Breaking Through Procrastination
Equestrian Professional by Elisabeth McMillian
As we forge ahead with our 2016 Horse Business Challenge, in an effort to help horse professionals prevail over the Dirty Dozen Checklist, we find our members and newsletter subscribers wrestling with familiar demons.
The first of these demons is time… or the lack thereof. The second is a plain and simple dislike of bookkeeping and/or indoor tasks. And, the third is procrastination because a lack of time tends to create feelings of being overwhelmed, which is typically compounded when we don’t like the task to begin with.
So how do we break the cycle and get these tasks off our plate so that we can approach the New Year with lighter shoulders?
Here are the steps we take that help us get moving on projects that tend to trigger procrastination.
- Make a list of all tasks – everything.
As productivity expert David Allen said, “Capture anything that is pulling on your psyche and put it on paper.” This will create more stress at first (because the list will be large) but as it becomes a habit you will find that your brain feels less cluttered and thereby more available for problem solving and completing tasks.
- Identify the importance of each task.
Here it is important to identify the desired outcome as well as the urgency aspects of your tasks. This helps us to place the most valuable tasks first.
- Decide if you can delegate it, or if you need help with the task – If so, do! It’s time to get real about the things you are likely to do vs. the ones you will keep procrastinating. Asking for help earlier in the process, will usually save you time and money in the long run and, it will definitely reduce your overall stress load, which will in turn, reduce the likelihood of you getting so overwhelmed that you numb out and do nothing. (Yes, we know that feeling too.)
- Breakdown everything that is left into actionable pieces.
On the less important tasks, this action could be moving them off your main list and into a deferred tasks file and then putting “look at deferred task file” on your calendar 30 days out. On the more important tasks, be sure to fully explain the action step rather than using shorthand. Far too often, our to-do lists are full of words like “books,” “phone calls” and “vet” rather than truly actionable steps like “enter credit card statement into QuickBooks,” or, “call 4 clients and schedule horse show meetings.” Be specific. It will help you get more done and reduce unnecessary brain clutter.
- Fit the task to the time
Use Parkinson’s law, “Work contracts to fit in the time we give it,” to your advantage. Look at your schedule and make it a goal to complete the task in the time rather than to block out time to work on the task. (I actually set a timer and work as fast as I can – especially on the tasks I tend to procrastinate. When the timer goes off, I stop work. I have found I can stand almost any kind of work for 20 minutes and that I get a surprising amount done when I work against the clock.) click here to continue reading.
Equestrian Professional is a great resource for you, check them out and sign up for their newsletter!
June 26, 2016
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.