How do you overcome procrastination?
Everyone procrastinates.
I consider myself a very productive person and STILL find myself putting off important things here and there.
(Moreso when I’m trying something new or feeling imposter syndrome, but that’s a topic for a different day.)
IMO, what separates the truly productive from the unproductive is the ability to finish the most important things on your list... with high quality, and on time. For entrepreneurs (and everyone else!), figuring out how to optimize your productivity levels is one of the keys to success.
Here are the two main strategies that I use to overcome procrastination:
Get a system
Five years into using it, I’m still obsessed with a handy little app called Todoist. I’ve been promoting this app since 2016 with no affiliate deal… that's how awesome it is.
Todoist is exactly what it sounds like—a to-do list app—that allows you to flag items by priority, attach documents and comments, share projects with others if desired (I don’t), and a lot more.
Here’s how I use it:
If a task takes less than five minutes, do it immediately.
If it takes more than five minutes, it goes in Todoist.
I set myself multiple reminders as soon as I take on a new project. If I have weeks to accomplish a task, I set a recurring reminder once or twice a week to force myself to check in. If I have two days to finish a project, I start it that day and put it on my list every day until it’s due.
Within Todoist, I use Andy Frisella’s Power List. My daily Todoist consists of only five critical tasks that I do every day (including my workout!). Yes, I only allow myself to prioritize four business items plus a workout every day.
🤯
How would you prioritize if you could only complete a few critical tasks a day? It completely changed the way I used to look at my to do list.
This strategy also allows me to complete my list almost every day, and dang does that feel good! Gone are the days of pushing back unfinished tasks day after day after day.
As always, when implementing a new system, it’s important to go ALL OUT—this is in caps, bolded and underlined because I *really* mean it. Everything you have to do goes into your system. Use your system to the fullest extent or you’ll eventually abandon it.
Remove distractions
For many, including me, this is difficult. Maybe you work from home now. The laundry is piling up. The kids are screaming. Your dog wants you to take him out every six minutes.
Sound familiar?
Try switching up your schedule: wake up 15 minutes earlier for a week, then 15 minutes earlier than that the next week. Eventually, you might find that those silent morning hours are your most productive.
(This is how my husband gets 2 hours of silent, focused work done every morning. Alone. I’m jealous, but not jealous enough to join the 5 a.m. club.)
What works for me is to build in my distracted time. It sounds weird, but hear me out.
I wake up in the morning and immediately do two things: journal, and whatever one most important task I’ve decided must be done first. Then I mix up my healthy-but-super-nasty-tasting pre-workout drink and work out, with some dawdling time built in. Then I complete focused work for another 1.5-2 hours, eat lunch (scroll the socials) and take all my meetings in the afternoon.
Listen: if you’re not a morning person, you don’t have to be. If you’re easily distracted, use a timer and give yourself 25 minutes to work then 5 minutes to screw around. Then repeat.
If you have small distractions in your home (read: kids), set boundaries and stick to them. My 10-year-old son knows that if he walks into my office when the doors are closed, he loses his screen time that day. It’s the only thing that stops him from talking to me about superheroes and video games every 5 minutes. That may sound like an exaggeration… it’s not.
In parting
I think the most important thing is to figure out what works for you. You don’t have to use my system, but you have to use a system.
And don’t allow yourself to use chores or little piddly tasks as a distraction from what you really need to get done.
Remember: everyone has the same amount of time in a day.
What you choose to do with your time will define nearly everything in your life. Choose wisely.