13 Ways to Get Unstuck, You Procrastinating B*stard, You

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Are You THAT Hard on Yourself When You’re Procrastinating?

I’m sorry I called you a name in the title to get your attention.

Of course you are not a b*stard. I hope you don’t think that’s true.

It’s easy to beat ourselves up about things, though, right?

For me, I’m hard on myself when I’m procrastinating.

I can feel myself procrastinate when watching the hubs fix his glasses.

Or when I click on the ad titled “Man Bites Alligator, Now they’re Best Friends!”

Sometimes I don’t notice I’m procrastinating.

I’ll put away a few bowls, reply to a text, fold some underwear, and dive into a black-hole of over-researching.

I “look” like I’m busy, but I’m not focused on what is most important, like exercising, writing, or counting stars with my guy.

Procrastination sneaks in.

I used to get irritated with myself when this happened too often, which would lead to a spiral of depression.

I’d shut down for the rest of the day or the rest of the week (eek!) and do nothing but eat lots of junk food and beat myself up, and still not get a damn thing done.

Ahhh…it was glorious! And it was painful.

I have better things to do than eat lucky charms than eat Lucky Charms Cereal

It CAN be (secret) fun to say f*ck it, binge watch The Great British Baking Show and eat five bowls of Lucky Charms. (1)

See what that got me? Lots of time connecting with myself.

But it was also a reason to hate myself. That’s the painful part.

But not anymore! Nope! Not for me!

I’ve been practicing these fixes.

Procrastination Fix #1: Are You Hyper-Vigilant During Transitions?

I notice I lose time when I’m in-between two focused tasks on my to-do list.

Imagine my to-do list looks something like this: 60 mins write, 30 minutes exercise, 30 minutes crime fighting etc…

Why can it sometimes take two hours getting from “60 minutes of writing” to “30 minutes of exercise”?

Why? Am I on the slippery slope of spending hours researching the sex life of fungus? (2)

Now I try to stay the most present when I’m in-between tasks on my to do list.

I give myself a couple of quick things to deal with (like put in a load of laundry, or return a phone call). Then I jump back onto the next item on my to-do list, pronto!

Procrastination Fix #2: Have You Evaluated Your To-Do List?

Believe it or not, we all have things on our to-do list that don’t need to be there.

Ask yourself if there are any other solutions that would make the next task (or tasks) irrelevant.

This can be a satisfying way to eliminate tasks you don’t feel like doing. Tasks you’d likely start procrastinating on.

Procrastination Fix #3: Are You Genuinely Tired?

A lot of procrastination is a matter of the ol’ will-power tank running low.

You may need a break to energize or rest. That means taking a break from your procrastination activity.

A fast-paced walk around the block, or a regenerative power-nap helps break the cycle. It will refill your will-power tank way more effectively than watching a rerun of The Big Bang Theory. (3)

Strap on your walking shoes and get the hell out of dodge…or at least out of your house.

Generally the walk works better than the nap, but sometimes you need more sleep!

You have my permission to take a guilt-free nap if the walk doesn’t work.

By the way, if you notice you feel down when you’re waking up, you should read my post where I talk about the hormone cortisol and why you don’t need to take it too seriously. (4)

Procrastination Fix #4: Are You Timing The Hard Stuff?

When faced with a task that is hard, engage with it at a time of day when you are at your highest energy level.

I’m a morning girl, so I aim to get the hardest or yuckiest things done right away.

It feels good to get it done when I’m energized to tackle it.

Procrastination Fix #5: Is The Task Too Big?

Break the task into smaller chunks.

It’s the old idea of “How do you eat a whale? One bite at a time, and with a 40 gallons of tarter sauce.” (5)(6)

Can you break something down into micro-steps and spread out the joy of checking things off your list?

Each step will make you feel closer to your goal which could get you excited to get it done.

Procrastination Fix #6: Is It Time to Get Brave?

Frustrated or bored? Put on a superhero persona and keep pushing forward!

I know this sounds silly, but often role playing actually works.

Pretend you are someone else. That someone else is someone who is not a procrastinator. They are a doer!

Batman never says “I’ll deal with The Joker later. I think I’ll clean-out my email box first!”

If not a superhero, then choose someone you admire.

Ask yourself “What would Elon Musk, (Or Oprah or My Next Door Neighbor, Joe) do in this situation?” (7)(8)

Procrastination Fix # 7: Do You Have Emotional Support?

Ask around for a cheerleader.

Make sure it’s one of those amazing people who love to be supportive and are not going to be critical or shame you.

Tell them you’d like to share all you’ve accomplished that day and tell them you’d love to hear them say “Awesome! Keep going!”

But Michelle, I don’t know anyone who could be my cheerleader.

Sure you do! ME!

I am your cheerleader! Here is a cheer for you:

“Rah, Rah Reeeeeh, Kick ‘em in the Knee! Rah Rah Rasssss, Kick’em in the Other Knee!”

Procrastination Fix #8: Do You Have Physical Help?

You may be procrastinating because what you should be doing is boring, or hard, or outside of your wheelhouse.

You can get help.

I’m talking about asking friends for help. Offer to help them with something you enjoy doing. It’s called trading skills.

Or hire someone to help you.

I pay for help just to get me to the next step, which I HATE doing because I’m a cheapskate…ahem, frugal.

But if I weigh paying someone to help me vs. taking too much of my own VALUABLE time to get it done, I’ll pay.

When I say physical help, I’m talking about anything from accounting to building a shed. Whatever can be done by another person.

Pay someone to do it if you can afford it, especially if you don’t enjoy doing it. Just get it off your list.

Okay, take a deep breath while I take a swallow of coffee.

I’m back. Let’s continue….

Before we move forward, let’s talk about frustration a little more.

Frustration is usually a mask for fear. When I feel frustration, I know that some part of me is temporarily fearful I’ll never figure it out.

Person feels like hiding to avoid responsibilities

Procrastination Fix #9: Are You Afraid?

Ask yourself if something about this project is scaring you.

Sometimes you get useful information about yourself when you learn about your fears.

If something is scaring the pants off me (which my husband is okay with…heh), I’ve discovered it’s usually a case of perfectionism.

If you too are a perfectionist, consider doing a half-assed job and being satisfied with that, especially if you’re a beginner. Beginning badly is better than never getting started, and you’ll learn from your mistakes.

So make lots of mistakes!

It’s okay, I give you permission, from one perfectionist to another.

Procrastination Fix #10: Is This a Case Of Imposter Syndrome?

Sometimes a dream or goal feels out of reach. It’s feels a little too pie-in-the-sky. A little too hard. You secretly suspect no one will take you seriously.

I’m talking about challenges like, starting your own business. Or writing a book. Or going on tour with your band. Or knitting a sweater for the statue of liberty. (9)

You can feel confident at one point, and then doubt starts to creep in.

In case no one ever told you: Everyone feels like they are faking it when starting out.

EVERYONE.

Some even feel like they are faking it years after becoming successful.

The one’s who are moving forward are the ones who tell themselves “Scr*w it, I’m going to go for it” and they do it anyway.

Do it anyway.

Procrastination Fix #11: Are You Worried Your Dreams Might Be Too Different?

This is related to the last fix.

Remind yourself that people in most societies LIKE others who are bold and take chances.

Be willing to be unique, weird, odd, and different.

In a world of cats and dogs, I’m giving you permission to be an aardvark.

Don’t worry, lot’s of people will love you for being different.

Those who don’t will go on living their own lives. No need to please everyone.

In fact, the most successful people don’t please everyone.

Don’t be vanilla.

Aardvark and cat stuffed animals are friends

Procrastination Fix #12: Are You Lonely?

You’ve been working for days and haven’t had any social time with your dog, your spouse, or your best friend.

No wonder you’re slowing down! You need to recharge. You need some social time.

Ask a nearby friend on an afternoon hike. Or call yer momma and chat while sweeping the floor. Or take a moment to brush your dog.

Once emotionally refreshed, I get back to it.

You don’t have time you say?

Nonsense. You will spend more time procrastinating because of your loneliness than you will spending 30 minutes to two hours socializing.

Procrastination Fix #13: Are You Bored?

This happens sometimes. Especially if you’ve been productive for several days in a row.

Sometimes you need to push through boring. Remember, the most successful people have learned how to tolerate boredom.

But it can get boring if all of your days start looking the same.

So if you find yourself procrastinating in a big way, and none of the other fixes are working, then you’ll need to switch gears. You’ll need to be okay with not working on your highest priority.

The master life coach, Tony Robbins says that everyone has the need for change at some point.

Soooo…this is MY BIG SECRET to changing it up, staying happy, and still getting things off my list.

Being a list maker, I have master list of “things to do.” I weight that list according to which items offer most impact.

Highest impact items with high priority goes at the top. Lower priority items end up towards the bottom.

For example, my list might look like this (my real one is LONGER by about 43 feet):

- Create A blog Post
- Work On Marketing
- Get The Car Fixed
- Pay Bills
- Organize My Closet
- Replant Seedlings
- Find An Airbnb For Our Vacation
- Grow Webbed Feet Like Aqua-Man

Usually I do the first thing on the list.

But what if I just can’t get myself to do it? What if I’ve tried all the fixes and I’m still procrastinating?

Then I ask myself “What would I actually be willing to do on this list?

Or “What actually sounds like fun on my list?”

When I see a couple of items that feel fun, light and or easy to me. I do those.

And I feel great. No more boredom.

Plus I’m happy getting something on my list!

It’s better than procrastinating by organizing the magnets on my refrigerator. And more satisfying than going down a Youtube rabbit-hole called “New Evidence of Bigfoot.”

This is a cousin idea to another anti-procrastination post you can read when you’re done with this one. (10)

BONUS FIX: Do You Need Some TLC?

If all else fails, it might be time to take a break from “doing.”

TLC stands for tender loving care. You may need some.

Treat yourself nice in some way that is GOOD for you, like giving yourself a foot massage, taking a walk in a garden, or boinking yourself. What? You know what I mean.

Be careful; some TLC activities are not really TLC, like over-eating, over-spending, over-facebooking and over-self-boinking.

Do something that feels authentic and be thoughtful about it.

You’ll know it in your gut, so remember to check in with yourself. If you’re not used to listening to your gut, read my post on intuition. (11)

But Michelle, what if I never get back to that thing I’m procrastinating on?

You will. Or you won’t. But I bet you will. Eventually.

I have faith we’ll both always get back to what’s important to us. You have faith too, okay? Trust and don’t stress.

Live Juicy, Joybird!