Have you ever noticed that when you want to accomplish something important you suddenly need to sharpen your pencils? Or clean your desk? It feels urgent. You can do what matters most by using 3 strategies to leave procrastination in your rearview mirror.
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On This Episode
Rhythm of Life – Stopping the Drift in My Morning Routine
Tune-up Tip – Slow Down to Get More Done
Random Riffs – Why Am I Thinking of “The Grinch Song” When It Isn’t Near Christmas?
Feature Segment – 3 Powerful Strategies to Leave Procrastination Behind
Rhythm of Life – Stopping the Drift in My Morning Routine
About three years ago, I developed a morning routine which includes meditation and prayer, journaling, and exercise. This is followed by showering, eating breakfast, and preparing my lunch. I’ve tweaked this routine over time, but it has essentially stayed the same.
I’ve noticed of late that my routine has started to drift. I’ve gone days without exercising. Weeks without writing. Why?
This week I recommitted myself to start anew. Some days were better than others, but I strove to get myself back on track. And no matter how many times I get off-track, I can always start again the following day.
I’ve recently launched a course called “Find Beauty in EVERYday”. This course helps you seek beauty in your everyday life to transform your thinking. When you transform your thinking, your life is transformed too. One of the course segments is about how to develop a morning routine that works for you, and some tips on how to keep it up. Check out the link in the sidebar for more information.
How’s your morning routine going? Are you fully committed or have you drifted like me? There is no time like the present to design or re-commit to a routine that works for you.
Tune-Up Tip – Slow Down to Get More Done
When I first heard these words from Derek Sivers’ blog post, I didn’t buy in.
For so long I had been of the mind that faster must be better. You get more done that way. You’ll also be able to take more on. But, according to Sivers, when you slow down you enjoy the ride more, you’re less exhausted, and often rejuvenated. And by slow, I mean less frantic. A good pace for you.
We often get caught up in rushing and stressing out over rushing, even though it doesn’t work as well. But we can purposely stop it. We can relax and slow down for better results. Slow down to get more done.
How can we do this?
- Slow down
- Take a break
- Be present
- Ride your ride
So ride your ride. Choose a pace that’s right for you. Slow down to get more done.
Random Riffs – Why Am I Thinking of the Grinch Song When It Isn’t Near Christmas?
I recently woke up to a glorious fall day. The sun was shining. My morning routine done. Celebrating the beauty of life by singing “To Life” from Fiddler on the Roof. Which led me to thinking about the Grinch theme song.
Why would my mind lead me there? Sometimes our brains don’t always connect accurately. We can be taken down some interesting paths, the downside being the brain can make emotional connections that can drag us down. Or lead to creativity.
Where are you making inaccurate connections in your life and within your relationships? And what are you doing to counter-act them?
Feature Segment – 3 Powerful Strategies to Leave Procrastination Behind
Ever noticed that when you really want to accomplish something important, suddenly tasks you’ve been putting off suddenly seem critical? What is it that makes us feel so compelled to do these things instead of what we believe is so important? Procrastination.
Procrastination is actually a symptom of something deeper. Many say that the mother of procrastination is perfectionism. The mother of perfectionism is fear.
The subconscious mind often believes it’s better not to try and fail. In Steven Pressfield’s book “The War of Art”, he calls this the Resistance. We need to reduce the power of resistance by shining a light on it.
Pressfield’s book reminds us of the importance of minimizing the resistance so that we can do what we want most to do, whatever that may be. Whether personal or professional. Difficult or near-impossible.
How? With 3 powerful strategies:
- Recognize the signs.
- Decide where to put the fear. Elizabeth Gilbert says in her new book, “Big Magic”, that the only thing fear knows how to say is “STOP!”. Learn to dance with fear. We talked in Episode 028 about how to successfully dance with fear.
- Become a professional – according to Pressfield, the professional loves what he does so much he commits to it full-time. Build a habit of accomplishing what you’ve set out to do. As we discussed in Episode 025, break down work so it CAN get done and doesn’t become overwhelming.
The most important point in leaving procrastination behind is to make doing the work such a part of your routine that you quell the Resistance.
How have you conquered procrastination in order to accomplish what’s important to you? Share your success stories by leaving a comment.
Catch the entire Life Design Mini-Series
Episode 021 – 6 Simple Techniques For Living in the Moment
Episode 022 – What Can You Bring to Every Day?
Episode 023 – Four Powerful Results From Effective Communication
Episode 024 – Designing Your Future – How Do You Start?
Episode 025 – Fear Hides When You Have a Killer Project Plan
Episode 026 – Get in the Game – the Entrepreneurial Option
Episode 027 – How to Be a Successful Intrapreneur
Episode 028 – A Super-Hero Dances With Fear
