Do you tend to put things off until the last minute? Here are 3 manageable tips on productivity improvement. This will help you stop procrastinating and become successful as a virtual assistant or in your own creative field
Let’s face it – running a business is hard. Starting a business is even harder. You feel like you have all the momentum in the beginning but then you run into a snag or a roadblock and it seems like everything comes to a crashing hault.
I’m not sure about you but when things get overwhelming for me, it is sometimes way easier for me to just procrastinate and put it off instead of powering through with my big girl underwear on. Maybe that’s just my nature and you’re some super human who can just keep going and if that’s the case, lemme slide in your DMs with my address and you come help a sista out over here.
Regardless, I have come up against some rough patches with starting my own home renovation website and even this one. I know once I get past the blocks, there’s a lot of joy and fun to be had! I love what I get to do! So, I’ve come up with several ways to have some productivity improvement and see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m sharing them with you today to hopefully you help break the habit of procrastination.
Business Productivity Improvement Ideas
1. Plan
I know that planning in and of itself may seem like a daunting task, but I can promise you it can really help with the procrastination. I tend to procrastinate most when I don’t have a “plan” because my brain just gets on rabbit trails of what if I did this or that or wait is that a rabbit? Let’s chase him down this hole! Hole. Donut holes. Yum. I’m hungry. What’s for lunch?
See?
Kinda like that.
If you have a semblance of a plan in front of you – whether that’s a daily, weekly, or monthly planner, it may be easier for you to overcome your own procrastination.
(Pssst. I’ve actually created a super helpful resource for you that you can have for free if you’re bad at planning! I’ve made a printable for you that has daily, weekly, and monthly pages for you to use, depending on how you like to work! Just tell me where to send it!)
2. Know yourself
We are our own worst critics most of the time. I know I’m mine for sure. I have learned over my years of a pretty rough childhood and unconventional adulthood what my triggers are, how I respond to hard things, and what I do in the face of adversity.
So, because of that, I can set myself up to win. And you can too!
Here are some questions to help you decide what’s distracting and how to stop procrastinating:
What distracts you?
If it’s the internet, then keep your computer in airplane mode. I do this a lot because a bulk of what I do (designing/writing) can be done offline with docs or Photoshop.
What triggers your procrastination?
Your work environment? Clean out the clutter in your work space or go to a spot where you feel calm or can focus just on your tasks at hand.
Overwhelmed with not knowing where to start? Make a list of 3 things you can do today.
Being afraid to fail? Your biggest fail will be not trying at all so it’s okay! I promise you that I have failed a lot and I’ve kept on going!
Find some cheerleaders for you and your business and if you don’t have any yet because nobody knows this is a brain child or dream of yours, HIT ME UP! I would love to help encourage you and cheer you on! It’s seriously why I started this whole thing.
Give yourself grace
One of the biggest hinderances in my own habit of procrastinating is kicking myself for all the things I “could have done if I just hadn’t wasted all that time.” Which, ironically, wastes even more time.
Just say bye, forgive yourself and move on! I know it’s way easier said than done (coming from experience) but it’s insanely illogical to procrastinate because you’re thinking about all the other times you procrastinated when you shouldn’t have been procrastinating, am I right?!
Now, I realize that for some of you, reading this post was counterproductive because your way of procrastinating is reading other people’s opinions on how to stop procrastinating. Get off the internet and get to it! If nobody else tells you, I believe in you!
Go make some magic!
