Procrastination can be a big problem when you’re an entrepreneur. If a deadline is two days away, you feel like you’ve got an extra day where you can take it easy. Motivation to work suddenly disappears. If a deadline is two weeks away, you might just decide to turn off your alarm, roll over, and catch a few extra zzz’s before strolling into the office after lunch.
Procrastination can quickly put even great entrepreneurial ideas out of business. When no one tells you how to work, what to do, or why you should be working, there will be days when you’ll want to get up, shrug your shoulders, and let the world pass you by for awhile. Your emotional fuel has run out.
You can fight procrastination. You must if you want to find success. These are the proven ways you can do it.
1. Be Clear About Your Purpose.
There is a specific reason why you’re an entrepreneur. Each person has their own reasons, so what makes you be “you” is one of your greatest attributes. It also means your success is based on your own time investment. We all need time off to prevent becoming burnt out, but when you are clear about your purpose and have a well-defined plan of action to follow, procrastination seems harder than actually doing what needs to be done.
2. Get Energy From Other Sources.
If you don’t feel so great when you wake up, look for outside sources of motivation. Start your day off with content from a preferred motivational speaker. Have a conversation with your spouse, significant other, or even your kids. Read a few pages from a book that inspired you to follow this dream in the first place. These are all energy sources that can help you stop procrastinating immediately.
3. Step Outside Of Your Box.
Even if your “comfort zone” is rather large, the adrenaline rush that comes from stepping outside of this box can be quite energizing. You don’t know what’s going to happen and that is a thrilling experience. Go find something you’ve always wanted to do, but have never done. Follow an idea that seems so crazy that it just might work. Not every idea that is outside of your comfort zone is going to pay dividends, but you will gain more experiences that will help you fight future procrastination temptations.
4. Offer Your Motivation To Others.
Sometimes the easiest way to overcome procrastination is to help others overcome it first. Motivate your partners, aides, or co-workers to do something great. Push people to do something today that they’d rather wait to do until tomorrow. As you motivate others, you’ll discover that you’re also motivating yourself to do something amazing today as well. With everyone motivated, there’s no telling what you could accomplish in a single work day.
5. Dedicate Time To Doing Only One Thing.
The average person sitting at their computer has 6 tabs up on their internet browser at any given time. That’s 6 different distractions that can pull them away from the work which needs to get done. Now add in the smartphone, the social networking notifications, emails, phone calls, and everything else that entrepreneurs juggle every day and it becomes easy to see why procrastination is a temptation. Set aside time to quiet all of those distractions so you can just work. Make this your protected time. You’ll be amazed at how much you can get done in just an hour.
6. Start With The Toughest Task.
It feels good to bust through some easy chores at the start of the day. You feel like you’ve accomplished a lot. After lunch, however, your energy reserves have lowered and now you’ve got a tough task ahead of you. This is where procrastination rears its ugly head. Do the toughest jobs when you have the most energy and the easiest jobs when you have the least energy. This will help to keep you motivated throughout the day.
7. Settle Into a Routine.
Have you ever rushed out the door without brushing your teeth? Or eating what you like to have for breakfast? We use routines to define ourselves. If we don’t follow that routine, then we become less productive because the day doesn’t feel “right.” Create routines as often as you can so that you establish good working habits… but don’t be afraid to switch up those routines from time to time to avoid procrastination as well.
Procrastination can provide a welcome relief to a schedule which is packed full of responsibilities. It can also be what drives an entrepreneur toward failure instead of success. Include these tips with your daily efforts to create something amazing and you might just find your productivity levels will begin to rise.
Strong proponent of individual liberty and free speech. My goal is to present information that expands our awareness of crucial issues and exposes the manufactured illusion of freedom that we are sold in America. Question everything because nothing is what it seems.
