Every freelancer suffers from procrastination at some point in their lives. Unfortunately, unless we bust through procrastination quickly we can find ourselves wasting a lot of time and losing money.
In this article, I'm going to lay out some of the ways that I bust through procrastination whenever it rears it's ugly head. Feel free to try as many of these tricks as you wish.
Bust through procrastination with tapping.
Usually, when I'm procrastinating it's because I'm dreading doing something. I'm also usually making a bigger deal out of it than it actually is. This usually leads to stress on my part and a recent health coach noticed this and referred me to tapping.
Tapping is exactly what it sounds like - you tap. More specifically, you tap on certain parts of your body with your fingers while acknowledging your frustration and then moving toward more positive statements. It sends a signal to your mind and body to relax. It also starts helping you overcome the uncomfortable emotions you may be feeling.
Tapping is a combination of Chines acupressure with modern positive psychology and it actually works. So when I want to bust through procrastination, I start doing a few rounds of tapping to overcome my own dramatics around a big project.
For more on this, check out the book The Tapping Solution by Nick Ortner.
Become aware of when you begin to procrastinate.
By
, you can bust through procrastination by beating it at it's own mental game. For example, I notice that I tend to procrastinate on little things like email or writing articles that are easy. I also tend to procrastinate when I feel like I have all the time in the world.
By becoming aware of this, I've been able to bust through procrastination by setting deadlines and incorporating some accountability into my life. I basically trick myself into thinking I don't have as much time as I believe.
For example, I know that every Monday I need to be done with my work by 3 p.m. so I can be totally present for a team meeting with my virtual assistant. Sometimes I tell myself I need to be done by 4 so I can go to yoga class.
I'll also do the little things first, otherwise, I just won't get around to it because procrastination will take over.
Plan your work around your natural rhythms.
One thing that has helped me bust through procrastination is to become aware of my body's natural rhythms. For example, I'm not an early morning person so I don't even bother trying to be one. Most of my energy comes to me in the late morning and early afternoon, so that's when I try to work.
I've also noticed that I'm much more creative on weekends so that's when I might do something like make Pinterest images or work on my stuff instead of client stuff.
Lastly, I pay attention to my monthly cycle. I have way more energy the first two weeks of my cycle so that's when I go hard. I lay off the latter to weeks.
By paying attention to my own natural rhythms I get all my work done without worrying too much about procrastinating. That's because I know when I'm feeling most focused and set my schedule accordingly.
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