Is there something you should be doing right now, but you just don’t know where to start? Or do you feel so overwhelmed by all that’s on your plate that you have a hard time quieting your brain when it’s time to go to bed at night?
Here are a few ideas to help you out…
Main Points from the Video
(1) Deferring isn’t the same thing as procrastinating.
If now isn’t the best time to accomplish what’s on your mind, that’s okay. You can add a quick note to your task list to think about it a few weeks from today, you can create a trigger for the future using your digital calendar, or you can utilize a service like followupthen.com.
(2) If a specific project paralyzes you, try focusing on the very next action.
The idea of “next actions” comes from David Allen’s bestseller, Getting Things Done, and it consists of boiling the project down to the very next specific task that needs to be done. This needs to be so easy that you can’t possibly procrastinate because there is zero stress involved. (It takes practice, but it’s totally worth it to learn this skill.)
Now that you’ve watched the video, what are your tips for avoiding procrastination? Please share in the comments!
Thanks for this! You’d think I’d know this by now, but the way you phrased it here just connected with me really well. I had to pay a bill, and was dreading it. I kept putting it off. I heard you here and thought: What is the very next action? It was “find the bill” (as in, look through the bill folder). Well, I did it very easily and the whole task was done to completion in about 3 minutes. What torture I had been going through, by putting it off. The NEXT ACTION, finding the bill, made the rest of it so easy. Thanks April and team– you guys are so wonderful! Best of luck on this new endeavor– I’m excited to see all you do!
You are the best, Ingrid! I loved that specific example you shared. Way to go! 🙂