what's your biggest "procrastination" issue?

[VeitSchenk]

when I look at the information on my bookshelf, there's gotta be a gazillion dollars worth of information, if only I could put it all into practice.

personally, my biggest thing is that I'm a "researcher" by nature, i.e. give me anything new and I'll research it, but before I can put it into practice, I find something new to research.

Here's my question: what is the one thing you're procrastinating on and if you could remove it, would make all the difference (and why are you doing it).

Here's why I'm asking: I've been studying this whole procrastination thing for quite a few years now (and I'm much better now, thanks for asking) and over the last year or so I think I've found THE answer why most can't change from whatever procrastination habit they have to super-productive (even if you do Eben Pagan's wake-up-productive):

the key thing I've found talking to lots of clinical psychologists is this: to successfully change a habit, you have to go through a set of distinct phases, skip one or get them in the wrong order and your attempts to change fail in almost all cases.

Just think "quitting smoking", "losing weight", time-management seminars and all those New Year's resolutions -- almost never works.

most start some change process because they're so fed up, but then it invariably fizzles out and we're back to square one.

if there's enough interest/feedback, I'll put together a seminar/presentation on how this works in practice (<- top technique: put myself under pressure: make public commitment, then you have to do it, instead of -- in my case -- doing more research on something else)

let me know what you think

Cheers

Veit

[LouW]

Lol, a seminar for chronic procrastinators I'm sure there is a joke in there somewhere


Honestly? One of my biggest procrastinations are forums. I'm a researcher-type also and feel like I've somehow failed if I get into something before knowing everything single tiny detail about it, and forums are an excellent source of information. But, they are also a good source of distractions. So, I've limited the amount of time I spend on them, and keep myself at lurker status. It worked, since I made that change a long while back, I've been incredibly productive.


Because of the researcher-type that I am, I used to go off into lots of directions which led to taking on too much at once, spreading myself far to thin, making tiny steps, getting disheartened, and also ending up feeling overwhelmed; feeling overwhelmed was another reason why I was procrastinating. I overcome this by recognising the pattern. I then actually sat down and wrote my plans out in an organised, logical way, and was painfully realistic about what I could achieve on a weekly, daily and monthly basis – as much as it pained me to admit that I can't actually do 700 hours worth of work in a week. To help keep my focus, and to stop myself falling into the trap of going off into many directions, I made (and still keep) a simple little notepad that I enter stuff that I've done daily. So, I guess I am saying that I became more organised and tempered myself somewhat.


I can fall into the trap of treating my 'issues' (procrastination, for example) with molly coddling, and lots of 'little steps' type attitude, and that's good to a certain extent; it helped me organise myself. But, there comes a time when one just has to get over it and 'do'. My main motivator is knowing, on more than just an 'empowerment' level that nobody else is going to get me where I want to be, other than myself. I'm in a tough situation, so necessity can be an excellent metaphorical 'kick up the butt'. At the risk of sounding like a cliché, whatever reason one wants or needs to succeed, they are the only ones who can make it happen.

[VeitSchenk]

Originally Posted by LouW

... with molly coddling, and lots of 'little steps' type attitude, and that's good to a certain extent; it helped me organise myself....

Lou, I know what you mean regarding the little steps. The big problem why so many self-development programmes are actually only shelf-development programmes is that they're calling for MASSIVE ACTION.

and that unfortunately, almost never works. It's all based on using MASSIVE willpower -- and unless it's structured in a way that leads to a quick successsion of small successes (i.e. rewards for taking massive action), then it's back to disillusionment.... and no action.

so, I guess, we're looking for an in between little steps and massive action.

Veit

PS: btw, you mention it: it's the plan and the goal that makes the difference -- yet most people have no idea what it is they really want (I mean *really* want) and hence cannot identify the obstacles (the steps on the plan)

[LouW]

True, those little successes are a good way to motivate and spur one on. Unfortunately, as you say, in this business, those little successes might not happen, or not happen for months or even years. This is where self belief comes in (along with a good mixture of intelligence, patience, analytical tendencies and stubborness). I feel a large proportion of those types who *need* large amounts of molly-coddling just to stay focused and motivated beyond an immediate timespan are going to have a hard time and find themselves stuck in a rut, at best. I'm afraid I don't know a cure for that.


Self analysis is good, very good imo; to a certain extent. Sometimes, though, some people stay there far to long, deluding themselves that they are 'moving forward', when in fact, it's an excuse for not moving forward and 'doing'. In any competitive business, there's no room for excuses. You either 'do', or you 'don't'. In this business particularly, we are not (for the most part) dealing with people, we are dealing with cold, hard computers. They won't take on board the fact that I just didn't feel in a good place, motivationally. I can't go to Google and say 'I felt really bad last week, and couldn't get motivated, can you please overlook my lack of link building efforts and restore my top page rankings? Kthnkxbai'! Lol!


Again, without wishing to sound like a cliché, it's about taking responsibility for oneself, and embracing the liberation that comes with taking that responsibility.

Originally Posted by VeitSchenk

Lou, I know what you mean regarding the little steps. The big problem why so many self-development programmes are actually only shelf-development programmes is that they're calling for MASSIVE ACTION.

and that unfortunately, almost never works. It's all based on using MASSIVE willpower -- and unless it's structured in a way that leads to a quick successsion of small successes (i.e. rewards for taking massive action), then it's back to disillusionment.... and no action.

so, I guess, we're looking for an in between little steps and massive action.

Veit

PS: btw, you mention it: it's the plan and the goal that makes the difference -- yet most people have no idea what it is they really want (I mean *really* want) and hence cannot identify the obstacles (the steps on the plan)

[Chris Stigson]

I think procrastination comes down to: Escaping uncomfort and running towards comfort. Either one. So either you are happy where you are, because you are not moving, or you are not moving because it's comfortable.

When you are sitting in a chair, or laying down watching TV, you will not move unless it's uncomfortable. Most people will not move outside of that comfort zone.

They know having $1000,0000,0000,000 would be "better", but there "too many obstacles" to push through in order to get to them so they can just "let it be" and feel comfortable where they are...

"I don't want to give up my favorite snack" yet they want to lose weight, mixxed messages. I want $1,000,000 yet do everything to move away from it, or get unfomfortable when they start seeing success towards it.

Thing MUST CHANGE, things will BE UNCOMFORTABLE... yet what you have right now is "good enough".

That's what makes people procrastinate. Homework was done last moment, because you knew the punishment of not doing it was greater than the 1-2 hours you had to spend doing it... "your career, your future" whatever was at stake. BIGGER PAIN.

Make yourself "have to do it" and throw out your TV =)

- Chris

[Manuel Man]

Everyone have sometimes procrastinated or want to procrastinate, we can't help it we are human. But we need to be honest with ourself... and have principle. It is something you GOT TO work on yourself ultimately.

=)

[VeitSchenk]

Lol, love the google example;-)

what you said regarding the staying too long is one of the key insights from the 'do it in phases' work -- a) you have to go through these phases and b) you have to do the right things (like introspection/self-analysis) at the right time/in the right stage.
The biggest mistake people make is to either never move into the 'doing' stage or moving into it without having done the necessary prep-work (ending up disillusioned)

Veit

Originally Posted by LouW

Self analysis is good, very good imo; to a certain extent. Sometimes, though, some people stay there far to long, deluding themselves that they are 'moving forward', when in fact, it's an excuse for not moving forward and 'doing'. In any competitive business, there's no room for excuses. You either 'do', or you 'don't'. In this business particularly, we are not (for the most part) dealing with people, we are dealing with cold, hard computers. They won't take on board the fact that I just didn't feel in a good place, motivationally. I can't go to Google and say 'I felt really bad last week, and couldn't get motivated, can you please overlook my lack of link building efforts and restore my top page rankings? Kthnkxbai'! Lol!

[FaJeeb]

There is simply way too much pornography online!

Just kidding, but I love watching other marketers videos, reading articles, browsing WarriorForum... theres just a lot of things out there that side-track me.

[erazer]

One of the most wonderful and liberating things about Internet marketing is the galactic scale of the choices we have and the total freedom we have to pursue any one of them. I can't see any other "business" that allows this kind of freedom and reward. But that is also the problem, specially until we find our groove, a definite, measurable goal that is meaningful, and are able to focus on it.

My problem has been "perfectionism" too, and I tend to obsess over crossing all the t's before I start anything. One of the most helpful quotes for me has been "don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good". And it's been great fun just going out there and making mistakes, correcting them, learning and succeeding even in small ways, but moving towards the goal. The important thing is that the immediate goal is clear and we are determined to achieve it, even if it is not the best one at the moment. If we always want the "best" we'll never find it.

I have worked with small businessmen and women who had succeeded and become wealthy doing the most mundane things. Almost all of them muddled their way to the top and made many mistakes along the way, including serious ones, but had a clear goal all the time. They were all doers and never worried about being perfect, just good enough.

[jazbo]

This damn forum is turning into my biggest time and focus issue!

[zzapper]

Hi
Now that I've started to achieve moderate success in IM, it is constantly and obsessively checking to see if I've made any affiliate sales. I mean once a day would be more than enough. Does it get worse if you are making lots of sales? Any one else got this annoying habit?

[GuerrillaIM]

My problem is I have lots of jobs I like to do, and some I find really boring. I put off the boring ones instead of just getting them out of the way first.

[Anonymous Affiliate]

Believe it or not, for me the biggest procrastination issue has been the comfortable IM life style in itself. Part of my online income (a few thousand dollars per month) is almost on autopilot, and I find myself taking many lazy days off just because I KNOW that, even if I don't get out of bed, I am going to make $100-$150 that day anyway which is enough to live by as per my standards. So, eventually, I end up taking a number of those lazy days off every month and therefore my productivity, motivation and work flow continuum takes a big hit.

[Peeps66]

Could to know I'm not the only procrastinator. I seem to particularly procrastinate when doing something for myself. Doing something for someone else seems to have more importance. Perfectionism, lack of self esteem etc seem to be major factors in my procrastination. I've tried methods such as using a kitchen timer and working on tasks until the alarm goes off, but I procrastinate about putting the timer on.

One big vicious circle!

Peeps

[Brad Spencer]

Originally Posted by VeitSchenk

when I look at the information on my bookshelf, there's gotta be a gazillion dollars worth of information, if only I could put it all into practice.

personally, my biggest thing is that I'm a "researcher" by nature, i.e. give me anything new and I'll research it, but before I can put it into practice, I find something new to research.

Here's my question: what is the one thing you're procrastinating on and if you could remove it, would make all the difference (and why are you doing it).

Here's why I'm asking: I've been studying this whole procrastination thing for quite a few years now (and I'm much better now, thanks for asking) and over the last year or so I think I've found THE answer why most can't change from whatever procrastination habit they have to super-productive (even if you do Eben Pagan's wake-up-productive):

the key thing I've found talking to lots of clinical psychologists is this: to successfully change a habit, you have to go through a set of distinct phases, skip one or get them in the wrong order and your attempts to change fail in almost all cases.

Just think "quitting smoking", "losing weight", time-management seminars and all those New Year's resolutions -- almost never works.

most start some change process because they're so fed up, but then it invariably fizzles out and we're back to square one.

if there's enough interest/feedback, I'll put together a seminar/presentation on how this works in practice (<- top technique: put myself under pressure: make public commitment, then you have to do it, instead of -- in my case -- doing more research on something else)

let me know what you think

Cheers

Veit

In all honesty, one of the biggest sources of procrastination is not starting your work day with a bang by "cranking out" a lot of little stuff on your list to get you motivated to tackle the big projects.

This week I'm creating 5 products in one day each.

Yesterday I got two done and they are higher ticket stuff.

Procrastination comes from not believing in yourself and not anchoring your strategy to what you want to do.

I'd suggest creating this video seminar and giving it away to build your list (use a Free WSO)

Cheers,

Brad

[JMPruitt]

My biggest wall that causes me to procrastinate is writing. All the niches I am in I know very well, but I start procrastinating when I have to put it in writing. Once I get something written, I move fairly quickly. My problem is reading too much about writing, I start doubting myself and worrying that it won't be good enough for people to read.

I think for most people, whether they admit it or not, they procrastinate because of fear. Whether it is fear of failure, rejection, not being good enough, or even success, you will find a way to avoid facing that fear and moving forward.

The best way to deal with that is to be honest with yourself, and be willing to accept your fears. Courage is not taking action without fear, but in spite of it. This is why some people have to get desperate before moving forward. The fear of what will happen if they don't becomes stronger than the fear of failing if they do.

[ppbiz]

Mine is definitely more work- I seem to get really excited about something then get to a certain point and get another idea I am really excited about- then I am off and neither gets completed before I am doing something else. Lol now that I think about it, it's actually really annoying and I should work on that.

Ha ha cheaper than therapy :-)

Rhiannon

[Traffic_Is_King]

To many shiny objects on the web. When you try to get a good 3 hrs of productivity in you actually get 3 mins. Experimenting with an online stop watch to time my tasks. Will see how that works out.

[paulie888]

I love this thread, and you have to remember and realize the fact that procrastination is indeed natural and part of human nature, it is actually part of natural and physical law. For those of you who know a little about physics, I refer to the law of inertia, which briefly stated means that there is a strong propensity for physical bodies to remain in their present state of motion (or non-motion!) unless an external force is applied to it! Simply put, we have to find some strong motivation (or perhaps there's a strong external source of discomfort applied to us, this could be something dire like the imminent prospect of losing our jobs) to cause us to deviate from our slothful, complacent ways!

One of the biggest destroyers of productivity in my case was the television. I brushed that off as a minor issue before, but a few years ago when something went wrong with my TV it made me reach a whole new level of productivity I had never reached before! Think about this - the average person in America watches 4 hours of television per day (no, I'm not making this up, these are facts straight from A.C. Nielsen!) Now assuming this average, that adds up to 28 hours of wasted time per week - 70% of a full-time, 40 hour work week...something for you to ponder on!

Paul

[tremayne]

I procrastinate with things I don't enjoy doing, like spinning and submitting articles!

In the beginning, I procrastinated because I thought I needed to know everything, or something caught my eye that "I might need in the future". I think we've all been there!

Eventually, after I learned I have ADD, I forced myself to concentrate on just one thing at a time. Unfortunately, I still kept buying "stuff" that accumulated in files I never looked at again. I try not to do too much of that any more.

I found the solution: If I'm not an expert at a particular job I outsource it. Not only does that free me up to do more of what I do best it means the learning curve (in some ways) is reduced a heck of a lot - not that most of us ever stop learning.

We cannot know all there is to know; that's impossible. This business changes too rapidly for one thing. Avoiding this thought (at least I think this was true for me) is perhaps an excuse to procrastinate instead of getting down to productive work.

If we knew our lives depended on it, we would focus on the real target and find ways to reach it as quickly as possible. As I see it, that means hiring a team of experts and letting them do what *they* do best.

Yes, this costs money. But which is more valuable: money or time? Money can be replaced; time cannot.

It was not easy to commit to my first contractor, someone from this forum. The expense worried me at first. But that gradual beginning has led to a team of half a dozen scattered all around the world, partially paid for by the educational products I no longer have to buy.

The rewards: Better products to sell and more time for me.

Hope this helps.

Sydney

[Hesaidblissfully]

1. Fear of failure. You can't "fail" while you're reading, studying, planning, etc. So procrastination allows you to avoid the reality of doing something and having it not work.

2. Lack of planning. I know this sounds like it contradicts #1, but if you haven't written down a gameplan where you've mapped out all the specific steps you need to take to get to where you want to be, that can lead to procrastination because you're not sure what to do next.

[MissTerraK]

How about not enough time in the day for yourself with husband, 3 children and three grandchildren, with one or two constantly demanding your attention?

Sometimes when it' finally my time, I'm too tired to do the tedious tasks, and just go destress on my favorite forums.

I do on the other hand have very productive days when I get a lot accomplished! Hopes it equals out eventually!

MissTerraK

[zzapper]

It takes me ages to get into the zone but then I can be very productive, next day I'm back to zero though :-(

[Harvey Segal]

I have a system that conquers all these procrastination issues.

I'll be posting about it next week.

Harvey



.

[Marcus Santer]

Simple: Too much information. I spend so much time reading and learning that I end up doing nothing.

I've put myself on a strict Russell Brunson - Micro C diet only

Kindest regards

Marcus

[VeitSchenk]

whenever I hear that someone "has" ADD I think of the story Frank Kern tells: he was diagnosed with ADD, and couldn't do anything for a year.
Then he thought/said something along the lines "f*** this guy, I earn a gazillion dollars a year, so don't tell me about ADD", stopped taking the pills and ... well, the rest is history;-)

Veit

PS: btw, one of the biggest changes for me was having a mastermind group -- we are on a weekly call and the fear of getting shot down for not finishing the stuff I said I would do is "kick up the backside" enough to get things done.... still love researching though;-)

Originally Posted by tremayne

I procrastinate with things I don't enjoy doing, like spinning and submitting articles!

In the beginning, I procrastinated because I thought I needed to know everything, or something caught my eye that "I might need in the future". I think we've all been there!

Eventually, after I learned I have ADD, I forced myself to concentrate on just one thing at a time. Unfortunately, I still kept buying "stuff" that accumulated in files I never looked at again. I try not to do too much of that any more.

I found the solution: If I'm not an expert at a particular job I outsource it. Not only does that free me up to do more of what I do best it means the learning curve (in some ways) is reduced a heck of a lot - not that most of us ever stop learning.

We cannot know all there is to know; that's impossible. This business changes too rapidly for one thing. Avoiding this thought (at least I think this was true for me) is perhaps an excuse to procrastinate instead of getting down to productive work.

If we knew our lives depended on it, we would focus on the real target and find ways to reach it as quickly as possible. As I see it, that means hiring a team of experts and letting them do what *they* do best.

Yes, this costs money. But which is more valuable: money or time? Money can be replaced; time cannot.

It was not easy to commit to my first contractor, someone from this forum. The expense worried me at first. But that gradual beginning has led to a team of half a dozen scattered all around the world, partially paid for by the educational products I no longer have to buy.

The rewards: Better products to sell and more time for me.

Hope this helps.

Sydney

[chebe21]

the best way to Not procrastination... is to develop a map or a plan, steps to follow etc...

so when is time to work, you don't have to think to much just move.

try this: start to move the minimum, as you are still comfortable, and then move a little more, in no time you'll be happy to do things you have to do!

action = more action
procrastination = more procrastination

so start move, your brain will produce "endorphines" that puts you in the mood of being productive!

remember, small actions when you join them together produce a MASIVE ACTION

[zzapper]

Hi
Being the Prince of Procrastinators I've struggled with this since I became a home worker. I've tried everything but have had success with a program called Action Enforcer where you specify which task you want to achieve and how long you want to spend on it, it rings a bell when finished. It seems to work because it forces you to focus on just one task, it's always worked for me even if I've had to extend the timer.

[realitybytes]

Hello, my name is John and I'm a procrastinator. ;-)

heh.

I'll echo all of the above and, although I haven't quite worked my way out of it yet, I think I know what will motivate me to do it.

First, for all the planning and perfectionism I engage in, I'm not sure I will succeed... hence, 'more planning'.

Second, was something I learned at Frank Kern's last seminar - that a product we buy is purchased because of the perceived value, of belief and hope. So, when we get it and put it on the shelf, it still has that value... but as soon as it comes off the shelf, that value is replaced with an either/or result; and, speaking for myself, I too often choose to do more planning to maximize the result of success, anticipating the loss of the 'hope value'.

(And, of course, much has been said both about our overworked imagination of the results of failure, as well as the NEED to fail before achieving success - "if you're always testing , you're never failing")

What I think (hope?) will work for me, is to do two things (besides the usual recommended listmaking and such) to overcome these particularly effective stumbling blocks:
1) Think of a time, before, when I accomplished something, and recall how I felt about the steps it took to get there, and how I could have achieved that success sooner but for the procrastination engaged in then (as well as recall what I did to overcome it); and
2) Project into the future for my current project, and imagine how I will recall what procrastination I overcame (will overcome) to get to that point, and the ways I did (will do) it.

It's a kind of modeling my own success over my own past success, while implanting the idea of reward to pull me towards that goal.

I listened to someone else describe 'motivation' as based on either inspiration or desperation; both can be very effective, but which will I choose - and when?

[tremayne]

Originally Posted by VeitSchenk

whenever I hear that someone "has" ADD I think of the story Frank Kern tells: he was diagnosed with ADD, and couldn't do anything for a year.
Then he thought/said something along the lines "f*** this guy, I earn a gazillion dollars a year, so don't tell me about ADD", stopped taking the pills and ... well, the rest is history;-)

I've heard it said that most creative people have ADD. I have no scientific evidence for this and I didn't even know there were pills for it. When I read of the symptoms from another IMer I recognized them immediately and was relieved to know why I had been an "accomplish-nothing busy scatter brain"! It was a relief to understand the problem and that has led me most days (but not today! - I'm here aren't I?!) to focus on a single thing at a time. Productivity has increased enormously (most days).

Sydney

[Yogini]

I think reading is easier than action. For instance, reading different posts about backlinking and various methods isn't tedious. But re-writing an article 3 times, setting up 20 profiles, writing 15 blogposts is very mind numbing. So, it is always easier to read than do something that seems mechanical.

When you add to that the doubts inside it gets harder. For instance, you may have already done backlinking and it didn't seem to move you up in the search engines. So, this then gets you in the mindset of having to read more to find the holy grail that will make it possible to make the passive income.

Some of it seems to be also the fear of acting on insufficient knowledge. For instance, what if you did a lot of backlinking and it was a keyword that was too competitive etc etc.

What does seem to help is when there is some success. Then it's motivating and you know hopefully why something worked. At that point it's easier to throw oneself fully into it, rinse and repeat.

Debbie

[VeitSchenk]

only the Prince of Procrastinators? I used to see my self as an Olympic gold-medal winning procrastinator;-)

enough of this procrastination already, must run and buy Christmas presents -- that event always seems to appear out of the blue...

Originally Posted by zzapper

Hi
Being the Prince of Procrastinators I've struggled with this since

[cash365]

hi, veit,

nice post! i think i will write my comments about it tomorrow...

(btw. tomorrow is mañana in spanish, mañana is one of the most commonly words used here in colombia...)

kind regards,
tom

[cash365]

ok, i just made a superhuman effort to overcome procrastination!!!

my main issues are being interrupted by other people: phone calls, the wife (very big issue!!!), eating, drinking, sleeping... but fortunately i have seen considerable success fighting these issues with a solid action plan.

Originally Posted by Harvey.Segal

I have a system that conquers all these procrastination issues.

I'll be posting about it next week.

Harvey

.

i can see harvey has serious procrastination issues, i'm still waiting for his system!

[Frank2]

Speaking of procrastination - do you plan on doing the bonus webinar you promised on April 24, 2011. You said you would do this for your WSO backlink spinner when you returned from Easter holidays.

I am sorry to be a rude pest but being persistent can often help people overcome their tendencies for procrastination.

It can also helps technical types provide better instructions for less technical people when they sell software WSOs.

[Dan C. Rinnert]

I guess several people have procrastinated on responding to this two year old thread. Now that's some really bad procrastination.

[mglw]

Like many, I am equally guilty of procrastinating - having the "head" knowledge and yet not taking the appropriate actions to make it happen. My major issue is having information overload and wanting to do everything in one go. You may call it "over zealous" or "impatience". Whatever you call it, it really put all my tasks on hold.

Yes, I also bought many books, programs, wso...etc that are waiting for actions to be taken. However, it is always the "some day I will work on it" mentality that frustrates me.

Now, I make it a point to set some priorities to what I do and take one step at a time to accomplish them. It was tough in the beginning as I kept wanting to go back to my old comforting ways. Some days this works for me and some days I just sat on the task. But then, I learned not to be too hard on myself and take all these in my own strife. The only thing to remember is that whatever I do or failed to do, I have to take responsibility for it and be accountable to myself.