Strange Times We Are Living In

“Since social distancing, what new habits have you formed?”

— Kylie Ignace

If you are not one of the essential works that are braving the front lines (A BIG ‘THANK YOU’ TO ESSENTIAL WORKERS), you have been gifted a lot of time!
Time that we could normally fill with habits of going out (whether it be to a gym, studio, mall, movie theater, bar, etc) is now being filled with new habits at home.
It is likely that you have been home for roughly 3 weeks and I want you to ask yourself “ since social distancing, what new habits have you formed?”.

Get honest on how you’ve been filling your time. What good habits have you created? What not so good habits have you created? (honesty, my bad habit has been ‘Tiger King’, curse you, Carol, you are the worst! )

When we get honest, we then have the capacity to shift.

Truth Hurts

When I got honest, I knew I needed to deep clean…. My closet was busting at the seams. My bedside table looked like a small quake hit it.

As I was going through my bookshelf, I found ‘the list’. In 2018 I wrote a list of everything I started and hadn’t finished. Why? I don’t remember, but I’m glad I did…. This list consisted of:

Books I started and didn’t finish
Paintings I half-assed
Learn a language
Certifications
Countless Projects
Half Completed Ideas
THE LIST WAS TWO PAGES!

As I read through the list, I could see where I hadn’t put my energy in 2 years.

I could honestly check off 50% of the things that ‘needed completing’. And that 50% felt GOOD! The other 50%, not so good. Why did I stop finishing projects?

Why We Procrastinate

Scientists believe that we procrastinate for 2 reasons.

We are overwhelmed
We are underwhelmed

But when we procrastinate, we are literally allowing our energy to come to a halt or worse, move backward.

Underwhelmed

Being too underwhelmed to complete a project can look like:

‘I’m not in the mood’
Lack of motivation
Waiting until the last minute.

Overwhelmed

Being too overwhelmed to complete a project can look like :

‘I’m not sure how to do it’
‘It will be hard’
‘I don’t know the first step to take’

If you’re overwhelmed…

If you’re putting off a project because of overwhelm, you need to break the project down into manageable tasks that your brain can understand. This tip was gifted to me and was a game-changer! I hope it helps you too!

Get 3 colors of Post Its notes and on the first one color of Post its, write the project you are overwhelmed with…
On the second color of Post its begin to write all the things you need to know or learn to complete the project
On the third color of Post Its write all the known steps that need to be done for you to achieve the goal on the first Post It.
Start to organize it in a pyramid. This will allow you to break down what needs to be done and when!
Once you have learned what needs learned OR done what needs to be done, you get to pull off a post-it and crumble it up. IT FEEL AMAZING!

Underwhelm

Challenge yourself to make the underwhelming task FUN.

I have found two ways to make tasks fun.

Combine the boring task with something that’s awesome. Examples: laundry and podcasts… Dishes and dancing…
Race yourself.
Do you remember when you were a little kid and you would ask your parent/guardian to time you when you would race somewhere…. Do that in ‘adult form’! Estimate how long the underwhelming task will take and try to shave off time.

I Challenge You

Write the list of what you’ve been putting off. Then, get honest as to why you didn’t complete the tasks. If that task is something that you lost interest in and it doesn’t improve your life in ANY WAY, release it.

But if the task is something that WILL improve your life. Challenge yourself to take this time and DO IT!

We have been gifted this time. Tie off loose ends…. Complete what needs to be done. Get your energy moving forward. Wash your hands. When we get to the other side of COVID-19, our future self will thank you.

If you have tips and tricks to bust through procrastination, share them!

Resources: Book “Finish” by Jon Acuff

If you want to hear more, listen to the newest podcast on procrastination!

Listen now