Turning Procrastination to Productivity

Maybe this sounds familiar. You have a project you started, but you never find the motivation or inspiration to finish it. You tell yourself there’s plenty of time, so you push it off…and you keep pushing it off until you’re pulling your hair out, running around with red cracks in your eyes and panicking like a headless chicken. If this is you, don’t worry. You are not alone, and there is hope for a better tomorrow.

Shake Off Your Fears

Making goals for yourself can tempt you to procrastinate more than you know, especially if you have a fear of failure—like myself—to not accomplish said goal. After all, isn’t it easier and better for your self-esteem to put off a project that’s doomed to fail? Maybe if we just push it from our mind, we’ll be able to handle it eventually? This is as foolish as my kids believing if they hide under a blanket and can’t see me, I can’t see them. Your project will not finish itself. Letting fear discourage you won’t help either. Be proactive in your positivity, because negativity will swoop in and stop you up every time if it can.

Make Reachable Goals

Most of us set goals—and that’s a great thing to do—as long as it’s a reasonable goal. Don’t be me. When I started out writing, I thought making unreachable goals would push me to accomplish more. Well, it pushed me all right. Pushed me to the brink of insanity! Therefore, my second step to productivity is making reachable goals that you can increase as you get better and faster. Trust me, you need a goal to focus on. As my mother says, “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.” Sure, you may miss your goal once in a while, but eventually you will hit it, and oh my, it’s a very sweet day when you do!

Use My 15 Minute Rule

You don’t have the motivation to finish or even dip a toe into your project. I totally get it. As a writer, I am drawn to only write when I am inspired or excited, which would mean I’d only write once a week and finish a book on my deathbed. But most times, the inspiration and excitement come after you get to the work. We get excited when we stay diligent in our task. It’s a natural reward that comes from working hard. As the wisest book in the world says, “In all labor there is profit, But mere talk leads only to poverty.” Proverbs 14:23

God is telling us to either put up or shut up. That’s why the third step is to force yourself—no matter what mood you are in or the lack of energy you have—to spend 15 minutes on your project. This works for me 95% of the time! Even after I get the kids to bed and want to chill with a book on the couch, I do this 15 minute rule and, voila! I’m typing for two hours, full of inspiration and energy.

Take The Final Step

One of the biggest roadblocks to productivity is lack of purpose. Why are you doing this project? For whom are you doing this project? The reason we do things in our day makes us…well, us. Think about it. You don’t spend hours and hours on something you have no interest in. Remind yourself why you are doing the project in the first place. If you don’t, the reasons to be less productive mount up quickly. Negativity, pessimism, and plain laziness come to us easier than diligence and positivity. So stay positive and remember why you started the project to begin with.

I hope these steps help you out and keep you on a path of productivity. What’s the biggest thing that stops you from being productive? Is there a project you wish you could get back to, but lack motivation?