One simple way to destroy procrastination
Three days ago I was staring at the “blank screen”, wondering what to write.
Countless thoughts. A stream of ideas. A bit of research.
And I was yet to write something.
Yes.
I was procrastinating.
I was moments away from this…
And then, a “light-bulb” moment.
A simple strategy I had learned from years of collecting underpants.
A beautiful, serendipitous moment when my struggle became the solution to the problem at hand — writing.
We have all been there. Whatever we are working on seems to be going extremely well, and then WHAM!
You hit a wall.
Everything comes to a standstill!
Inspiration has evaporated.
Progress? No more.
Motivation? B***h Please.
The devil on your shoulder says, “You’ve been good all these days. Just for today, take a break. You deserve it.”
While a “break” may seem a good idea, it often results in 1 day becoming 2, 2 becoming 5, and you giving up altogether.
Remember your last workout programme?
All it took was one break to throw you off course.
The same will happen to your New Year resolutions.
Procrastination saps your energy. It makes you believe you deserve a break, when you don’t. It also makes you believe you can’t do what you set out to do.
In short, it shortchanges your hustle.
Plus, the beast is shrewd. It throws all sorts of reasoning to make you give in. On the surface, they all seem legit.
Steven Pressfield’s brilliant books, Turning Pro and Do the Work address procrastination and other forms of resistance in detail.
Before getting into how to overcome this beast, let’s get our heads around why we procrastinate. It’s not that we don’t appreciate the importance of the task at hand. Right?
Here’s why I succumbed to mediocrity, on many instances, suffocating my better self:
- The project was just too big
- I was just plain fucking lazy
- Wasn’t focused
- No clear plan of action
- Failed to set a deadline
- Never went “All in!”
- Didn’t want it badly enough
When Lao Tzu said “the journey of a thousand miles starts with one step”, he didn’t only mean that first step.
He was talking of that first step, followed by another. And another.
And herein lies the answer to overcoming procrastination.
You need to do one thing, and one thing only — keep showing up.
No matter what, SHOW UP.
In fact, showing up is at the core of my writing project.
Yes, I’ve failed many times. But, I’m still here, aren’t I?
My repeated failures are the very reasons that I’ve begun to understand the power of showing up.
My failure is how this post was conceived.
Woody Allen, the legendary American filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian, and musician whose career spans more than sixty years said,
80 percent of success is showing up.
And it’s not like he never had failures. Quite a few of his movies bombed. But, that never stopped him. He kept showing up.
I don’t know about you, but, for me, 80% success is better than nothing!
Better an average product shipped than a futile quest for perfection.
How do I make myself show up?
It’s simple, really. But, not easy.
Aim for Small Wins.
Want to do 100 push-ups in a row?
Start by knocking off a set of 10 (or whatever number you’re comfortable with) and work your way up, daily.
You’ve got to show up every day.
This is true for launching a business, or any other venture that’s meaningful to you.
Small wins will help internalise what’s required, thus removing the “effort” part of showing up.
Don’t sweat the results.
Focus on showing up, every day.
Even Stephen King writes every day. On holidays and his birthday! So did Hemingway.
Don’t waste time waiting for a productivity hack or cool tactic to build momentum.
If your project is important to you,
add it to your calendar and get on with it.
As you cross off each day, task by task, you’ll build momentum.
On its own, a day’s work may not seem like much. But, over time, it becomes a volume of work.
Your work.
That feeling alone should feed your soul to fulfill your potential.
Keep at it and you’ll find yourself stepping away from the sidelines.
You’re not part of the audience anymore.
You are a doer. A performer.
Remember, when the journey seems impossible…
When you are overwhelmed…
When you are stuck…
And you feel like pulling the plug…
You are NOT alone.
You’re not the only one facing a demon hell-bent on making you quit.
Countless others face the same, daily.
Including me.
However, will you be one of the few who keep showing up no matter what?
Or will you whittle and die on the roadside, forever obscure. Forgotten.
All it takes is one time block, every day.
Call to Action
- Whatever project you’re working on, allocate 15–30 mins towards it for the next 30 days.
- Put it on your calendar. Protect that time. It’s sacred.
- Knock it off first thing in the morning, before the day’s distractions get in the way.
- On days that you absolutely do not feel like doing it — and believe me there’ll be many- sit your ass down. Set your timer to 15 minutes. Shut off everything else, and work. Do something that moves your needle. You’ll be glad when that alarm goes off. But, you’ve finished your task for the day. Small win.
Let go of your need to be perfect, and do it for the love of it.
“Good enough”, is good enough.
Drop me a line and let me now how forcing yourself to show up works for you.
