Six strategies to go beyond procrastination Tutorial

Struggling with procrastination? Discover six powerful strategies to break free and boost your productivity in 'Six Strategies to Go Beyond Procrastination.' From owning your choices to diving into action, these tips will help you conquer delays and enhance your personal and professional effectiveness. Don't let procrastination hold you back—watch now to reclaim your time!

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not because we lack time,

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but because we fill our days with other tasks.

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If these procrastinated actions are really important,

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then day after day they'll come knocking on our door.

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You have to call your banker,

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you have to reformat your CV.

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After having understood the reasons we procrastinate these specific tasks,

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here's the 6 strategies to face them.

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I will start from the bottom of the list

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so we can challenge preconceived ideas a little bit.

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Strategy one,

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owning it.

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Own your procrastination,

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especially that you now understand

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that many good

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and not so good reasons are justifying your procrastination.

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Don't feel guilty.

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Don't beat yourself up.

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It is not by self-flagellating that you will grow

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the wings that are missing to get into action,

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unless you want to become a slave moving forward by receiving whiplashes.

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Maybe you can even trust your procrastination.

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95% of the time when a task has been on my to do list for more than a month,

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I choose to remove it.

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It was not that important or maybe it wasn't the right moment.

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I trust myself,

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and I know that at the right moment my wings will be ready to fly.

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Or even better,

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and this happens to me quite often,

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sometimes things come to you

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on a silver platter.

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I procrastinated the commercial aspect.

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Clients came to me.

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I procrastinated going house hunting,

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and the ideal house came to me.

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My mind may tell me it's now you must act,

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but a wisdom within me tells me,

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no,

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not like that,

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or no,

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not now.

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In the world of procrastination,

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there are also some adepts of last minute work.

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Those who like,

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even if they deny it,

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to speed up and do everything on the tightrope when

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a time is short and the deadline is coming up.

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Why not?

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It could be a strategy if it works for you.

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Owning it

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is finally telling yourself,

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if I'm not performing this task,

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it's because I have something else to do.

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Actually I'm not procrastinating.

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I'm making a choice,

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the choice to do such or such a task today.

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You are thus replacing I should do this with I am choosing to do that.

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Strategy 2,

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get it done.

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If you feel that the action in question,

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the one you're procrastinating,

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is really necessary,

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perhaps the solution is to delegate,

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to have it done.

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Delegate or at least distribute

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the house chores to the rest of the family.

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Delegate the administrative tasks to a freelancer.

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Delegate the digital marketing to an agency.

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Exchange some tasks with your colleagues for more diversity.

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I know a manager who completely reorganised the work of his team of 5 people

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according to the motivation of each one.

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He rearranged the task sheets so that everyone had

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at least 90% of the tasks they like.

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This created an incredible dynamic in the team and

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decomportmentalised all the work for much more collaboration.

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And sometimes

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the procrastination strategy can push those around us who are more motivated

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to do things for us.

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You don't take out the garbage and someone else ends up doing it instead.

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You don't call the tech guy to fix the printer and someone else ends up doing it.

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Is this a manipulation game?

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It's up to you to be your own judge.

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Strategy 3.

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Re-enchanting

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procrastination is often linked to a lack of interest,

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boredom,

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even weariness.

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Is it time to change projects?

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Change jobs?

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Maybe.

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Discuss the matter with your superior.

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Tell them how you feel and the reasons behind your lack of motivation.

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Check if you can reorganise your work,

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or you can share or diversify your projects.

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Ask for feedback.

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Sometimes the loss of motivation is related to the

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fact that no one tells us if it's good,

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if it serves a purpose,

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if it can be improved.

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A little interest from your entourage would be

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enough to give you back some motivation.

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Give meaning to your tasks.

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For whom or for what purpose are you performing this action?

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How does it benefit you?

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How does it benefit the company?

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Are there tasks that are not or no longer relevant and could be eliminated?

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This is often the case with reporting tables that could be deleted

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or simplified.

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Ask for a wider margin of freedom and or more autonomy on a project.

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This is how you could sometimes regain the motivation you were lacking

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then.

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Reward yourself when we procrastinate,

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we tend to fall back on tasks that grant us instant satisfaction,

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quick and pleasant tasks.

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Grant yourself this satisfaction after tedious tasks.

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Award yourself regularly for making progress

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on the tasks you were procrastinating.

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You did your accounting for 15 minutes.

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Pat yourself on the back.

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Get yourself a pastry.

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You updated your CV.

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Get a massage.

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You've finished your project,

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treat yourself to an evening without the kids.

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Strategy 4,

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cutting down on distractions.

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We procrastinate because we always find something else to do.

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These other things,

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what are they,

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playing video games,

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your colleagues' emergencies,

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a client's need.

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Some reasons,

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some actions are more facades concealing

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the real reasons you're procrastinating.

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Can you at least step back for a while from these distractions,

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turn off your smartphone and put it away,

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disable the Wi Fi on your laptop,

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isolate yourself in an office with no one else around.

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Idris Abikain mentions the barrier to entry and barrier to exit of an activity.

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The more passionate you are,

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the lower the barrier to entry of an activity.

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It doesn't take much for you to get started.

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The doors are wide open.

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You are inspired,

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captivated.

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If sailing really motivates you,

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you'll go out to sea,

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even in grey weather.

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If reading inspires you,

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you'll read even in the subway.

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The barrier to entry is low.

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If the barrier to exit of your activity is high,

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it is hard for you to get out of it.

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You'll miss your metro stop

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because you are so immersed

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in your book,

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you'll stop answering phone calls to finish your file.

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On the contrary,

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a task that you tend to procrastinate usually has

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a high barrier of entry.

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You always find a good reason not to get started.

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A low barrier to exit,

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you are easily distracted and tend to quickly give up the task.

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Now that you're aware of the barriers to entry and exit of your activity,

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it's up to you.

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Lower your barrier to entry by making the tasks more attractive.

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This is what we've seen previously,

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and pull up your barriers to exit

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to avoid getting distracted.

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For example,

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by staying away from certain games,

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turning off the notifications on your phone,

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or isolating yourself,

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strategy 5,

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facilitating action,

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cerebral perfectionists procrastinate the most.

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Often they have not yet conceptualised what they want to

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do in their heads and how to achieve the result,

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so they keep thinking about it or doing research without taking action.

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They say

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I don't really know what I want

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or

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I still haven't established the exact action strategy,

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or

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I need more information to make a decision.

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These cerebral perfectionists

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have to give up this need

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to conceptualise

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beforehand,

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a clear structure of action plan and its outcome.

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It is by getting started that you pave the way.

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God,

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it's agony for them

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starting a project

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before it's perfectly outlined without a clear idea on the expected outcome.

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It's a leap of faith.

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If the project is important to them,

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I invite them to give themselves a deadline,

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say,

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on this date,

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I have to turn in the first action.

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Sometimes cerebral perfectionists have a very precise,

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unrealistic even idea about how perfect they want their project to be.

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And it appears like a mountain to them.

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There's only one solution.

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Cut the elephant into pieces and eat it slowly.

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Give yourself no more than 3 or 4 tasks a day.

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Focus on the way up,

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not on the top of the mountain.

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Strategy 6 dive in.

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If you've been following all the previous strategies and yet

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that task is still on your to do list,

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then you need one last push.

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Set an appointment with yourself and dive into the action.

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Make a 10 minute commitment.

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Jump over the barrier to entry and perhaps you'll

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find yourself still working on it an hour later.

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Just start it,

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initiate the action and see what happens.

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Some will tell you to start early in the morning,

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that it should be your first action so that no other

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low barrier task overshadows your 10 minute commitment to it.

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Others will tell you to start with quick and annoying tasks

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that will allow your engine to start up.

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Here's another way to dive into the action.

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Mel Robbins is the author of The Five Second Rule.

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She came out of her depression

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thanks to this 5 2nd rule,

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54321.

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It's how she got out of bed,

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54321.

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It's how she pushes herself to do actions she finds challenging.

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54321.

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I call my client,

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54321.

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I set an appointment with my bank.

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Why 5 seconds?

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Because we all have a 5 2nd window

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before our mind intervenes and drags us towards other actions.

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What if I watched TV instead?

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I get to work,

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sit at my desk,

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54321,

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and open my spreadsheet.

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Before my mind

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gets the time to tell me

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I'm tired,

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let's get some coffee,

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or what if I checked my emails?

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54321,

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I pick up my phone before my mind has the time to tell me that

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it's not the right time or that the client will hang up on me.

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Bypassing the suggestions of our procrastinating side or taking it by surprise.

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When it will eventually show up to suggest other activities,

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it's already too late,

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you already take an action.

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And according to Mel Robbins,

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your window is 5 seconds long before a mental aspect

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comes to discourage you to take action by suggesting another.

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54321.

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No time to give in to the sirens,

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no time to ask too many questions that delay the action.

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There are certain decisions that we procrastinate for lack

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of certainty and because we don't feel ready.

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You will never be ready to start a business,

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but you can still set an appointment with an entrepreneurship agency

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that can help you to set up your own company.

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If these 6 strategies are not efficient enough for you,

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if procrastination has dramatic consequences on your life,

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get some help.

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Are you suffering from addiction?

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Are you exhausted?

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Has your life lost all meaning?

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Are you depressed?

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There are unconscious binds paralysing you.

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Your chronic procrastination is sending you an important message.

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In those extreme cases,

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get some help.

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For the others,

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small or average procrastinators,

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we've just seen the six strategies to face procrastination.

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Owning it,

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getting it done,

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re-enchanting,

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cutting down on distractions,

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facilitating action,

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and just diving into the action.

Mandarine AI: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW