Tea with the Queen

3 Simple Steps to Beat Procrastination

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We all find ourselves procrastinating at some point, don’t we? It’s like there’s this invisible force holding us back from tackling those tasks we know we should be doing.

But have you ever paused to ask yourself why?

I’ll let you in on a little secret: I procrastinate quite a bit. I know many of you might be surprised by that, but I too suffer from analysis paralysis at times. Especially if the task ahead of me is one I know will take me a while.

So how do I push past the resistance? Here’s a framework with 3 practical ways you can structure your time and space, and get you thinking about how to beat procrastination.

Step One: Take It One Step at a Time

Big tasks can really feel overwhelming, like trying to scale a mountain in one leap. That’s why I break them down into bite-sized pieces. I set a timer for 10, 15, or 20 minutes and just dive in. Surprisingly, once you’re in motion, it’s rather difficult to stop. Whether I feel motivated or not, I tell myself to tackle something easy to start with, making the initial step a lot less intimidating.

Step Two: Give Yourself Very Clear Deadlines

We need realistic timeframes. I am guilty of setting deadlines that are more aspirational than achievable. To keep things realistic, I map out tasks in my diary and stick to the schedule. Accountability is key, so if you need to, find a business buddy or mentor to help you stay on track. Even a simple weekly email to someone outlining your goals can be a powerful motivator.

Step Three: Ditch Distractions and Celebrate the Wins

Let’s be honest, our phones are massive distractions. One minute of scrolling can easily turn into half an hour. I combat procrastination by placing my phone in another room. Sometimes, I use an app called Coffitivity, which simulates the ambience of a café, providing me with comforting background noise. It’s crucial to identify what’s demanding your attention and learn to set boundaries.

Don’t forget to reward yourself when you’ve made some progress. Remember, progress isn’t about starting and finishing. It can be the milestones in between, the chunks of work you get done even when it’s overwhelming. Every single step is worth celebrating, as far as I’m concerned!

Which of these do you need to focus on the most? Taking that first step, setting clear deadlines, or avoiding distractions? Many women I work with find the last one particularly challenging.

Why not kickstart your journey by setting a timer and tackling that task you’ve been putting off? Trust me, you’ll feel far more accomplished afterwards.

Once you’ve given one of these steps a shot, I’d love to hear about your experience. Send me a DM on Instagram or drop me a message. Let me know how you’re getting on. I always love to hear from you!

LINKS

For a copy of Emma’s book, ‘Go-getter: Raise your mojo, shift your mindset and thrive’ – https://www.emmamcqueen.com.au/book/

YouTube Channel

Read The Full Transcript

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[00:00:00] Emma: We all procrastinate at some point, but have you ever stopped to ask yourself why? I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I procrastinate a lot. I am indeed a procrastinator, especially if it's something I know is going to take a long time. I work with one of my corporate clients and I create leadership development programs for them.
[00:00:43] They are 12 months long with different touch points, different coaching sessions, different, facilitated groups, a whole stack of different things. And it's wonderful and I love it. What I don't love is getting analysis paralysis around those big programs. One of the ways I get around this is I start at the kitchen table and I work through the 12 months just on butcher's paper to get a very rough starting point because you can't edit a blank page, right? So I get a very rough draft happening and this takes the pressure off immediately because I'm like, great, I've got a rough draft. Now I can just tweak as I go.
[00:01:24] And so I can edit it and I can polish it. And so as soon as I land a piece of work like that, I work on it immediately because it's fresh in my head. I've had a lot of conversation to get to that point and I'm ready to go. And so if I can get something down on paper, then I can come back to it. And then I can feel like I'm close to done.
[00:01:43] I don't know. I just hack myself. But I think procrastination is a bit of a mixed bag. It's not always. about being lazy or disorganized, sometimes it's actually a sign that something deeper is going on. And for me, when I find myself [00:02:00] procrastinating, I ask myself, why am I avoiding this?
[00:02:03] Is it because the task feels misaligned with my goals? Am I over complicating things? Chances are for me, yes. Or am I just nervous because it's pushing me out of my comfort zone? So I ask myself a couple of questions that seem to help. What about you? Do you find procrastination creeping in? And if so, what's usually behind it?
[00:02:26] And here's the twist. Sometimes procrastination can actually be really useful. If I'm putting off something repeatedly, it's often a, sign. that I need to reassess. Maybe I don't really need to do it, or perhaps there's a better way to approach it. Mainly, there's probably someone I could outsource it to who has the ability to do it.
[00:02:48] So instead of beating myself up for procrastinating, I try to use it as a clue to check in with myself and adjust accordingly. I have also noticed that certain personality types struggle procrastination more than others. I've got some clients who absolutely thrive on that last minute pressure.
[00:03:09] I've got other clients who love a backlog because it pushes them. And I've got other clients who completely shut down. When things feel too big or too overwhelming. I have a client who goes to ground and I have to actually text her and say, are you okay? Because I know that things feel too big and too overwhelming for her right in that moment.
[00:03:30] Personally, I find that breaking things. It's those smaller manageable steps helps me push past the resistance. And also for me, setting mini deadlines and having an accountability buddy makes a huge difference. So if this is you today, I'd love to give you a bit of a framework, three steps on some really practical ways that you can structure.
[00:03:56] Your, time, your space, to think about, [00:04:00] okay, if I sit in procrastination, what do I need to do? So step one, take it one step at a time
[00:04:07] This is normally the first thing that I do. Big tasks can feel so overwhelming, so I break them into bite sized pieces. I set a timer. for 10, 15, 20 minutes and I just get started.
[00:04:21] Once you're in motion, it's quite hard to stop. So you get to keep going. I also do this if I don't feel motivated in that moment, I'm like, okay, I'll just do something really easy, something small, and then I'll see how I go. Number two give yourself very clear deadlines. Very clear deadlines. We have to set realistic timeframes.
[00:04:42] I am as guilty as the next person about not setting realistic timeframes. And you've got to set those timeframes and for the tasks and then you need to stick to them. So for me, I will pop it in the diary. I make sure that I allocate enough time. And like I said, when I have a big thing, I do the first draft and then I keep checking to make sure that we're polishing it as we go. And so that keeps me accountable. If accountability is the issue, find a biz buddy or a mentor to help you keep on track. It could just be that you send them an email once a week and go, this is what I'm doing, or this is what I need to do. Sometimes we just need a little nudge. That's all.
[00:05:20] Step three, ditch distractions and celebrate the wins. So when I'm feeling a little bit procrastinating, I will put my phone in another room. I've got an app called Coffertivity, which is the sounds of a cafe. So I like to feel like I'm in the middle of the cafe, even though I'm getting stuff done.
[00:05:40] And so that is just white noise for me. So I ditch distractions You need to notice on what's pulling your focus. you scroll on social media for a minute. You'll be there for half an hour. and you've got to set some boundaries. Yeah. And don't forget to reward yourself when you've made some progress.
[00:05:57] Now progress isn't. starting and [00:06:00] finishing. Progress might be milestones in between. It might be big chunks of work. Every single step is worth celebrating as far as I think. So to recap on the three steps very briefly. Step one, take it one step at a time. This always comes first. Step two, give yourself clear deadlines for your tasks and your bits and pieces.
[00:06:21] And number three, ditch the distractions and celebrate the wins. Which of these three do you need to work on the most? Is it about just getting started and taking that one step? Or is it about giving yourself some clear deadlines? Or is it about ditching distractions? a lot of the women that I work with, it's about ditching the distractions and just getting started.
[00:06:43] They don't need to worry about the deadlines, but they need to get started, and they need to move their phone out of the room. Otherwise, the distractions are Just take one step today. Why don't you try putting the timer on, getting the thing done that you've been putting off, because you'll feel so much more accomplished at the end of that.
[00:07:02] And once you've tried one of these, let me know how you go. DM me on Instagram, send me a text message, tell me you've tried it, tell me you're listening, tell me you're here. I always love to hear from you guys and gals. Thanks so much. See you next week.
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