Stages of Procrastination by Chibird
You’ve written down your creative goals and listed out the tasks you need to complete to reach them. You’ve scheduled them in your calendar. {If you haven’t done this, check out my last guest post.}
Now what?
It’s good to have tasks and goals written down. It makes it more likely that you’ll achieve them. But, there’s still a little something called excuses.
I couldn’t really get that done today, because I had to get my hair cut. I know I said I was going send out a newsletter every Wednesday, but I really want to have lunch with the girls instead. I would have listed a new product on Etsy, but I stubbed my toe.
Excuses. We all make them.
Here are three things you need to do that’ll help you reach those goals and stop making excuses.
1. Stop giving yourself reasons to make excuses.
This means saying “no” to stuff. When your friend from high school who you don’t really like anymore asks you to get lunch and go shopping, say no. When a blogger who doesn’t have any comments and or much traffic asks you to provide a product for a giveaway, say no. When your kid’s teacher asks if you can make 237 brownies for a bake sale, say no.
If you start saying no to more stuff, you’ll continue to give yourself space and time to work towards your goals. When you fill your calendar with stuff you don’t really want to do, you make it less likely that you’ll have time to do the stuff you want to do.
I have to admit that I struggle with this one. But, I’ve been working on it lately, and it feels really good. I challenge you to do the same.
2. Cut back.
Go through your calendar today. Look at all of the things you’ve got planned for the next month. Circle anything that is pulling you farther away from your goals or doesn’t relate to your goals. What can you get rid of? If you want to add more stuff to your to-do list to reach your goals, something has to give.
If you can’t completely give it up, can you hire other people to do it? Can you pay someone to do the cleaning? Instead of redesigning your logo yourself, can you hire a graphic designer to do it? When I mention this, many creative entrepreneurs immediately say, “I can’t afford to hire someone.” But, before you go there and immediately shut down the idea, figure out the costs and benefits.
For instance, I recently had my blog banner redesigned. I could have spent hours and hours trying to come up with something myself—sifting through fonts and different shades of teal. Instead, I hired a professional who could do it much faster than I ever could. And, this saves me money. I didn’t spend those hours working on my new banner. I spent them doing the stuff that I do best, and that stuff makes me money. Before you rule it out, check it out. Then make a decision on whether it’s worth it to your bottom line.
3. Hold yourself accountable.
This is a big one. It’s easy to make excuses when we don’t have anyone to answer to. Don’t give yourself this easy out. Partner up with another creative entrepreneur and share your goals with that person. Keep each other on track by checking in regularly. Share specific tasks you want to accomplish.
For example, if one of your goals is to get 10 new products listed on Etsy by next week, share that goal with your partner. Then, you’ll be more likely to actually get them up, because your partner is going to ask about it in a week.
It’s easy to make excuses, but if you implement the three things above, you’ll be less likely to make excuses and more likely to take action.
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About April
April Bowles-Olin helps creative entrepreneurs turn their dreams into reality through her website, Blacksburg Belle, where she writes about marketing, blogging, and increasing business success. She uses her background in psychology to help creatives reach their goals, take charge of their inner critic, and build businesses around their dream lifestyles.
Stages of Procrastination by Chibird
COME STACCARSI DALLE SCUSE E REALIZZARE I TUOI OBIETTIVI
Hai scritto i tuoi obiettivi creativi e fatto una lista dei compiti da fare per raggiungerli. Li hai programmati nel tuo calendario. {Se non lo hai fatto, leggi il mio precedente guest post.}
E adesso?
Va bene avere dei compiti e degli obiettivi messi nero su bianco. Fa si che sia molto più probabile che tu li raggiunga. Ma c’è ancora una piccola cosa chiamata “scuse”.
Non avrei potuto davvero farlo oggi, dovevo andare a tagliarmi i capelli. So che avevo detto che avrei spedito una newsletter ogni Mercoledì, ma voglio pranzare con le ragazze. Avrei dovuto listare un nuovo prodotto in Etsy, ma mi sono fatto male al dito del piede.
Scuse. Ne troviamo tutti.
Qui ci sono tre cose che devi fare e che ti aiuteranno a raggiungere questi obiettivi e a smettere di trovare scuse.
1. Smetti di darti ragioni per trovare scuse.
Questo significa dire “no” alle cose. Quando la tua amica del liceo che non ti piace più ti chiede ti pranzare insieme e uscire a fare shopping, dì no. Quando un blogger che non ha nessun commento e/o poco traffico ti chiede di dargli un prodotto per un giveaway, dì di no. Quando l’insegnante di tuo figlio ti chiede di preparare 237 dolcetti per la vendita di torte a scuola, dì no.
Se inizi a dire di no a più cose, continuerai a dare a te sesso lo spazio e il tempo per lavorare ai tuoi obiettivi. Quando riempi il tuo calendario con cose che non vuoi davvero fare, è molto meno probabile che tu riesca a trovare il tempo per fare ciò che vuoi fare.
Devo ammettere che anche io lotto con questa cosa. Ma ci ho lavorato su ultimamente, e ci si sente davvero bene. Ti sfido a fare lo stesso.
2. Taglia.
Sfoglia il tuo calendario oggi. Guarda tutte le cose che hai pianificato per il prossimo mese. Cerchia qualunque cosa ti stia allontanando dai tuoi obiettivi o che non è legata ad essi. Cosa può essere eliminato? Se vuoi aggiungere più cose alla tua to-do-list (lista delle cose da fare), qualcosa deve essere eliminato.
Se non è possibile rinunciare completamente, puoi pagare altre persone che lo fanno per te? Puoi pagare qualcuno che fa le pulizie? Invece di ridisegnare il tuo logo da solo, puoi pagare un grafico per farlo? Quando dico questo, molti imprenditori dicono immediatamente “non posso permettermi di pagare qualcuno”. Ma prima che anche tu lo pensi accantonando l’idea, realizza i costi e i benefici.
Per esempio, recentemente ho fatto ridisegnare il banner del mio blog. Avrei potuto spendere ore ed ore cercando di fare qualcosa da sola – spulciando tra i diversi caratteri e le tonalità di verde.
Invece ho chiesto ad un professionista che l’avrebbe fatto in molto meno tempo di quanto avrei fatto io. E questo mi ha fatto risparmiare soldi. Non ho impiegato quelle ore a lavorare sul mio banner. Le ho spese facendo quello che io faccio meglio, e ciò mi porta dei guadagni. Prima di scartare l’idea, pensaci. Poi prendi una decisione e vedi se ne vale la pena in base alla tua situazione.
3. Renditi responsabile.
Questo è un punto davvero importante. E’ facile trovare scuse quando non abbiamo nessuno a cui dobbiamo rispondere. Non farti prendere da questa cosa. Trova un partner, un’altro imprenditore e condividi i tuoi obiettivi con questa persona. Tenetevi in careggiata l’un l’altra controllando-vi regolarmente. Condividi i compiti specifici che vuoi portare a termine.
Per esempio, se uno dei tuoi obiettivi è avere 10 nuovi prodotti listati in Etsy entro la prossima settimana, condividi questo obiettivo col tuo partner. Allora sarà molto più probabile che lo farai, perché il tuo partner te lo chiederà entro una settimana.
E’ facile trovare scuse, ma se implementi queste tre cose, sarai meno portato a trovarne e di più, invece, ad agire.
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Chi è April
April Bowles-Olin aiuta gli imprenditori creativi a far diventare i loro sogni realtà attraverso il suo sito, Blacksburg Belle, dove scrive di marketing, blogging, e di come aumentare il successo della vostra attività. Usa il suo background in psicologia per aiutare i creativi a raggiungere i loro obiettivi, a prendere atto del loro senso critico, e costruire un’attività plasmata sullo stile di vita che sognano.
Sono arrivata qui da un link su Casa Facile…. Questo post e’ stato illuminante e mi ha fatto capire che devo lavorarci ancora un bel po’ su per combinare qualcosa di serio con le mie creazioni. Ti ho linkato nel post di oggi, perché vorrei aprire INA bella discussione costruttiva. Grazie mille per gli spunti!!!!
Ciao Francesca e benvenuta!
Sono contenta che questo post (e questa sezione) ti abbia ispirato a riflettere su un pò di cose per il tuo business creativo.
Sono convinta che senza un “piano d’azione” sia davvero difficile ottenere reali progressi e risultati.
Grazie a te di essere passata di qui e del tuo costruttivo commento!
Oh my!! I see my myself in this post… it’s really easy for me to make excuses and later on regret that why i didn’t do this or that.. This are great tips!!! Well i hope i will not make excuses anymore not to practice this… Thanks April!
Extremely appreciate your honest advice. Very helpful and useful on balancing my life :) Thanks!
Happy you find the post helpful Brittany!
Thanks a lot for stopping by indeed :)
Wow, I so identify with this post!
I find that I am constantly having ideas for other things I could do and get much more excited about those new things than the task at hand. I’ve taken to keeping a journal with me all the time to write these new ideas down so I can come back to them when I have the time – it seems to work as I think I’m mostly worried about forgetting my ideas if I don’t act on them all right now.
I’m also very good at making excuses – or telling untruths – “it’s a better use of my time”, “I’ve done enough on that first project”, “maybe its better if I leave that first project now so I can come back to it with fresh eyes”.
It’s daft really because I know that the days I’ve felt best about are the days where I’ve stuck to the plan and got things finished as I wanted, giving them proper attention and an end product that I am proud of.
We really are our own worst enemies!
I should get back to all the things I planned to do today, reading blogs was not on my list you’ll be surprised to learn :)
Hey Sam, thank you so much for your super smart feedback! ( I don’t know why your comment didn’t show up on my email inbox, I’m reading it only now).
I think that the “having constantly new ideas” syndrome is typical of creatives and artists. I completely relate with you on this.
And I use to write them all down on a notebook too. It’s surely super useful to don’t loose anything.
I like the point where you talk about moving from a project/a task to another.
This is a great example of making excuses too. I’ve experienced this many times too.
But once you realize that this is the worst way to make the important goals of your dreams come true, it’s easiest to come back on track. Or at least adjust and reorganize the journey.
Well, I’m happy that you at the end find some inspiring things to work on today :)
A hug!
Davvero complimenti April, più efficace di un intero libro (in inglese), sul tema, letto qualche mese fa! :)
argghhh.
I’m the leader of procastination!
:(
This post is full of great tips!
I’m going to say my boyfriend to control me every day aahahha!
Well that’s a cycle I know all too well! I have often found myself at step 5 and invariably followed step 6, so I think this post is really calling me out. I have stepped back from my business these past couple of weeks to focus on work commitments. But once those have been taken care of I need to come and reread this post and make sure I make things happen!
Focusing is important! I think you’re in the right way.
Then there are so many things along the way that constantly distract us that it’s easy to get lost and confused about what it’s really important for our creative business.
I think that we should always keep in mind these points. Then also brainstorming on our goals and the relative tasks we need to accomplish them, is a cycle that we should repeat.
I’ve lost count of the times I’ve done it in this first year of blogging. And must say that it also helped me to better refine my goals and so to bring every time my projects a step closer to where I want them to be.
You can write some short sentences down and hang them somewhere that’s always visible to you (it works!) :)
It is sooo easy to make excuses all the time. I know. I’m a pro at making excuses!
ahahahhaha well I think that, more or less, we’re all PROfessional on this discipline! Me included.
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