You can’t step into your greatness and stop playing small if procrastination is your Bombshell BFF…
34 Big Ways to Say “Bye Felicia” to Your Procrastination
[YouTube Link]
Hey Gorgeous,
I am almost through all of your emails about the things holding you back from having a Bombshell Breakthrough Year and being your Business Bombshell BEST. (Don’t worry – we’re gonna get all of our stuff sorted out! Last week we talked about people pleasing…)
I asked you to share so that I could better serve you and in preparation for my upcoming Sacred Business Academy “Become the Guru” program. As I read your emails, you say that in addition to self-doubt, and lack of information, connections, or resources, procrastination is a biggie!
If you have issues with procrastination, you are not alone. Procrastination used to be my BFF. You can’t step into your greatness and stop playing small with procrastination blocking the way.
Procrastination is an art and a skill that I had been honing since I was a baby goddess in the 3rd grade. Deadline in my head equaled crunch time. Then I went to a college that didn’t have exams you could crash study for. Instead, Sarah Lawrence had 20-30 page papers on “the regular.” I had no choice but to revise my procrastinating ways.
This was multiplied when I become a professional writer and speaker. My life was built on deadlines. I had to create ways to beat off the procrastination devil with a stick. Many writers are prone to writer’s block which I never understood until a couple of years ago.
I have done many different things, but being a writer is the one thing I’ve identified with my whole life. I never had any kind of writer’s block or stuckness until I sat down to write “The Sacred Bombshell Handbook of Self-Love.” For a while, the Muse stopped taking my phone calls.
I knew that there was a deeper meaning to my supposed writer’s block and flat out procrastination. It was because I was telling personal stories that I didn’t feel emotionally ready to tell. I was worried about being judged, concerned about upsetting my loved ones. I had all kinds of fear bundled up in it, including massive self-doubt. When I dealt with my stuff, my writing flowed.
Okay, here’s how I’ve broken my own procrastination and writer’s block when I need to prepare a speech or get a project done. These methods have also worked for my coaching clients.
It’s a long list, so don’t just read the first few then BEAT YOURSELF UP… 😉 I know you, procrastinators…
You bombshell deadline?
Here are 34 Sacred Bombshell ways to stop procrastinating and slay your own procrastination dragon:
1. Do a pattern interrupt.
Disrupt the way you always do things. This will tell your brain that it has to come up with some new ways of doing things. For example, if you always sit at your desk try to break your procrastination by taking your computer to the dining room table. If you always begin working at 7AM, move your day around and start with a workout instead.
2. Morning pages.
I first read about morning pages in the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. Morning pages are 20 minutes of freewriting first thing in the morning. It gets the gobbled gook out of your brain so that you can focus. I recently started doing morning pages again after not doing them for years and it’s a game-changer.
We all have subconscious thoughts running though our minds all day. Morning pages are like closing all of the open windows on your desktop so that your internal computer just runs faster. This has been a huge procrastination-breaker for me.
3. Ask the procrastination.
I’m a cosmic girl so I believe that there is a cosmic solution to practically every situation. Try getting still with yourself and asking the procrastination, “what are you here to teach me?”
Why are you blocked with doing a particular task? Getting your speech written, cleaning the garage or doing your taxes means something else.
What are you REALLY afraid of? Deal with your real fears and the procrastination will evaporate.
4. Butt in chair.
The answer to the old childhood riddle, “how do you eat an elephant” is “one bite at a time. If you are procrastinating about getting a project done, now is the time to be straight up with yourself.
Every day put your butt in a chair with a timer for 30 minutes and get it done. For example, if you have a huge decluttering job, spend 20 minutes on it a day rather than thinking you need to knock it out in one weekend. Eventually, it will be done. This is the same way to write a book. Butt in chair.
5. Take a social media blackout.
I happen to love technology – and social media is great. However, at least once a year I take a social media blackout. It’s usually a brownout because I still have to access email for work, but this is so wonderful for unblocking my procrastination habits. Get off Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and the rest for 30 days and your brain can focus on getting what you need done.
6. Create better boundaries.
Did you say yes to something you know that you just don’t have the bandwidth to do right now? And now you’re procrastinating about getting it done?
Regulate your yeses and nos. Muti-tasking for all of the hype is pretty bogus. Focus creates results. Be stronger with your boundaries and make sure that you’re doing something because you really want or need to do it.
7. Visualize it finished.
This really should have been number one. Seeing things from the end has tremendous power. Think about how you’ll feel when it’s over. See the task as complete. Write a diary entry about it from the future as if it is already complete. Act as the person you will be when it is done.
8. Delegate.
Can you delegate the tasks that are blocking you to someone else? Again, release the fantasy that you will suddenly morph into someone else.
When you give up things that are blocking you, you leave time and energy for tasks that are in your zone of genius and will take you further.If laundry is draining you, outsource it. Find a drop off service. If clutter is your bugaboo, find a Groupon for housekeeping. Got errands to run? Check out
Taskrabbit. Find a local messenger service and add them to your team. If you can’t afford full-time help, get a part time VA, Virtual Assistant. All of these have been life-changing for me.
9. Go public.
Declare on facebook that you will get it done by whatever date. Your tribe will start to encourage you and cheer you on – and because you have declared it publicly you’ll be more likely to step your game up. If it’s a blog or product launch, for example, pick a date and put it out there!
10. Ask yourself, what is the cost?
What is the cost of you not getting it done? What will it mean for you to stay stuck? The way to not let this further terrorize you into paralysis is to follow it up with a positive visualization or the task done.
11. Got accountability?
Lose the do it alone mentality. Get a coach or accountability buddy.
When I work with coaching clients, they accomplish more in 90 days than they did sometimes in the whole year or two before.
The strategy, new skillsets and soulcare are not the only part of the equation. There is also the accountability. Stop waiting for yourself to magically morph into someone else and gift yourself with an accountability partnership.
What are you waiting for?
12. Release perfectionism.
As a writer I know that the part of my brain that creates is different than the part of my job that edits. Perfectionism can cause paralysis. Let that go. Whatever you’re doing won’t be perfect anyway. So what? Approach the task first with a just getting it done approach. Then later, you can go back and polish it off.
Similarly, when I am writing a book or anything, my first approach after my outlining and research is just to get it out. Get the words on the page. Editing comes later. Trying to do both at the same time will constipate your creativity.
13. Dance it up.
Take a dance break. I know this sounds corny but it helps me. I happen to know that my sister does the same. Sometimes, you’ve got to just dance it out. Get the energy flowing.
Turn up your fight song and do it! Nothing like a private dance off to “Who Run the World? Girls!” to remind you that you are a Sacred Bombshell and “you got this!”
14. Bombshell stance.
My coaching certification is in neuro-linguistic programming and studies prove that physiology affects destiny. So if you want to feel powerful, take a powerful stance. This works for speeches, meetings, and getting your work done. Put your hands on your hips like Wonder Woman or Superman, look in the mirror and yell – yell, “YEAH!” Remind yourself that you are a bombshell in total control of herself!
15. Introduce new information.
If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you will keep getting what you’ve been getting. Get some new info into your brain to get things going. Go to YouTube and google your topic and see what an expert advises for whatever you’re trying to do.
Get off your duff and go somewhere like a library or museum related to what you’re trying to do. Read articles. Interview someone helpful. Get new info – and then don’t stay stuck in this research phase – get going.
16. Trust divine timing.
In a previous missive, we talked about the power of seasons. Maybe the timing is off. Remember I said that I wanted to launch my Sacred Business Academy “Become the Guru” program in January and then my dad got sick? I talked about how much more powerful it will be now with the April launch.
Maybe this just is not the time for whatever you are trying to do. I am all about persistence. But persistence requires motion. Maybe what you’re doing requires you to evolve more to properly deliver it. Trust that. Trust yourself, and trust divine timing.
17. Stop waiting for inspiration.
Writers and artists talk to me about connecting with their muse. They often feel that there are blackout periods where things are just dry, and then the pearly gates of the goddess Muse open and suddenly they are in a fertile period. They think they have to get everything finished before the gates close again.
This will sound counter-intuitive but stop waiting for inspiration. Just get started and inspiration will catch up with you. I promise! It’s Newton’s Law of Motion. An object at rest tend to stay at rest. An object in motion tends to stay in motion.
18. Self-care yourself.
That’s not a typo. That’s exactly how I mean it. Take self-care as a verb and self-care yourself. That means to love up on yourself mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. What else is going on in your life? Why are you blocked?
Instead of beating yourself up, try the opposite approach. Nurture yourself with healthy foods, affirmations, and meditation.
You are more powerful than you know.
19. Upgrade your tribe.
Who are you spending time with? Get some new energy in your bones by spending time with new folks. Go to a meeting or event that you would have previously deemed not your tribe or out of your league.
Let yourself be amazed and inspired and then see how this breaks through your failure to launch.
20. Read a manifesto.
Manifestos are badass proclamations of belief. Here’s ours from “The Sacred Bombshell Handbook of Self-Love.” Two famous ones are Lululemon’s and the Holstee Manifesto. Inspired yet? Maybe you can break your procrastination by writing your own!
21. Subscribe to inspiration.
What comes into your inbox? Negative news and problems and gossip and griping? Or positive energy and solutions and thoughts on living your best life? A daily blast of inspiration is needed with all of the life stuff coming your way.
Subscribe to the Daily Om or the Daily Love and have feel good kisses coming into your inbox every day.
22. Pledge to do it badly.
Along the lines of releasing perfection, what if you flat out say this will be a mess. Then just do it. Chances are that you know your stuff so it won’t be a complete mess. Then any task can be tidied and polished afterward.
23. Ask for help.
This is self-explanatory. You don’t have to do everything all by yourself.
24. Do the worst thing first.
If you have a list of things to do, the inclination is to do the easiest ones first. Get the bugaboo out of the way and then the smaller tasks will flow.
25. Be encouraged by affirmations.
People have told me that they pull one of my African Goddess Affirmation cards every day and it helps them stay inspired. You can also find positive affirmation cards by Louise Hay, Dr. Maya Angelou, and Iyanla Vanzant.
26. Clean up your personal stuff.
Is your personal life a hot buttered mess? No wonder you can’t get ‘er done.
Whether you are dealing with grief, stress, or overwhelm, see a therapist, read a book or take some action to clean up your personal gunk. You deserve to feel good in your mind, body, and spirit.
Find a therapist, coach, or counselor to talk to if you’ve exhausted your friends. Then come back to the task when you feel a little more solid.
27. Create systems.
Instead of thinking you need a totally new speech for every event, know your core message and how to tailor it to the needs of every audience. Of course, we’ll go deeper with this in the upcoming Sacred Business Academy “Become the Guru” program.
Want More?
7 more procrastination-breaking sacred bombshell quickies:
- Break it down to baby steps.
- Tie the task into your present life,
- Work with where you are right now,
- Make time for weekly playdates,
- Have a nightly or morning Bombshell Power Hour of recharging meditation, affirmations, self-care, and positive reading to set you up for positive days,
- Let it go and let the universe take care of it.
- Break your day into shifts and set reminder alarms.
