Guest: Alicia Anaya
Welcome to the Undeniable Level Up Podcast where we provide our listeners with life hacks to leveling up in business, leveling up in your career, leveling up in your personal lives, and even leveling up in your relationships. Why strive to be average, when you can be the best version of your self with the tools, tips and sometimes with the tricks that we provide in our discussions.
Last week you heard from Jules Johnson, in our episode titled, 'Managing Stress Like a Boss". Jules, the Assistant District Attorney for Harris County in Houston TX discussed how he not only learned to live and excel in a stress-filled home growing up, but how he continues to manage stress effectively in his high-stress career as a attorney.
Today, we here to plan a murder. We are here to discuss killing the procrastinator in you!
We all have a little bit of procrastinator in us. It begins when we are young with small unimportant tasks like "Go to Bed!" As a child, we don't want to go to bed, so we ask for a glass of water. We don't want to clean our room, so we watch television instead. Usually, by the time a parent has had it, with the procrastination, they will typically direct you to complete the assignment and begrudgingly, you get it done.
As we get older, the procrastination lingers with us. In school, we put off assignments until the very last minute, or we study for a test while riding to school on the bus. When we enter the work force, we put off tasks and responsibilities, like completing 1:1's because the thought of address performance doesn't excite us. We put off changing the oil because we don't have 15 minutes to spend at Jiffy Lube, and we drive until the gas mileage display runs crashes below zero. If your have ever done any of these things, chances are you have a procrastinator in you and we are going to put that sucker out of his misery.
And here to discuss the pitfalls of procrastination is our guest and our incredible daughter, Alicia Anaya. Hello Alicia!
Q: So, we know you very well, but tell our listeners how was it growing up as a military brat?
READ QUOTE: William Arthur Ward says, "Begin while others are procrastinating. Work while others are wishing."
The big question that is on my mind and should be on everyone else's mind as well, is WHY. Why do we have a tendency to procrastinate?
The high-level answer is we procrastinate because we often rely on self control to get things done. But our self control is highly reliant on our motivation. When we lack motivation, then our self control suffers and we end up pushing tasks aside for more enjoyable activities. Like napping. Or watching TikToks.
Factors such as exhaustion, fatigue, hunger, anxiety, depression can all contribute to an overall lack of motivation and make you a chronic procrastinator.
When it comes to the 10 main factors that lead to procrastination, we find that this list consists of:
- Weak goals vs. SMART goals
- Failure to Visualize a Future Self
- Feeling Overwhelmed
- Anxiety
- Perfectionism
- Fear (Failure, Judgement, embarassment)
- Depression
- Fatigue
- Burnout
- Overtasked
So we have 14 hacks to killing the procrastinator in you. These are 14 lethal steps that you can take to ensure that when you find yourself being impacted by either fatigue, fear or anxiety, in such as way that you begin to procrastinate, you will be able to maintain steadfast self control and motivation and get things done.
The first step is stop trying to eat the whole elephant in one sitting. You don't have to complete a task from A to Z, especially when it's a large task. It is sometimes better to break that task up into smaller parts. If the project takes 8 hours to do, you can 2 hours on day 1, 2 hours on day 2 and so on and so forth. This will reduce the stress of an 8 hour project and allow you to space it out over time and avoid procrastinating.
Q: Have you ever tried this approach? How did it work? What did you learn?
Step 2 is make a list! Having a checklist is how pilots fly the most complex aircraft in the world. Having a list ensures you remain in sequence, allows you to check tasks off as they are completed. They also ensure you never forget something. It’s a great way to say sane when your have information coming at you from multiple angles.
Q: Do you use lists? What do you like about using lists? What are some of the lists you use to ensure you get stuff done on time?
Step 3 is find your Sacred Space of Success. That's the place where you are able to focus and get stuff done. If might be the office, the bedroom, maybe it's poolside or maybe the local Starbucks. Where ever that magical place is that you get the most work done, go there and get it done.
Q: Where is your Sacred Space of Success?
Step 4 develop a plan. It's not enough to have a major task or project to get done. You need to know each step required to reach the end goal and establish a timeline to accomplishing each task in a realistic time frame. Having a plan is like having a GPS that directs you towards the fastest path to success. Once you have a good plan, then execute that plan with self control and commitment.
Q: What was the last thing you planned? How did that go? Were you successful? What failed?
Step 5 is eliminate distractions! Email notifications, text messages and long winded talkers. Get them out of your space. Turn your notifications off. Focus and concentrate and set specific intervals to check emails and text messages.
Q: How do you manage distractions? What are the worst distractions for you?
Step 6 is reduce your need to make decisions. If you need to stop and decide something, you are losing time. Instead set low priority tasks on autopilot. For example, have a planned daily menu for lunch. Monday's is Canes, Tuesday's is Chic-Fila and Wednesday's is Popeyes. Thursday and Friday you bring a lunch. This stops you from stopping and having to scroll through DoorDash looking for lunch options.
Q: Are there any low priority tasks or decisions that you have automated in your life? What things could you automate in your life? How would that help you be more productive and procrastinate less?
Step 7 have a schedule and stick to it…as closely as you can. Obviously emergencies are going to happen, but your days should be planned from start to finish. This allows you to forecast your productive hours in the day, ensures you arrive at meetings and planned event son time and allows you to maximize your day without losing time.
Q: Do you keep a schedule? Would a schedule help you accomplish more things faster? What are things you dislike from using schedul...
