How to Stop Procrastinating.
And love yourself once more!
Eight ways to Stop Procrastinating.
Because I couldn’t come up with ten, the blog industry standard.
Wait, shouldn’t you be working right now?
Just kidding.
The worst part about procrastination is how it makes you feel about yourself. So what if you spend all morning looking at shelter dogs, sending photos to your wife and imagining how much better your life would be with a little furry friend in the studio?
“I bet I could meet this pressing deadline if I had a dog to keep me company,” you think.
So you move all your books and furniture to accommodate a dog bed for your new best friend. A kitchenette would be nice too. You’re not allowed a hot plate or a toaster oven, so those are out. A microwave isn’t ideal, but it will be nice to heat up leftovers for you and Cinnamon, the dog you’re thinking about getting. A refrigerator means you can have milk for an espresso machine. Is there an easy-to-use model that’s not too expensive and makes decent espresso? Tall order, I know! Better start a Pinterest board of different brands and models and do a deep dive into the reviews. Reviews aren’t always trustworthy, so check the reddit forums. Did you know there’s a whole subreddit for that band you liked in high school? Oh man, look at the comments from these idiots. You’ve seen this band at least a dozen times. You better weigh in and straighten them out.
Now it’s the end of the day and you feel as shameful and unsatisfied as the time you ate a pillowcase full of Halloween candy.
So how do you choose the less-pleasant-in-the-moment but more satisfying and lucrative tasks over the more pleasant-in-the-moment, things that are easy and empty?
And don’t say awareness.
Awareness
Awareness Is the most important part of the Time Blobbing framework, I just wish it would stop pointing out my shortcomings. Seems rude.
When you find yourself procrastinating, think about why you might be avoiding the thing you are avoiding. Knowing the why helps you ease back into your work or be okay with taking a break.
It’s not a question of efficiency; it’s about working with intention. Being a successful creative means managing your effort and energy effectively, not being at 100% capacity 100% of the time.
That last paragraph was boring but true. Let’s look at reasons you might procrastinate and what to do about it.
1) Time Blindness
You sit down to work, ready to start the day. First, a quick look at a cool feature-rich flashlight that you don’t need but has the word tactical in the name, then scroll social media and laugh at something Bob said and think about what a national treasure he is, answer a couple emails and somehow, it’s noon and half the day is gone! The good, creatively fertile part of the day. Now you’re in a panic and you’re rushing to complete things. You don’t make the best decisions for the project, you just try and get it done.
What to do about it:
Blob the Time.
Use the Time Blobbing framework is a simple way to tighten up your day. Milling about is a slow leak that is easily redirected with a simple plan.
“Phew! I thought you were going to say awareness.”
Time Blobbing is awareness of where you are and what you should be doing. Even if you stray off the path, it’s fast and simple to find your way back.
2) Fear
High expectations make it hard to start tasks. What if it’s not as good as in your head? What if people don’t respond the way you hope?
What to do about it:
Do it anyway.
It will never be as good as in your head and people won’t respond the way you hope. That’s okay.
The sooner you start, the sooner you can do it over. The only way is through.
Andy Pizza sets his timer for 25 minutes to get the ball rolling. It’s a good tip and great way to overcome inertia.
Reframe the process.
Ideas aren’t executed; they’re developed. It will change and evolve as you dig in, and that will inform the outcome. The final piece will be a nice surprise from the initial vision.
Don’t focus on outcomes.
Doing creative work is the important part, not what people think of it. Nothing it ever as good or bad as you imagine.
3) You don’t know how to start.
Making videos is a lot of work, so I cleared a whole day to shoot some. Instead, I scrolled social media while getting increasingly annoyed with myself. I rarely take a whole day to do anything, and I was wasting it.
When I finally sat down to record, I realized I didn’t know what I needed to do. I wasn’t sure what I should shoot, what had to be set up, no script or plan – nothing. It was a waste of time.
What to do about it:
Start.
Diving in is the only way to find out what you don’t know. Starting the videos without a plan informed the plan.
Break it down into specific, individual steps.
Shooting videos is a huge, vague task. Writing a script, gathering props, setting up the camera and lights, rehearsing are all specific things that need to happen.