Every freelancer suffers from procrastination at some point in their lives. Unfortunately, unless we bust through procrastination quickly we can find ourselves wasting a lot of time and losing money.
In this article, I'm going to lay out some of the ways that I bust through procrastination whenever it rears it's ugly head. Feel free to try as many of these tricks as you wish.
Bust through procrastination with tapping.
Tapping is exactly what it sounds like - you tap. More specifically, you tap on certain parts of your body with your fingers while acknowledging your frustration and then moving toward more positive statements. It sends a signal to your mind and body to relax. It also starts helping you overcome the uncomfortable emotions you may be feeling.
Tapping is a combination of Chines acupressure with modern positive psychology and it actually works. So when I want to bust through procrastination, I start doing a few rounds of tapping to overcome my own dramatics around a big project.
For more on this, check out the book The Tapping Solution by Nick Ortner.
Become aware of when you begin to procrastinate.
By becoming aware of this, I've been able to bust through procrastination by setting deadlines and incorporating some accountability into my life. I basically trick myself into thinking I don't have as much time as I believe.
For example, I know that every Monday I need to be done with my work by 3 p.m. so I can be totally present for a team meeting with my virtual assistant. Sometimes I tell myself I need to be done by 4 so I can go to yoga class.
I'll also do the little things first, otherwise, I just won't get around to it because procrastination will take over.
Plan your work around your natural rhythms.
I've also noticed that I'm much more creative on weekends so that's when I might do something like make Pinterest images or work on my stuff instead of client stuff.
Lastly, I pay attention to my monthly cycle. I have way more energy the first two weeks of my cycle so that's when I go hard. I lay off the latter to weeks.
By paying attention to my own natural rhythms I get all my work done without worrying too much about procrastinating. That's because I know when I'm feeling most focused and set my schedule accordingly.
3 Ways to Bust Through Procrastination As a Freelancer was originally published on the Payments Blog by Amanda Abella.
