Procrastination to SELF Motivation (in less than 5 minutes)!

Do you use procrastination to avoid doing things that you actually WANT to do?

Do you procrastinate things such as...
Exercising?
Doing the dishes?
Writing a report?
Making networking or sales prospecting phone calls?
Writing articles and blog posts?
How about something as seemly simple as putting gas in the car?

Well... you are NOT ALONE.

Procrastination is OFTEN the result of your mind being overwhelmed by either too many choices or the inability to see any choices (what I refer to as the "black screen of nothingness in my mind").

I had a very empowering experience the other day that reconnected me with one of the easiest and quickest techniques for Busting through the Procrastination of just about any task you find yourself procrastinating.

During the normal course of my day I received an email from one of my favorite writers and writing coaches, Rosanne Bane. She was interviewed by Michael Pollock of Bigger Life Radio and she was letting her subscribers know that the interview was posted.

Ordinarily I would put the email in my "To Do Later" file however, on this day I felt compelled to click straight through and listen to the interview.

As I listened to the interview I realized that one of the learning techniques Rosanne described is very similar to an NLP (Nerolinguistic Programming) technique that can be used to break free of the procrastination of just about any task you are side-stepping and avoiding. In fact, I used this Procrastination Buster technique several years ago to break free from my anxiety-ridden procrastination of the simple task of washing the dishes.

I used to HATE washing the dishes and could not make myself wash them until they were piled up so high that I could no longer put it off. (Of course, that made it seem like an even more daunting task.) I used this technique and now I easily and naturally wash the dishes every single day. I even have a dish washer and I still mostly wash my dishes by hand. It just seems easier and faster... Wow! I NEVER thought I would feel that way about doing the dishes!!! Simply AMAZING!

In this posting I am going to give you an overview and examples of the very effective Procrastination Buster technique I refer to as "Connecting with Disconnected Behaviors"

Connecting with Disconnected Behaviors is a simple technique of breaking the starting pieces of your task into elementary-level steps that will quickly and easily disconnect you from your emotional inner self saboteur. (You know... that part of you that SCREEMS "Noooooo... I DON'T WANT TO DO IT!!!!!!!")

So, here's an example of what it looks like.

Let's say you have a very difficult time getting yourself to wash the dishes. Well, you would take the first few starting pieces of your task and break them down into small, non-emotional steps.

Washing Dishes
Step 1: Walk into the kitchen
Step 2: Walk over to the sink
Step 3: Turn on the water
Step 4: Pick up the sponge
Step 5: Wet and soap the sponge
Step 6: Pick up a dish

Most of the time procrastination is just about GETTING STARTED on a task - not the actual doing of the task - so this is the point at which your mind will relax and take over the completion of the task.

PLEASE... Don't let the sheer simplicity of this technique fool you into dismissing it. Try it! You will be AMAZED at how effectively you will begin easily and naturally motivating yourself to complete tasks that once produced lots and lots of anxiety!

You can can transform yourself from PROCRASTINATING to JUST DOING.

Exercising
Let's say that you want to motivate yourself to go into your living room and actually follow the exercise routine you have on a DVD.

Step 1: Go into bedroom
Step 2: Put on exercise clothes (you can write out "steps" for this part out as well)
Step 3: Go into living room
Step 4: Put DVD into player
Step 5: Turn on TV and start player
Step 6: Step into position for doing the exercise
Step 7: Follow the instructions on the DVD

Writing a Report
Let's say you are responsible for writing a monthly report that goes to someone important in your company.

Step 1: Put needed paperwork on desk
Step 2: Ignore desire to clean off desk - just move unneeded things aside
Step 3: Sit down at desk
Step 4: Turn on computer
Step 5: Turn OFF email (just temporarily... you can turn it back on the minute you are finished with the report)
Step 6: Open report template
Step 7: Establish a SIMPLE milestone goal and state objective of the goal (ex: "Before I stop I will complete Section One of this report. The objective of Section One is to show the monthly sales figures for the entire product line.")
Step 8: Begin filling in data
"Rinse and Repeat" for each section of the report.

Making Networking or Sales Prospecting Phone Calls
Let's say that you have a difficult time getting yourself to sit down and put a significant amount of time into making networking and sales prospecting phone calls.

Step 1: Put list of networking contacts or prospects on desk
Step 2: Ignore desire to clean off desk - just move unneeded things aside
Step 3: Turn on computer
Step 4: Turn OFF email (just temporarily... you can turn it back on the minute you are finished with your calls)
Step 5: Turn on Contact Management database software
Step 6: Pick a prospect
Step 7: Pick up phone and dial number

Writing Articles and Blog Posts
Let's say, for example that you are working to build your own online business and find yourself consistently procrastinating the tasks of writing articles and blog posts.

Many of my own coaching clients suffer from this specific procrastination. They typically say that their need to postpone their writing task is because they will look at their desk or a list of topics they could write about and immediately feel completely overwhelmed.

Step 1: Go into office
Step 2: Sit down at desk
Step 3: Turn on computer
Step 4: Choose a topic (You may need to create a list of steps or criteria for how you will choose your topic)
Step 5: Write a simple objective for the article
"In this article I will... debate the difference between x and y." or... teach my readers how to xyz." ~ KEEP IT SIMPLE ~
Step 6: Break topic into sections: Opening, Body, Closing
Step 7: Write first sentence.

Putting Gas in the Car
Suppose you are the type of person who finds it difficult to take the time to stop and get gas for your car. Perhaps it is because your life is so full that you rarely feel like you have the time to stop, or perhaps you feel like you should shop around to find the very best price of the day.

Step 1: Look at gas gauge and see that gas is needed
Step 2: Decide that "I'd rather be 10 minutes late because I stopped to get gas than be an hour or two late because I ran out of gas!"
Step 3: Drive to the nearest gas station
Step 4: Decide to choose gas station based on proximity -- NOT the ONE or TWO cents I might save by driving around (spending time and gas) looking for a better price.
NOTE: If you don't procrastinate stopping for gas then by all means, look around for the best value.
Step 5: Pull into the station
Step 6: Drive up to the pump
Step 7: Get out of the car
Step 8: Start the payment process

I sincerely hope you find this information to be extremely helpful in going from Self Sabotage to SELF Motivation!
Troyann