You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” – Abraham Lincoln
I love that quote. I’m gonna tell you a story that makes my eyes bleed. I live in Arizona and it doesn’t get cold here. I’m a big flower/plant guy (all a sudden) the last few years.
I have 122 ficus on my property.
If ficus get below freezing then they die, lose all their color and turn into a tall, ugly stick.
Well, this has never happened since I have lived in Arizona for 12 years, or since I’ve paid attention to plants. One or the other.
It froze. I saw the weather coming and I knew I should have wrapped them up so they didn’t die while it got cold here for a week.
My once beautiful oasis of a backyard all a sudden felt like my backyard looked like a black and white movie from the 40s.
I procrastinated by not doing it and paid the price. I still am 6 months later because they haven’t fucking grew back yet.
We all procrastinate on something in our lives. We do this for a variety of reasons like:
- We’d rather be doing something more exciting.
- Small-tasks are easier than large ones.
- We’re secretly perfectionists.
- We want ideas to dwell in our mind for a bit before we act.
- Or maybe we just have a fear of success or failure.
Research found we procrastinate on big things because we tend to like short-term tasks more. Short-term success gives us a dopamine fix. We find it more satisfying than grinding for months and months.
There are thousands of articles and videos online about procrastination. They tell you to stop procrastinating. But, that’s redundant.
You’re just reading and watching about not procrastinating while doing it.
To overcome it, pay attention to your style of procrastination.
Everyone does it, but we all have our different “styles”
People classify procrastination as one group of individuals and then offer broad advice.
Knowing the types of procrastinators helps you see the problem differently. It lets you find a new way to approach it.
What Type of Procrastinator Are You?
- Perfectionist — Develops a fear of not performing a potential task perfectly. They believe in waiting to start something until they are 100% confident. They need to be sure they can do it perfectly and without fear.
- Dreamer- Can see the big picture on ideas. But, they struggle with the tasks and work needed to get there. The individual steps are difficult to focus on for these types.
- Worrier- Fears failure. They have negative emotions about being successful at what needs to be done. They argue that it’s better to avoid it. Failing or hitting a roadblock is worse.
- Defiers- Delay certain tasks. They think the tasks are beneath them or unnecessary. The fact they have this responsibility is a source of resentfulness or frustration for them.
- Crisis-Maker- These individuals believe the only way to get things done for them is when they feel pressure or stressed out. They believe that being put under a tight deadline is the only way for them to muster enough motivation.
- Over-Doer- The “yes” person. They’ll agree to as many tasks as they can. But, they struggle to prioritize and do these tasks.
When you’re living life and you’re being hit by other curveballs and problems its easy to get off track and put things on the back-burner.
Some feel this more than others.
It’s crucial that you know your type of procrastinator. This knowledge will keep your life from spiraling out of control.
6 Techniques To Help You Be More Productive
DOING THE WORK
Obviously, things that you enjoy doing are going to take you less time than things that you don’t like to do.
Do the harder things first.
Use the 2 minute rule, if you’re thinking about it, start doing it and commit to 5 minutes with no distractions.
Highly likely once you get started it will be done before you know it.
NEW MINDSET AND POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
We beat ourselves up if we put things off that need to get done.
We’re emotional beings, its gonna happen.
This method really boils down to positive thinking and positive self-talk.
Stop saying “I wish I got this done sooner” instead say “I will get this done right now”.
You’re removing any pressure from your inner dialogue and trusting yourself that you’ll get it done.
HOLDING YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE
This is my 3rd newsletter. I like to research, take notes, and learn the week before about what I want to write to you.
I knew this was going to be hard, but I’m learning every week just like you are through this newsletter.
You are holding me accountable to come through with my end of the deal. I will give you insights weekly. You can use them and they will hopefully change how you do things. This will help you live better.
Finding that kind of connection with people is much easier. It’s with friends and family who actually care about what you’re doing.
FIND RESISTANCE AND FLOW WITH THEM
Research shows that we like short-term busy work more than we like large, long-term projects.
So break it up into parts.
Beginning, Middle & End.
Focus on just getting one stage done at a time.
Dedicate work blocks from your resistance levels.
How much work your willing to do at any given moment.
For some people it might be an hour.
Others it might be 15 minutes.
The idea is to figure that out and then work inside it.
Theres great benefit to micro focus and micro tasking.
We trick our brains to reward us. It makes us feel good for even taking a step at chipping away at the project.
COST OF PERFECTION
All procrastination has a cost
When my dad and I used to work together in the oil-fields we would have issues all of the time (because our equipment was old as fuck).
Sometimes, we would see a tire was getting worn out or a hydraulic hose needed to be replaced. This led to late night calls at 2-3am with one of our drivers stuck on the interstate.
They would be over 100 miles from us. We had to go fix it and get them back on the road.
The cost of doing business no doubt, but that could have easily been avoided if things were handled with more priority.
Not exercising today can result in bad health problems down the road.
Not taking out the trash before work when it smells like something is dead in there to avoid your house smelling like rotten eggs.
These are simple examples. But, it doesn’t matter if it’s simple or complicated. There’s a cost to delaying these things. Those poor Ficus. Reminding yourself of that cost can motivate you to get your shit done.
REMOVING TEMPTATION
With technology and the million apps we have on our phones. We’re in a gross, reinforcing relationship with it from checking emails, social media, missed calls.
No way to sugar-coat it. It’s addictive behavior.
Beyond that we also get dopamine from it to the point where its as rewarding as doing the work or task were suppose to be doing.
I have struggled with this from time to time just like the next person. But now I make time-blocks morning and night.
I dedicate 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon of uninterrupted work (insane how much you can get done).
Of course I’m still working the rest of the day as well but that can be easilly distracted.
It’s healthy to step away from your phone for a few hours at a time, take a digital detox and try to have a better relationship with technology.
That missed call, text or social media notification that you’re scared to not see in real time. It will be there when you get to it, I promise.
Research shows it takes us 23 minutes to regain deep focus after we see a notification. Think about that the next time you’re working on something and have the urge to respond.
This isn’t going to be something that you’re going to solve overnight. But in today’s culture, a lot of strategies don’t address the core problem.
I hope this mindset and how you approach things makes your life better, If this helped you please share it with someone else.
Thanks for reading as always, til next week.
Your Montana Friend,
Cody
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Have a positive week,
Cody
