Friday Update: Procrastination Leads to Reorganization

Happy Friday everyone.  This is the day of the week when I let you in on what is going on at AviddivA.

As you may know, we have a monthly e-letter.  You can subscribe here Originally, it was supposed to come out every two weeks.  We are still learning how to work this new technology so, even though most of the material is written already, it will be sent once a month until we figure it all out.  We hope to provide you the best content possible.  Feel free to suggest ideas on what you want to see in future issues.

In other news, we are creating a new e-book on procrastination tips and tricks.  We want you to send in your suggestions as well.  Every person included will be named co-author.  Make sure you send your tips and tricks before July 21st, 2010.  We appreciate your support.

Now, our suggestion for today is that you go out and have a great time.  We will be back next Monday with more great information.  Feel free to leave your comments below.

Does Exercise Have to be Boring?

Today, I went to the Historical Downtown district.  I keep my snail mail box there.  They also have a great library and some cool restaurants, that I will talk about in other posts.  The thing is, I don’t have a car and I like to walk the 1.35 miles to go there.  It is not only great exercise.  It takes us out of the house, we see something different and we move.

This is a short post today and a very simple one.  Exercise does not have to be boring.  Look for something you like to do and find a way to incorporate a nice walk, a bike ride or some roller blades into that routine.  Maybe you have a small market nearby or a mall.  Instead of driving everywhere, find something to do outside the home and find a different way of getting there.

Have fun, make it a a family activity.  Stop putting it off.  If you want to get in better shape and you don’t know where you start, start where you are.  Look for some trails, parks or malls in your area and start moving.  Go!

Is Lack of Inspiration Procrastination?

Have you ever had one of those days when you feel that you just don’t feel like it?  I am talking to those of you who are creative by nature or have creative careers or companies.  Ever think that you just can’t come up with one more original idea?  For all those women who have a husband, kids, a career, aging parents, or any other challenges.  This question is directed at you too.  Is your lack of inspiration procrastination?

When I started this new chapter of my life, I promised I would be upfront and honest at all times.  I figured that would be a great way to show others what an average person goes through when they are starting a business.  And so today, I believe is a perfect example of what happens when you are not going at it at 100%.  I am hormonal, the elimination is giving me a headache and I just don’t feel like myself today.  I did not feel like writing or doing any of my usual tasks to promote my blog.  I have not fixed my e-zine.  I have discovered that the easiest way for me to finish any writing is by creating an outline and I have a couple of outlines for the upcoming projects, and yet, I am sitting here not doing much of anything.

Is it procrastination or what?  I would like to lead by example.  This is the opportunity.  I believe that procrastination is a symptom of something else.  Today seems to be going slow.  Procrastination today is a symptom.  I have been able to figure out that it is directly related to the insomnia I’ve been suffering for the past three days.  Now, I believe the insomnia is also a symptom of something else.  So we should dig a little deeper.

The truth is, today I am not feeling very confident.  Certain personal events recently have not gone exactly as planned and I believe this is why my confidence is in the toilet today.  So what can I do to move past this, learn the lesson that my procrastination is teaching me and move on?  This is the first step.  I am writing this now and when I publish it, it will be live exactly as I am feeling it.  This is not a post I wrote a couple of days ago to follow a sequence.  This is what I am going through right now.  I am a big believer that doing a little every day will accomplish a lot in the future.  If I just get through writing today’s blog, that will build up a little confidence.  What is my next step?  I don’t know yet.  It might be nothing for the rest of the day.  I might go take a nap to see if I rebuild some confidence.  Whatever I decide to do, I can feel good about the fact that at least I got one thing done today instead of letting my mood dictate that I do nothing.

What can you learn from my experience?  No matter how bad you feel, whether you are sick or just moody, if you can take one step (no matter how small) to move you forward, that is all you have to do.  It is like getting dressed and going to the gym.  Even if you convince yourself that you will only do 15 minutes.  Some days, that is all you will do.  Other times, once you get there your energy shifts and you do more.  Just be happy with what you did accomplish.  And even in those days when you only get one thing done, at least that one thing is moving you towards your goals.  And tomorrow will be another day.  Make sure tomorrow you take another step, and another.

Make sure to leave your comments below.

Procrastination – Health update

What has procrastination cost your health?  If you are a woman over 40, it is quite possible that your food choices are catching up to you.  That chocolate cake might be delicious.  If you eat a slice every day or with every meal, it looses its appeal.  As much as I believe that you can have some cake, I strongly advice against having one every day, or even every week.

A few years ago I was introduced to an elimination diet.  Even though I don’t believe in diet, I do like the idea that every six months or so I can give my body a break and go completely clean.  In the elimination diet you get rid of all the junk in your meals for 30 days.  I do an adaptation of that.  You see, I am starting a business, and the thing about elimination is that you pretty much loose the first week sleeping while your body purges all the damage.  I cannot afford to be sleepy and cranky for a week or 10 days.  My solution is to eliminate gradually.  The first week started last Monday, and  I gave up all soda.  It is now the first day of the second week and I am giving up white (rice, bread, pasta).

If I follow my plan as stated on my white board, next week I eliminate candy (which to me means chocolate) and the fourth week I eliminate dairy products.  (Alcohol and caffeine are also included in the elimination, however, I don’t drink much – I believe I’ve had four drinks since I got here 11 months ago – and aside from soda, I am not big on coffee either).  Once I get to the dairy products, then we start counting the 30 days.

I will let you know how it goes every Monday.  I can already tell you that I feel like a balloon that lost all the air, I feel like my stomach is already showing the signs of less bloating.  In the meantime, I want to know, what can you do this week, however small, to improve the way you nourish yourself.  Think about what you eat and instead of waiting yet another week to start that diet you are always saying you are going to start, change ONE thing.  It could be adding fruits or veggies, drinking more water, trying a new recipe and saving enough so that you can have a couple of servings this week or just getting rid of sodas, like me.  This is not about your weight, this is about your health.  Don’t wait, do it today.  If every week you stick to one healthy decision, you will have 4 new healthier habits by the end of a month.  Are you worth it?

Don’t forget to let me know what your choice was in the comments section before.  You can also tell me how you are doing, we love to read your comments and thoughts.  Any recipe suggestions are also welcome.

Finally, Procrastination – AviddivA is live again

After a couple of weeks of false starts, the AviddivA blog is finally working. Find out how to work with procrastination and see what we are up to.

Friday Update: Procrastination Files

One of my promises when I started this new part of the site was to keep you updated of all the changes and the things that I am going through as a business owner with a less than shoe-string budget.  Here are the highlights:

1)  I was a featured interview on a great website, getinspired.com This is a great project created by Toni Reece and she made it a fabulous experience.  You can check out all the other interesting interviews.  They are full of inspiration and lots of out-of-the-box thinking.

2)  I had a little mishap with this page and I could not get your comments.  Last night, after trying tons of things, I went to bed exhausted and a crazy idea popped into my head.  All I had to do was export my blog to my wordpress.com blog, erase wordpress entirely from my server and install everything all over again.  Is there an easier, faster way to do this?  Yes.  Do I know how to do it?  No.  Got stuck in the middle of it and thanks to the great folks at HOSTGATOR, I am now up and running again.

3)  The second issue of Procrastination Diaries is almost finished and will soon be arriving in your mailbox.  You are not subscribed yet?  Go get your free copy of Procrastination Manifesto and you will automatically receive the latest issue of the Diaries when it is available.

I am very excited about all the things that will be coming up in the next few months.  As always, I hope to keep you posted and show you, with my own example, that you can follow your dreams, take care of yourself first and help others.  I  hope to serve you in your journey.  Have a fabulous weekend.

Don’t forget to leave your comments below.  And if you want to be a co-writer on our next free e-book, send us your tips and tricks to procrastinate less.  Thanks.

Taking Time Off and Procrastination

If you’ve read the Procrastination Manifesto, then you know I believe that procrastination is a symptom and should be used as a tool to identify certain things in your life. One of the examples I like to use to describe this is taking a day off and here is why.

You are busy, you have a ton of things to do and then you receive a phone call. You are invited to spend a day out in the fun and the sun at the beach. It’s the middle of the week. You really have so much to do. Wednesday comes and you are at the beach with your caller. What happened? Didn’t you have a lot to do? What does that say about you?

Two things to keep in mind: the person who works and works and does not take time off will burn out faster than the person who does not. The second thing is that you should check yourself when you do something like this. Were the things you “had” to do so important after all? If they were important to you, you might not have taken the day off. So what is really happening here?

I can tell you from personal experience that taking one day away from the computer, the work-at-home, the sameness of every day is a recipe for better mood, creativity and fun. It is also a wake up call that with a little organization, you can systems in place that even if you are not available, your work is done. You have to decide how you are going to structure your life to take advantage of opportunities like a fun day out on the beach, a movie or just a relaxing day with nothing to do.

I know I’ve been asking you to sit down in a quiet place for 15 minutes or so almost every day. I believe if you are honest with yourself and figure these things out now, it will become easier to carve time for yourself later and the exercise of analyzing what is going out will be faster and simpler every time. All the work you do upfront will pay awesome dividends lately. I am living proof of that. So get to work and above all, save time for fun.

What to do with Discoveries and Procrastination

This week it is all about discoveries. On Monday, we discovered that our behaviors have some secret payoffs or rewards. Yesterday, we discovered that we have to change how we define our behaviors. Today, we are going to use our new definitions and behaviors to procrastinate less.

Before I continue, I have to make something clear. WE ALL PROCRASTINATE. This is not the personal achievement of women over 40 only. The difference in our case is that we usually procrastinate about things that are important to us in favor of achieving things of value to our families or our communities. If you don’t learn to take care of your own needs, you will not be able to function and help others for long. If you don’t believe me, how many times have you gotten sick and don’t know why? How many headaches, colds or stomach problems have you dealt with? Our bodies are very good about putting us in our place if we listen to them.

When we look at our behaviors and changed our definitions, an interesting thing happens. Some of our behaviors impact our personal goals directly. In the example we used yesterday, walking will definitely make us healthier than eating that bowl of ice cream. However, other new behaviors might seem totally unrelated to our goals. For example, what does drawing have to do with feeling smart enough?

Take a second look at this behavior. If you love drawing and you stopped doing it to care for your family, you might discover a hidden talent. You might feel more energized, less stressful. If you just like doing it, you might put a smile on your face. For some of you, it might be a new passion that you might want to look into further. I would call that a win – win – win. Oh, and for those of you who are still living in Negativityland, guess what? Try it anyway. The lesson for today is to think outside the box. You have inside of you all the answers to follow your dreams. There is no right or wrong answer, just noise from outside. Give it a try. Take your list of behaviors and substitute one negative one with a positive one for the next 30 days. Let me know how you feel.

Change Your Definition of Reward

Yesterday we talked about what is your payoff for not getting things done on time. I asked you to figure out what behaviors you keep repeating, probably since childhood.

Today, I am going to give you a choice on what to do about those behaviors. Keep reading only if you want to change your life. If you think your rewards for procrastination are what you want out of life, then stop reading. Do nothing, your life is perfect just the way it is.

If you want to make progress in any area of your life, let’s get to work. We identified behaviors we have been repeating all our lives yesterday. You might have identified one thing you keep doing over and over again or maybe you found more than one. Take one of the behaviors at a time. We will continue with the example I spoke about yesterday to illustrate what you should do. What do you do if the behavior you keep repeating is based on the idea that you are not smart enough?

The first thing I want you to do is question the belief. Are you really not smart enough? pretty enough? strong enough? What does enough mean to you? Who determined that measurement? Was it really your definition from the beginning or is it based on someone else’ standard? Using the example from yesterday, I did not feel smart enough because I always compared myself with my siblings. They were all very smart and it was sort of a competition. Going to school with them was no help since teachers always compared us. NOTE TO TEACHERS: when kids come to school, they are discovering who they are. Nothing kill individuality quicker than a teacher comparing us to our sibling (who you taught before). Stop that. Now, let’s go back to the example.

You are now a woman in your 40′s. You are an AviddivA. There is no reason why you cannot change that definition and the behaviors that accompany it to suit your needs. If you always felt less than, look at what you have accomplished, starting with the fact that you are still alive and reading this right now. If you are here, it is because you care about yourself and you are always willing to learn something new. Now, change the behaviors. This is the fun part. Go from biting your nails when you are frustrated, to drawing cartoons when you are frustrated. Start walking every time you feel disappointed instead of eating ice cream when you feel that way. Make a list of positive behaviors and substitute them into your current behaviors. It may or not take you closer to your goals. That is not the important thing today. Today, the important thing is for you to take your definition, stand it on its head and look for ways to change your behaviors into those that will support you and take you to the next level.

Tomorrow I will show you how changing your definitions and behaviors will help you with your procrastination. See you then.

What Reward are You Getting from Procrastination?

Last week I asked you what is procrastination costing you. Now I ask what seems to be the complete opposite, what is your payoff?

Everything we do, we do for a reason. Whether you believe me or not, you get something out of the good and the bad things you do in your life. Some of us like people to feel sorry for us, so we keep dating losers that treat us badly. Some of us like when people admire us and so we tend to be overachievers. And then some of us like the attention and love we perceive from people helping us out constantly.

Today, I want you to sit for 15 minutes in a quiet room and think: what is the payoff I get from procrastinating on my goals? This is not the time to feel guilty or remorseful for manipulating your loved ones. You are not judging the feelings, just let them come and take notes. This behavior comes from your past and you might have to dig deep to figure out when this pattern emerged. Maybe as a child you had a condition that made it harder for you to make those first steps and you felt the love of your family as they helped you. Maybe your first day of school was traumatic until you noticed that everyone was trying to make you feel better. Whatever it is, take a note of it and see the patterns emerge.

This process has two parts: recognizing what is the reward and then figuring out how to deal with it. Tomorrow, I will give you some pointers on how to move on and make small changes that might help you deal with changing your behavior. For now, make an effort and figure out what the behavior is, several instances where you did it and what is the payoff. We cannot change what we don’t acknowledge. If you recognize a behavior that is not supportive of your dreams, it is time to change it. Knowing what it is makes you a winner, half the battle is figuring it out. To help you on your way, I will give you an example of my own life which I hope will help you identify some of yours.

I don’t know about you, as a woman over 40, I’ve been able to identify lots of things I don’t want to keep doing. One of them was depending on others to achieve my goals. There is nothing wrong with asking for help. It is the kind of help you ask and why you ask that might be troublesome. In my case, I have always believed that I am not good enough or smart enough to accomplish things. I used to ask my friends (who are usually managers in higher positions) to help me out. I can identify this all the way to my childhood. I am the baby of the family. In the beginning my siblings blamed me for everything because I was a baby and I would not get punished (and neither would they). For some reason, they kept blaming me for everything, to the point where the favorite saying in my house was “If it’s broken it was probably Roxie. That child is just all thumbs”. I guess I must have created an image on my head that I was incapable of doing anything right and kept on doing it for most of my adult life. When I turned 40, I decided to take responsibility for my own outcomes. Some things have worked out great, some have not. Others are still to be determined. I am a much happier person because I can own up to whatever the outcome is as a success or a learning experience. I am smart enough and good enough. Do you have a similar story?

« Previous page

Next page »