How do you stop procrastinating?
There are two main reasons you could be procrastinating:
- The task is too easy and you are actually getting bored.
- The task is too complex and it’s causing you to feel anxious.
I have a few tricks to prevent procrastination in both situations.
If you are bored of the task, go ahead and couple it with something you love to do. For me, I will listen to a podcast or music and complete task such as laundry.
For a complex task, here are a few strategies you can try:
- Always start with the Minimum Viable Action - we chat about James Clear's book Atomic Habit which does explain this concept very well.
- Use the SMART Goal method -Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relatable, and timely. - check out more episodes regarding preventing procrastinating A Few of My Scheduling Life Hacks!
- Start a task for only 5 minutes and see if you can get into a “flow state”
- Reframe the task as a challenge rather than an obstacle
Now tell us in the comments… which 4 strategies will you use first to get out of the habit of procrastinating?
Remember, Make a Plan and Take Action and YES you can have it all!
XO,
Sophia
A Team Dklutr Production
Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies
Laura Hargrave: Welcome everyone here at Boss It. We would love to hear from you. Join us in our Boss It community by heading over to our website, bossitclub.com, and join our mailing list. As we grow, we will be launching our community of fellow Boss It BFFs, and we want you to be a part of it.
Okay, Sophia Noreen, let's dig into this. I can't wait to tell them all about how we got here.
Sophia Noreen: Welcome to the Boss It Podcast. My name is Sophia Noreen and I took an Etsy startup and launched it in big-box retailers within 12 months. As a creative with an entrepreneurial drive, I left my full-time career in healthcare to find better harmony between career, family, and self-care. We believe you can have it all. Yes, you can launch and run a successful scalable business while maintaining harmony in all aspects of your life. We believe we can learn from each other and draw on many experiences to create the best life possible. During each episode, we will share proven life hacks that will keep you on top and striving every day.
There should be no hesitation. Make a plan. Take action. We are here for you!
Sophia Noreen: Hello, everyone. Welcome to this week's episode of the boss it podcast. My name is Sophia Norine and I am going to be your host. And today we are gonna be chatting about procrastination. Everyone loves it and they hate it. Actually, most people hate it.
Procrastination causes so much grief that I thought we do need to cover this topic because it's preventing you from moving forward with your goals. Be it in health, be it in business. Be it in cleaning your. And I wanna talk about two reasons why people may be procrastinating, and then I'm going to give you a few steps on how to prevent procrastination in your everyday life.
So if you are watching the podcast, make sure to come at below on the steps that you're gonna take to prevent procrastination. And if you're listening to the podcast, make sure you go ahead and share a snapshot of this podcast on Instagram. Our handle is boss club and give us a tag and we will reshare your comments on the story that you're going to be sharing and the clip of the podcast show.
So what are the two reasons why you are procrastinating? It could be one that you're bored with the task that you're trying to do, or it could be that the task is way too complicated. So I would like you to start by identifying which one it is. And then we need to ask ourselves, how can we set you up for success?
I'm gonna give you a few examples for my life. I'm bored when it comes to doing with the laundry. Now, for many of you, you know that I have kids, especially if you follow me on Instagram, you can follow us at boss at club. And I want you to know that when you have kids, you're doing laundry all the time.
And I find that task extremely, extremely boring. So how do we prevent ourselves from procrastinating on that task? Next, if there's a complicated task, like my taxes that causes me a level of. So, how do I prevent myself from procrastinating from doing my taxes? I have a few tricks for both of them. The first, the boredom, when I am feeling bored with a task, I usually associate it by doing another additional task, not so much multitasking, but doing something in addition.
So for example, If I need to do the laundry, I will put on a podcast like this one and I will listen to it while I'm doing the laundry, or that's the best time for me to go ahead and call a girlfriend on the phone and chat with them while I'm doing the laundry. If it's like taxes and it's way too complicated, I start with the minimal viable action is a thing that you need to do to get started. Now there's a really good book. Why gains clear call atomic habits. So if you have not picked that book up yet, it might be a good read because it talks about how the smallest action can result in a very good habit creation. And that's ultimately where we wanna go with this.
Once you start picking up a habit. It makes it easier and easier for you to continuously do that action. And we have chatted about that in past episodes. So you can always head back and check those out. We'll link them in the show notes, but if you can lead with your minimal viable action, your MVA, it will help you not only get momentum towards that complex task that you have been avoiding, but it'll also help build that self-esteem that can help promote you to continuously do the task.
Many people have a sense of failure when they don't accomplish the task. A very simple example that I just spoke to a girlfriend about is her inability to get dinner started and going simple task for some of us, but very complex for others. And every time she fails at getting dinner ready, she ends up having to go ahead and order the dinner.
And when she has to order the dinner, not only does it make her feel like I didn't follow through for my family. But according to the self-worth theory, you are actually reducing your self-worth because your self-worth is determined by your ability to perform a task. So every time you do that, you are not only sabotaging yourself when it comes to productivity, but you could also be hindering your psychology and further preventing you from moving forward with whatever the task may.
So again, leading with the minimal viable action, the MVA could help start you on the path towards success. Another trick that I do is I use the smart goal method. Now a smart goal is a specific, measurable, attainable, and relatable goal. And it's timely. That's what smart stands for. We have chatted about it before in past episodes, but again, by making your goal smart and very succinct and putting it on your agenda really helps to put you into.
And not only do we say smart, very specific, measurable, and attainable, but we wanna make sure that they are small and bite size, just like the minimal viable action. An example for me for laundry would be that I'm not only going to listen to my podcast, which is the incentive for me to do my laundry, but I'm gonna do it at a specific time of the day, a specific type of laundry.
So say the whites, for example, and I'm gonna make sure that it's not going to be overwhelming. I'm gonna make sure it's falls at a time of the day. When I feel the most productive. We've talked about that also in past. We will link it below. So you can go ahead and understand how the time of the day really will dictate your productivity.
Another great trick is that you can go ahead and just start that action for five minutes. Good example is my smart goal. That's with my minimal viable action, my MVA and I still don't wanna do it. I'm still procrastinating on it. All I have to tell myself is I'm going to go ahead and I am gonna do it for five minutes.
The best example I have for you is bookkeeping. Me and my bookkeeping is always a struggle. I have tons of receipts sitting here beside me on my desk, and I do not want to go ahead and take the photo, put it in the system. So the bookkeeper can go ahead and add it. And so. My smart goal task with my minimal viable action should be to just for five minutes a day, go ahead and start scanning those receipts into the system.
That would be a great way of getting started and getting into the flow of the activity. Generally, once you do a productivity task for about five minutes, you'll find a sense of flow if it's the right time of the day and the task is not too complex. So that is also a great strategy that I use a lot when I really just don't wanna get started.
The last tip I am going to share with you about how to deal with those complex tasks that are really challenging you, and you do not wanna get into action with is to reframe the entire challenge as a way, or an opportunity for you to show off your skills now. And a good example of this is when we launched our products into Walmart, I had taken.
Much too long to give the proposal. I was overwhelmed with the thought of it. I had never done a proposal before for a big retailer. I didn't know how to do a planogram and many people don't know how to do a planogram. I was trained as a physiotherapist. So knowing anything when it came to retail, retail, packaging, and how to present an actual proposal to a retailer was completely foreign to.
And because of that challenge, I procrastinated and I did not get into action for two weeks before I actually sat down and did it, although I knew the meeting was coming up. And so that was an example of where I had to reframe and tell myself, listen, other people can do it. I can do it too. I also had to say to myself, this is an opportunity for me to show off what we can do.
How can this company be able to supply to a big retailer? It's our opportunity now to really hone it, our skills, our creativity, and bring the products to life. That is a great trick that you can use as well. Reframe the challenge. The challenge could be that you want to go ahead and lose 10 pounds. For example, you may be like, this is my opportunity to show everyone around me, how I can actually get consistent and stay in action.
You could also reframe a challenge as common as getting the laundry done and staying on top of it. You could say to yourself, this is a fun challenge for me. I'm going to psych myself up and do the laundry every night with my podcast or my music. And of course enjoy the experience if that's even possible.
Okay guys. So from the top, what are the four ways to prevent procrastination? One is to start with your MVA, your minimal viable action. The second is to just do that action for maybe about five minutes and see if you can get in a state of flow. The third is to try to make that action as smart as possible and make it into a smart goal or task.
And then the final way is to reframe the challenge. Really get yourself psyched. Tell yourself, this is the way I'm going to challenge myself, grow myself, make things happen. And hopefully that will be enough encouragement to push you into action. And remember, the more you do the task at hand, the easier it will become and it'll turn into a habit.
And so we did talk about the atomic habits, the book by James clear, a great read. If you are looking into becoming more productive and making those tasks into habits. Okay guys, I wanna hear from you, let me know in the comments, if you're catching us on YouTube, which one of these tips you're gonna use to prevent yourself from getting into the habit of procrastinating?
Are you gonna use the MBA smart goals starting up action for only five minutes and getting into the state of flow or reframe? Or are you gonna pick all four? I wanna hear from you. I wanna know, because remember. Procrastination can get any of us and we wanna make sure you're as successful as possible, not only in business, but also in.
Remember, make a plan and take action and yes, you can have it all. And we'll catch you guys again next week. Take care. Bye.
Sophia Noreen: So my fellow Bosses, did you enjoy that episode? Now, it's time for you to make a solid plan and take action. But first, remember to subscribe and follow the Boss It Podcast so you receive a notification whenever we drop an episode. Remember to leave us a review on iTunes. Take a screenshot of your review and share it on Instagram as a post or a story, and tag us at Boss It Club. If Instagram is not your thing, no worries. Email your screenshot to podcast@bossitclub.com. As a massive thank you, we will be sending you our top 50 tips for starting and scaling a business. This list is exclusively for podcast reviewers so don't miss out. Now, remember Bosses, make a plan and take action in all aspects of your life. Yes, you can have it all.