Today you’re going to learn how to stop procrastinating and start working on your business.
This is something that I picked up from Ray Edwards and it resonated with me because I had previously used a simular approach in overcoming procrastination.
But I’m also going to throw in my own stuff and kind of mix it up a bit with my own unique Profit Copilot twist.
We’ve all experienced procrastination, right?
It can have pretty bad consequences and make us feel really lousy and unproductive.
But it can also be a good thing – sometimes.
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When Is Procrastination A Good Thing?
Sometimes it’s a good indication that things just aren’t ready yet, and you need to spend a little bit more time in the thought process and the planning stage.
However, more often than not, procrastination is going to cause you problems and delay the growth of your business.
So I’m going to show you how you can fix that and get on with building your business today.
You see I know exactly what its like to feel procrastination.
I felt it for a long time before starting Profit Copilot.
My Battle With Procrastination
Even though I had my other Internet businesses up and running I actually waited for about seven years before I started this site.
And that’s because I kept telling myself that I wanted to make sure I did everything right.
I wanted to make sure that I was doing all the absolute ‘best practice’ stuff that we’re supposed to, and sharing only the stuff that works.
The truth is, there’s just as much to be learned from sharing what doesn’t work, if you can prevent someone from making the same mistake as you.
Another thing that held me back from staring was the fact that I didn’t really have the confidence in myself to share my knowledge.
So while it was always in the back of my mind, I procrastinated on it and didn’t move forward because I didn’t have the confidence in myself.
And I certainly didn’t have the confidence to make videos on a very regular basis.
Even hearing my own voice made me cringe.
And at the time my writing felt forced – and it wasn’t the kind of content that I wanted to create.
But it doesn’t stop with Profit Copilot, I’d found myself procrastinating with other projects too.
Maybe you’ve experienced this stuff too?
Sometimes it was due to fear of failure.
Occasionally my priorities were all wrong, or I was experiencing overwhelm – information overload and felt paralysed, frozen place and unsure what to do next.
Other times I’ve been stood still waiting for things to be perfect.
I’ve also gone through periods of distraction – once I spent about 3 months playing Battlefield on the Xbox, instead of working.
That came down to having no personal discipline at the time.
But if any of this stuff resonates with you then you’re in the right place because you’re gonna fix it today.
How To Stop Procrastinating
So let’s get down to it.
Here are the 6 ways that I’ve managed to overcome procrastination.
- Create individual steps
- Add to your calendar
- Prioritise each step
- Commit to your goals and values
- Remove distractions
- Outsource difficult tasks
Let’s go through these in more detail.
Create Individual Steps
The first thing that you need to do if you are feeling procrastination, is to break the big projects down into smaller tasks.
Then break each task down as small as you can, into individual steps.
Add To Your Calendar
Next put these steps on your calendar – this is really important, add them to a calendar that you can see everyday.
It can be on your computer or it can be on your wall, your phone, it doesn’t matter, just somewhere where you will see it every day.
Prioritise Each Step
Then I want you to prioritise each of those steps every single day.
So open up your calendar have a look at what needs to be done and think about the action that is going to be the most valuable to your business or increase the most revenue.
And then do those tasks in the order of priority that you’ve set.
For me it’s creating content.
That is the most important thing that I have to do, so I do it before anything else.
Commit To Your Success
Another way that I’ve learned to overcome procrastination is to only accept projects that fit with my long-term goals and values.
This makes sure you’re constantly working towards success.
So if it doesn’t feel right to you, if it doesn’t help move your business to where you want it to go, then refuse to get involved with that project.
You can always come back to it later on when the time is right.
Remove Distractions
One of the best ways to overcome procrastination is to remove distractions.
Stop checking your emails and stop checking your stats every hour, and stop hanging out on social media for a while.
All these things will just consume your energy and your time and your focus, so remove them or add them to the end of the day.
Outsource Difficult Tasks
The final tip I’ve got for you is to get help when you need it.
So reach out to someone that you know, a friend that might be able to help you, or even better; start outsourcing the stuff that you have trouble with.
When you start outsourcing tasks your business becomes freer – you become freer.
You free up your time and you free up your thoughts and energy.
Now you can spend that time and energy on the areas where you excel.
Shifting Your Mindset
Ultimately this really comes down to a shift in mindset.
A lot of people convince themselves that motivation is the problem. I used to, too.
But I have real problem with the word motivation.
People wait until they feel motivated before they take action.
How many times have you heard someone day “I just don’t feel motivated today”?
We all feel like that from time to time.
But here’s what I tell myself when I’m feeling like that.
You’ve heard me say this on Profit Copilot before and this is something that’s deeply personal to me.
I tell myself:
Motivation is not your friend.
Motivation gives you an excuse to fail, a reason to not even try.
It tells you “it’s okay, if you don’t feel like doing, don’t do it”.
This mindset, waiting for motivation, allows people to give up.
The answer is discipline.
Discipline doesn’t care about how you feel.
It doesn’t care if you want to do it or not.
Discipline grabs you by the scruff of the neck and it forces you to get up, and it forces you to do the work.
And even if it’s not your absolute best piece of work, it doesn’t matter – because at least you’ve done it.
Done is better than perfect.
So stop waiting to feel motivated, because who knows when that’s going to be?
Discipline will make sure that you get your work done, today.
And that is the kind of action that will build your business.
Final Thoughts
Taking small steps on a consistent basis leads to success.
Sure it’s going to take time and it’s going to take hard work.
But that’s the entire purpose of discipline.
Discipline is accessible to everybody, we’ve all got it within us to knuckle down and focus.
That means it’s accessible to you too.
So have a think about times you’ve overcome procrastination.
What methods have you used in the past? What things have I missed here?
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