Solopreneurs like you aren’t a stranger to procrastination. Procrastination affects many people worldwide, and it leads to poor performance in work – not to mention, the stress it creates in life.
For example, your alarm wakes you up and reminds you early in the morning to make inventories about your expenses. Instead, you hit the snooze button. You reason to yourself that you have more time later in the day. You keep on hitting the snooze button until it’s already lunchtime!
By the time you finally work, you start to feel the pressure. You rush the inventory and make a lot of mistakes. The quality of your work decreases and your business suffers in one way or another. All of this because of one act of PROCRASTINATION.
Here’s how you can get the work done and feel proud:
Give 5 minutes for a task.
One reason you procrastinate is that you just can’t start working because you’re waiting for the right conditions. You don’t need one – you just need to start working. Spend 5 minutes working on a task as a start and you won’t even notice that you already spent an hour for it. There’s no turning back as you’ve made momentum… and boom! Job’s done!
Stop saying YES to everything.
When you look at your list of tasks, you think that they’re too many and overwhelming. Because you feel overwhelmed, your initial reaction is to avoid action – hence, you procrastinate. So, limit your tasks to a few things and pick the most important ones. Say no to additional tasks being handed over to you.
Establish tasks that are attainable – be a realist!
If the tasks aren’t too many but are too difficult to think about, they’re more likely to cause procrastination. Make sure to break the major task down into easier steps. When you write and establish tasks, don’t do it as if they were goals. Think of them as procedures.
Remember what your motivations are.
A lack of purpose is also a source of procrastination. Passion in working ensures continuity. Working for so long makes you forget what made you do what you’re doing in the first place. So, remember why you decided to be a solopreneur and what drove you to start a business.
Make it fun.
It’s easier to procrastinate if the work is boring. To avoid this, make the task playful and upbeat. Listen to music while working, turn it into a game, score and reward yourself for every victory. You just have to set your mind into thinking that what you’re doing is fun to avoid boredom.
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Use a time tracking software or timer.
A sense of time can induce pressure and eliminate procrastination. Use time a tracking software or use apps. There are a lot of software and apps you can find on the internet. There’s Harvest, Intervals, actiTIME, Clockify or you can use your good device’s built-in timer.
Don’t be a perfectionist.
Procrastination can stem from perfectionism. Unmet conditions or a foul mood will be used as an excuse to postpone tasks. To make sure this doesn’t happen, find a way to start working ASAP instead of finding a reason not to.
Adopt a growth mindset.
If you don’t possess the mindset for progress and growth, then you’re very likely to not achieve progress and growth. If you often hang around slackers, then you’re going to be one. To avoid procrastination, treat it as if it’s evil and avoid people who are procrastinators.
Procrastination is hard to avoid because it’s comforting. But that comfort is merely an illusion. To grow, achieve success and be happy in life, procrastination has to be controlled and kept at a minimum. The best way to do this to just start working, manage your time and tasks properly, and give your heart in performing tasks to get the work done.
