If there’s one think I know introverted women entrepreneurs deal with, it’s procrastination… how? Because I am one!
I get the feelings surrounding procrastination… to be honest I procrastinated on writing this blog post and video (which I also share in the video).
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waZExYdsens]
But, once I realized that I’ve been procrastinating, I take a few steps back to assess the situation. I then take myself through a series of 5 questions. After going through these questions I am usually unstuck.
Now we’e going to go through the questions and see why these questions are so important for you to ask yourself.
How to Overcome Procrastination for Introverted Women Entrepreneurs
Q1: What exactly are you procrastinating?
This question identifies what you are procrastinating. This brings awareness to the fact that something is amiss.
Q2: Why are you procrastinating on completing this?
One of the biggest keys to overcoming procrastination is self awareness. What is self awareness? According to Merriam Webster…
Self Awareness (n): conscious knowledge of one’s own character, feelings, motives, and desires
When you first answer this question your first response might be “Because I don’t wanna do it” and that’s fine but that’s not where you stop. The next question is “WHY don’t you wanna do it?” and you keep going with this series of questions until you get to the root reason.
Maybe the reason you don’t want to do it is because you were told by someone else that you MUST do it but they didn’t tell you why or the point. Maybe the reason you don’t want to do it is because you don’t know how to do it and you haven’t decided on if you were going to learn how to do it or delegate it.
Side note
I actually refer to this type of procrastination as a point of procrastination. I call it a point of procrastination because this items completion hinges on something else being completed that wasn’t on the list or top of mind. So it just lingers. In the video I share how to handle this point so you can get moving again. Once you’ve determined why you are actually procrastinating it’s time to move on to the next question: Do you still want to do this?
Q3: Knowing what you now know, do you still want to do this?
This is a decision point. Do you keep going or do you consciously decide to drop it? When I was deciding on this I decided to keep going because I know a few of my clients have struggled with procrastination in the past and I have as well. So this is a needed resource that allows me to serve my people. Especially since I value their missions and really want them to be successful. The key here is to make a CONSCIOUS choice to either
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- keep going because you want to and it moves you closer to your goals or
- to let it go without the guilt and shame.
Making this decision will free your brain up to do more important things than shaming yourself for procrastinating. If you decide to keep going then chances there is another reason for why you’ve been procrastinating will come up… overwhelm.
Q4: How can you break it down further?
If you’re dealing with overwhelm because you are a creative intuitive type like me, then you are seeing the big picture. There’s nothing wrong with seeing the big picture. The challenge here is if you can’t see the individual steps you need to take, overwhelm will stop you in your tracks. Overwhelm often comes from thinking TOO many steps ahead or seeing the big picture without knowing how to break it down. Breaking things down into steps is a more strategic thinking approach than creative. But there are some questions you can ask like… what happened in order for this to happen? Like with a beautiful garden… what happened before it was able to bloom the way it did? Here’s the example of some of the steps they took:
- How they wanted the garden to look was 1.
- Then they plotted out the design.
- Then they decided on what plants would go where and they purchased the seeds and planted them.
- They then fertilized and watered.
- And then they waited. Clearing weeds as needed and watering and over time they had a beautiful garden.
They didn’t focus on getting it absolutely perfectly designed. I’m sure they made some adjustments as they went along and they reminded themselves that good things take time to come to fruition 😀
Side note
As creative, introverted types it’s best for us to operate in projects. Meaning there’s a start and a finish. If there’s no finish it can linger on and on and drain your energy! I create a planner that’s especially for creative introverted types! Its the P3 Productivity Journal for Visionaries. Click here to learn more!
And finally…
Q5: How can you CELEBRATE yourself?
So often we don’t celebrate ourselves for completing the things we do. We just move on to the next thing and wonder why we feel unappreciated and unaccomplished. It’s because we aren’t appreciating ourselves and celebrating ourselves for completing things. Guess what… what you are completing is good enough and warrants celebration. So celebrate. Choose how to celebrate yourself when you check off big things and small things off your list. I’m rooting for you! So to recap those 5 questions to ask yourself to help you overcome big-picture procrastination are:
- What exactly are you procrastinating?
- WHY are you procrastinating on this action item?
- Do you still want to do this action item?
- How can you break it down further?
- How can you celebrate yourself?
During the live video I did in on Facebook, Jen asked a great question which I answered in the video. I’m also going to give it its own blog post: “Is it ever ok to procrastinate?” Great question right?? Anyway, let me know in the comments which question will help you get moving again and if you have any tips to share about procrastination please feel free to share as well. I may compile a new article with crowd-sourced tips!
Thank you!
Until next time
Coach Brittany
