Hello, and welcome to the Midlife Business Show with Suzanne Mountain. This is the podcast that celebrates all those of us who are building a business during our middle years. I’m an ex corporate girl who started my business six years ago in my fifties. And I’m loving it. This podcast is here to inspire you with conversations with other entrepreneurs about the messy and magical ups and downs of this period of our lives. Plus, I’ll be sharing simple, actionable step by step strategies to help you build a business with impact and a life that you love.

 

Welcome

(00:43):

To today’s podcast I’m going to talk about 7 Seven ways to end procrastination and build your business. 

It doesn’t matter whether you want to quit smoking or create a VIP mastermind, procrastination has always been the natural enemy to those who want to get things done.

 And the more you resolve, you’re not going to give into it this time, the quicker you find yourself sucked back into your own favourite form of avoiding something you need to complete. 

In today’s podcast,  we’re going to grab the procrastination phenomenon by its curly little horns and explore seven ways to end it once and for all. 

 

So stick around and find out the way that works for you. 

 

Now, procrastination has killed more midlife businesses than lack of capital or choosing the wrong niche market. It SAPs the most precious non-renewable commodity time and drains away our lives. So why do midlife business owners fall into that particular trap and more to the point?

(01:47):

How do you get out of it? 

Step one, get crystal clear on your why. Now this is something I’ve talked about before in episode one, I talked about my why. 

But journalists know that to get to the heart of any story you need ask five fundamental questions and keep asking them till you get to the real answer to each one. 

These questions are 

why, 

how, 

where, 

when and 

who 

Sometimes it’s not a particular anti-procrastination strategy you need: It’s the reasons behind why you do it and why you can’t beat it. Why you fall prey to it every time.

If you know the ‘why’ behind your own procrastination habit, you can deal with the cause instead of dealing with the result (i.e., eternally putting off tasks and actions you need to take). Putting things off is just the symptom. To eradicate it and restore your life balance, you need to find and root out the cause.

 

Let’s look at one of the most common reasons that business owners procrastinate, especially service based business owners and coaches who are attempting for the first time to add, say, passive income to their business, or to expand their reach and grow their audience.

(03:06):

You might be shying away from tackling things because one, you are venturing out of your comfort zone and into a new territory. Most of us find that scary, and that includes small children in a new playground or top executives launching a new product to the market. 

The fix to this is relatively simple,  acknowledge your fear, and apply rational reframing to that little voice in your head. 

Identify the fear generating thought, for example, ‘what if I haven’t set up my software correctly and it messes up my launch?’

 If you are thinking something like this, you can quickly deal with this type of fear in whatever way feels best to you. 

You could change it into reminding yourself “I’ve tested it three times with three different people. Chances are it’ll be fine. And even if it’s not, I’ve gone out my way to include contact information and I’ll deal with any glitches that arise”.

 

Or you may find another solution that feels better to you. 

For example, you might feel the weight from your shoulders. If you say setting up tech is really not my thing. I’m really not the best use of my time. I’m going to, to hire a VA or a coach who specialises in setting these things up. Then I won’t have to worry about it. But until you identify the fear generating thought that is causing you to imitate an ostrich and stick your head in the metaphorical sand. 

You can’t come up with the simple and obvious solution or realize that it’s a fear that you may not even have to tackle at all. 

You may just need to tell yourself this isn’t fear, it’s excitement, because often the two present very similarly.

So number two, fear that you’re not good enough. This soul sucking brand of fear includes imposter syndrome, lack of practice, the bad habit of comparing yourself with others and more, it’s a fear of rejection. 

It’s essential, if this is your reason to pinpoint the exact cause and type of concern.  If you do, you can formulate a targeted plan to deal with it. And the fix is usually the same as for venturing out of one’s comfort zone, reframing your fearful thought into an objective realistic one. 

Number three, perfectionism. Procrastination is an intense source of shame to perfectionists. It goes against their most passionate belief that they should be perfect. Perfectionists are usually afraid of failure in any form. They’re often top experts in their own right? 

Who others envy for their expertise and how easy they make things look or feel, acquaintances often express surprise when they find out that their favourite mentor, coach or business expert has the same fear of failure as they do. This deep seated fear comes from possessing a tendency to be perfectionist over and above everything else.

Speaker 1 (06:13):

Not solely over a new and unfamiliar task. They are also traditionally overachievers and overachieving goes hand in hand with perfectionism and procrastination. 

Now the crucial step with perfectionist personality lies in accepting accountability and acknowledging your perfectionism. 

If you feel you are a perfectionist, determine your own cause – voices from the past? A competitive personality? Your personality type? OCD? 

Once you identify yourself as a perfectionist, you can work on letting go of perfection.

There are plenty of books on perfectionism on platforms like Amazon.com. You’re bound to find one that resonates with you.

Deal with the perfectionism and you will then be in a prime position to deal with and let go of procrastination.    

Step four, you absolutely hate the thing you are hiding from. This is the only time you need to question why you are doing it and, or get rid of the hated task. Especially if it’s not one that directly generates income or aligns with what brings you the most joy, delegate it, outsource it, put it on autopilot, or just dump it.If you can get away with that.  

 

Step five: addiction to pleasure. Some may argue that this is a complication of procrastination rather than the cause, but we’re gonna touch on it precisely because it compounds initial procrastination. 

Sometimes one can deal with the cause successfully, but still find oneself sliding down the well worn path to procrastination anyway, and being mystified as to why it keeps happening.

 The simple reason is as endorphins, when the behaviour taps into the pleasure centres of the brain, it becomes hard to let go of it. It is so much more fun to binge watch Netflix or play your favourite phone game than to tackle the tasks you don’t want to do. 

And then you’ve created a habit. Habits are like smooth pathways through a stinky marsh. You know, the path is safe. You know that what lies on either side of it is unpleasant.

And you know, there’s a reward at the end. 

Plus it takes you away from the haunted house on the corner habit. 

It’s a super hard to change, but this can be done. 

And what you need to do is threefold 

1. Create a new habit, 
2. Stick to it every day for at least 60 days, no exceptions. This is crucial for making sure your brain hard wires, a new neural pathway and see, find hacks to help you change the habit into a better one. 

 

And one of the best possible hacks is getting clear on your ultimate goal. This is taking your ‘why’ questioning further and to new depths, determining why you want to grow your business will make it much easier to get past the I don’t like it attitude that can cause you to stall. 

In this sort of deep, why questioning, you might find out that the goal is just not important enough to keep you committed, or you might discover with shock and surprise that the whole goal for you all together is wrong.

You thought you wanted it, but you don’t actually, you’re doing it to please someone else or to fit an image you’ve created for yourself or for some other reason. 

But when you look with clarity and open eyes into your motivations, you actually prefer to keep it as a dream. If you have absolutely do want the goal you are aiming for, then watch for reasons you are afraid to reach it buried deep in your unconscious, for example, a poor money mindset might keep you from really believing you’ll ever have a six figure business and sabotaging you into procrastination. 

This type of thinking is often rooted in childhood conditioning and experience. You’ll probably need to deal with that before you do anything else.

Speaker 1 (10:35):

Now you can work on this by yourself. And an excellent way to start is with the wealth mindset coach Denise Duffield Thomas, if you feel like a good healthy dose of inspiration is in order, read her best selling book, ‘Get Rich Lucky Bitch, release your money blocks and live a first class life’. 

You’ll be able to find it at all books stores and of course on Amazon. 

But once you realize what your real goal is and why it is important to you, it becomes easier to keep your eyes on it and to not procrastinate performing tasks in actions along the way. 

 

Step two, the two minute rule. 

So now let’s look at hacks for busting procrastination. The beauty of these? You might not even need lengthy solutions, or deep soul searching. 

Seriously, finding the right simple hack for you can change your life. So, let’s examine two that have worked for others, starting with the Two-Minute Rule and continuing in Step 3 with a hack to trick your brain into acting.

Don’t let small tasks bog you down. For every to-do that lands in your inbox, immediately assess the time you expect it to take. If it’s less than 2 minutes, do it right now. 

That’s it. Simple as that.

 

If you can get it done in less than two minutes, then get it done. 

 

So step three, trick your brain into taking action. 

One other common reason we often procrastinate is that we trick ourselves into thinking a task is hard. Usually it is not. Sometimes it’s just dull. 

Sometimes negative voices are whispering from the past, and sometimes it’s just not as much fun as scrolling Facebook or Instagram. 

But the critical point here is that you may not need to delve deeply into your whys and wherefores, you just need to trick your brain. 

Entrepreneur Mel Robbins discovered such a hack when she created her famous five second rule. 

She encourages her followers to count down to action. After realising that the simple act of saying out loud, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 can spur you into action when nothing else will – not all the reasoning and therapy in the world.  

It’s a simple hack, but if you are interested, she clearly explains the science behind it and how you can use it effectively in all areas of your life.

 

Just go to YouTube and type in the five second rule. 

 

So step four, focus on one task at a time. 

Overwhelm is another common cause of procrastination. 

For example, large projects can cause you to procrastinate or having an ultimate goal that you are so far away from reaching that you can’t focus on it or believe you’ll even achieve it. 

For example, to take an everyday life example, you cannot lose 35 pounds today or even in a week, but you can choose to go for a 20 minute walk today. And every day, once that has turned into a habit, you’ll barely even think about adding some more small steps towards your big goal of losing 35 pounds, like making a swap from a cappuccino to a herbal tea or a glass of water. Each of these steps adds up. And if you don’t allow yourself to obsess about your daily goal and just keep moving forward, you may find yourself suddenly close to your goal.

Speaker 1 (14:15):

And that is the most motivating inspiration of all.

 Just break down any large goal into smaller mini goals. 

If it’s still too daunting, repeat the process, break each level down into smaller and smaller mini goals until you find you can tackle them and move forward again. 

The key is to work with your brain instead of fighting it and apply this strategy to any project, including your business. 

Afterall, Olympic figure skaters aren’t born able to do triple lutzes and quads. They have to work towards that figure by figure after first learning how to skate. 

Breaking a big project or goal into smaller pieces makes it easier to tackle. And psychologically far less daunting. 

 

Step five, change your environment. 

You might be surprised at how effective working in a different environment can be as a procrastination busting strategy. Sitting in the same place in your office every day, especially when you work from home could be pretty uninspiring.

Speaker 1 (15:22):

Try working in another room today instead of at your desk.   Working in the garden, if the season and the weather allow it. Maybe getting away from your house to go to work at the library or in a coffee shop might work for you.  

Or going to the park or a conservation area and working surrounded by nature, suit this to your personality and work preferences. 

If noise, people and generally life all around you inspire you the way it did JK Rowling when she was writing Harry Potter, then you’ll probably find the coffee shop most appealing. 

If you like solitude, silence and safety, a library is ideal. 

If you live for the beach, smells and sounds of nature, a conservation order or the right type of park should do the trick for you.

What changing your location does for you is it breaks patterns. And if patterns include procrastination, this can be an effective procrastination buster.

 

 Step six, work with a coach, accountability partner, or simply announce your intentions to the world. 

Answering to someone else can motivate you to get your work done. That’s where your accountability partners come in. 

Before we discuss this suggestion, consider that there is more than one way to find the right type of accountability partner. 

You could choose an accountability group.

 It could be a public group, a closed group, or even a paid group. It could be like my Business Confidence Members Club, where people come together and set their goals on a Monday and are held accountable by me for them on a Friday. 

The most significant advantage of groups lies in the fact that if one person isn’t able to cheer you on or hold you accountable, several more, most likely will be available as you a great mix of personalities with all types of procrastination, bugbears, and it can be especially comforting or validating when more than one person expresses support or assures you that you are not the only one and not a failure.

Speaker 1 (17:32):

Plus seeing others grapple with your particular problems and realising you are not, could be the biggest morale boost of all finding yourself an accountability partner. This can be a friend, peer, or even your, your VA. 

You’ll be able to think of the person to approach in the groups and membership sites you belong to. This works best if you both have a personal stake in fighting procrastination, for example, your assistant might have a highly personal stake in helping you stay accountable because she won’t get paid as much if you don’t produce the work for her to do. 

A coach or a mentor. You might wish to cut straight to the starting line and hire a coach. One significant advantage of this approach is you are more likely to follow through if you are paying good money for being held accountable. Plus if you choose the right coach, she has seen it all when it comes to procrastination and she will have tips and tricks up her sleeve ideally suited for you and your personality.

Speaker 1 (18:36):

If you’re interested in learning more about the ways that I hold my clients accountable, then message me with the word accountable and I will personally respond.

 And remember, you can always let your mailing list and social media know that you are holding yourself accountable as well. 

Whether your goal is a personal one, such as losing weight or planning to finally release that new course you’ve been working on for weeks. 

 

Step seven, surround yourself with winners. 

Constant exposure to people who are doing what you want to do will have a positive effect on your business and your business practices. Surrounding yourself with winners is always one of the most effective ways to find inspiration and strategies that work. 

Even within the seven ways we’ve already discussed there are many variations on how to apply them and not every method will work for every person. Success is also based on one’s individual learning style and preferences, as well as one’s personality style.

Speaker 1 (19:40):

This is something I learned a great deal of in my corporate learning and development career and I consider myself an expert in understanding adults learning preferences. 

• For example, if you are an audio learner, you’d probably have more success listening to podcasts or an audio book on your iPad. 
• If you are a kinesthetic tactile learner, one who learns through hands on doing, you might prefer a local group where you can engage one to one with people, brainstorming and problem solving are part of kinesthetic learning style. 
• If you’re a linear or visual learner, you may prefer to take a course such as Gregory Cameron’s confessions of an procrastinator. This is one of Udemy’s highest rated courses on the topic.
•  Linear learners will learn by a step by step approach, while visual learners will appreciate the reinforcement of the onscreen video. If you are a linear learner who prefers strictly text, you might want to choose a good book on the topic.

Speaker 1 (20:47):

One that I can recommend is the five minute procrastination addiction cure ‘Eliminating Procrastination by starting in five minutes or less’ by Magnus Mueller, which has been noted to have great effect for such a simple book. 

I want to finish off by saying procrastination and distraction also go hand in hand and that’s all part and parcel of modern day living. 

Procrastination can be beaten as Mel Robbins, inventor of the five second rule discovered. Sometimes all it takes is one little hack. 

So which of the seven ways we’ve explored today resonates most with you. And finally, a reminder, if you want support with procrastination or to find out more about how I help my clients stay accountable, then message me on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn with the word accountable and let’s have a chat.

Speaker 1 (21:45):

Okay. That’s a wrap day. Thanks for the listening. Please subscribe, rate and review the Midlife Business Show. And if you’ve enjoyed it, tell your business buddies all about it. 

Bye for now.