The Best Way to Overcome Procrastination and Get Things Done

Procrastination. This word alone.

I have days where I master it. These things that need to get done. They stare at me – from my computer, my to-do piece of paper, my calendar. And, the worst, they’re spinning around in my head. I know I need to just do them. I know that it will feel so much better when they’re done.

Yet, I can’t seem to start.

Until I’m really annoyed, more by myself than by those things.

I know I’m not alone. The fact that even the most productive people have to deal with it, is a crumb of comfort.

That’s why I want to share the most common reasons why we do it – and my number one tool that helps me to get out of the procrastination loop.

Why do we procrastinate?

So, how do you do those things that feel so huge and maybe scary, when they feel so, well… huge and scary?

Over the last months, I worked on quite a few changes on my business. I thought a lot, and I wrote a lot. Everywhere on my desk and floor were papers with tables, outlines, process visualizations, and drafts. In theory, everything took form.

The day came when I knew it was time to put things into practice. To schedule the next masterclass, invite people, post about it, start writing the presentation, send out a newsletter, draft the next article about the planned topics.

I really loved what I had planned out, and I knew that the content I want to share was practical, easy to implement, and going to save hours (or months!) of people’s time in building up their businesses.

And then “decision paralysis” hit.

Suddenly felt as if I want to share so many things that I got into something we can call “decision paralysis”. I simply couldn’t decide on where to start, what to offer first, how to begin – in short, I got into freezing mode, not doing anything.

I bet you know this feeling – and there’s no-one to pull us out of this slump. As solopreneurs, nobody holds us accountable except ourselves, and it’s all on us to actually get things done.

The simple act of sitting down to make a decision and start doing the work can be challenging.

Even if I get better at it, I procrastinate. A lot.

Sound familiar?

Anytime there is something we want to do for our business that feels big and scary, it’s SO easy to get overwhelmed by the whole thing and just NOT do it.

So, this time for me it was going out with something new. Sharing what I had worked on. Offering something of value to my people. Writing it down here now, it sounds so simple, almost ridiculous – just do it!

The good news: we’re not alone.

I see it all around me, from clients who are new to business to peers and colleagues who are in business since a decade, and everyone in-between. Literally all of us face it again and again, and we all have to find a way to deal with it.

It probably hits you when:

• starting something new like creating a new offer or even realigning our business;
• deciding on your niche;
• making your website;
• writing sales copy;
• emailing potential customers (big one!);
• or any other of the thousand things you need to do when you’re building your business, trying to sign up your first or next clients.

It’s such an interesting thing. When we think of those things, they feel so BIG. They can feel like overwhelmingly large tasks that are going to take a lot of time and efforts… so we just don’t want to do them.

But…

Thanks to Newton we know that an object at rest stays at rest. An object in motion stays in motion. And there are ways to get back into motion.

 

My most effective practical step to overcome procrastination

Of course I could talk about all the productivity hacks I’ve tried. And what works for me doesn’t necessarily have to work for you.

But here’s the one thing that helps me get over this hump of procrastination so that I actually start doing the work.

It sounds almost too simple: Breaking it down into the tiniest possible action. And then doing just that ONE thing.

What always happens to me when I do that ONE thing, is that I start to realize that the whole idea of the thing I had to do was actually way more overwhelming than actually just sitting down and doing the thing.

• So for example, when I create a new program or course, it feels like a big job. But once I sit down and write even just a list of topics I want to cover, it starts to feel way more doable. In fact, it often makes me laugh (and cry at the same time) about how long I put it off.
• Same goes for creating content. I had put off starting a blog site and writing articles for months (if not years!). But then once I sat down and wrote an outline for the first three articles and scheduled the writing time, I felt relieved and energised to jump in and start scribbling it down.

 

The IDEA of something is usually way harder than the DOING of the thing.

This is why I always get into action as soon as possible when procrastination hits. Everything becomes less overwhelming once you actually START.

The best thing you can do if you’re suffering from procrastination, is to look at the thing you need to do, and break it down into the tiniest possible steps. If you were to start doing it, what would be the smallest first thing you would need to do?

Then just get this tiny little thing DONE. Don’t make any commitment to yourself beyond that. Do this one thing and see what happens.

I can almost guarantee that once you start, you’ll become an object in motion and the thing you need to do will get done… finally!