a chat with me today and let’s get started
on your journey to a better business!
Book a chat with me today, via the website or send me an email.
A year from now you may wish you had started todayKaren Lamb