Its been too long since I last posted here. To tell you the truth…I have a ton of great articles to post but with my wedding earlier this month I haven’t posted a thing. I know, sad excuse, me getting married and all. I should just come out and say that I am a procrastinator! My Internet pen pal, Douglas Cartwright, actually has a solution to this procrastination problem that plagues so many of us! In fact, he too was once plagued by procrastination but has overcome it and has an incredible resource to prove it! Take a read…

Procrastination – “If it looks like a duck…”

You know the saying: “If it looks like a duck, and sounds like a duck – it probably is a duck.”

Well, that kind of thinking might be all-right for the wise-old heads sitting in their rocking chairs but it’s not very useful if you’re trying to run a business.

The ‘duck’ in this case are the behaviours you do that make it look and sound like you are ‘procrastinating’ and therefore you MUST BE a ‘procrastinator’. Judgment passed, case closed.

Of course, this doesn’t actually help you get into action. In fact labeling yourself actually makes things worse. My name is Douglas Cartwright and I coach people how to untie their psychological ‘knots’ and become more effective.

I’d like to offer a few perspectives on what might be happening when we ‘procrastinate’, and suggest some resources to help.

1) Some people take the view that the brain is always attempting to do something ‘positive’ for us (although this may not necessarily be ‘good’ in moral terms) and protecting us from danger is positive. This danger may not be the fear of getting physically hurt but it may be that of being exposed to psychological hurt – the fear of failure, and what others will think.

2) Susan Jeffers who wrote the famous Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway says that the basic fundamental fear behind all fears is that of not being able to cope.

One of the reasons we feel we can’t cope is overwhelm and although the advice to break things down into small steps is well-known, the reason for doing it is not. Basically, anything perceived as a threat activates the fight or flight response – so the solution is to take tiny steps that don’t wake the fear centres. The book One Small Step can Change a Life is simple and excellent if you think this is your problem.

3) If you’re coming from a place where you believe work has to be hard then you could be avoiding the ‘slog’ and ‘grind’ of getting it done. The Now Habit by Neil Fiore offers an excellent and radical solution to this – schedule all your fun time first! It also suggests you only work for ½ hour blocks and when you’ve done that, you can mark it on the blank spots on your schedule AND give yourself a reward. If you like something different and other time management books haven’t worked for you – you could do worse than try this.

Last week, I spent 15 solid hours developing a new website and a product for people who think they procrastinate but actually have a different issue. (Btw – I used methods from both of the above books – schedule fun, then do one tiny step at a time)

The product is actually a psychological pattern called ‘the intentions into action pattern’ and I’m a little nervous about giving the vanilla version away for free. Why?

First, because it’s a powerful part of my coaching armoury and, second, because you actually have to use it to get the benefit – it doesn’t work as just an ‘idea’.

Our bodies need to be trained to take action and sometimes the channel between ‘thinking’ and ‘doing’ gets rusty. So we think until the cows come home but nothing happens! That’s disuse – not procrastination!

Have you ever poured one of those miracle limescale cleaners down the toilet or a pipe? Isn’t it amazing how they clear away the encrusted scale and you can see the pipe?

This pattern enables you to create an implementation ‘superhighway’ so that when you get a great idea you can begin the process of translating it from mind to muscle.

And isn’t that where all ideas begin – in the mind?

The guy who originally developed this pattern is now a millionaire from integrating and applying wealth principles to his life.

If you want to get a copy (and receive occasional emails about articles and products I’m developing to help you take more effective action) please go to www.overcomingprocrastination.co.uk

and if you are in a place where you feel you need some one-on-one coaching please visit www.livingwords.net

and request a free consultation with me, Douglas Cartwright. You can also get the books there from the products page.

Lastly, if you haven’t yet got a copy of Ralph’s book Peculiar Marketing, do so. It’s simple, and direct and that’s usually what we need.

God bless, and to your highest and best!

—————————–
Douglas Cartwright is the CEO and Head Coach of Living Words. He is an expert in helping people renew their minds and live their words so that they actually get to do what they say they want to do.

He has a passionate interest in what helps people ‘live their words’ and has been interested in and involved with personal development processes for 15 years. He has been a Christian for 12 years and considers his faith to be central to how he lives. Contact Douglas Cartwright at douglascartwright@livingwords.net to discuss your coaching needs.