Time Management for Procrastinators and Time Wasters
Are you a time-wasting procrastinator with poor time- management skills? Join the club.
I don’t like to admit it but I’m such a massive procrastinator and time waster with appalling time-management skills, it’s unreal. Don’t misunderstand, I generally get everything done on time but I can be such a Last Minute Mary with stuff, it causes me no end of stress.
It was during a goal-setting workshop run by Ben Owen who owns Fast Way to Fitness that I really think I’ve hit on a sure fire way to get over my procrastination blues.
Rather than getting us to create SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic or Resources and Timely), which usually happens in a goal-setting workshop, he simply asked us:
“What are the blocks you have that stop you reaching your goals?”
It’s actually a question I’ve been asking myself for ages so I knew the answers right away.
Time Management and Procrastination
I have so many ideas that I want to roll out in my business I end up doing hardly any of them due to my poor time management and my excellent procrastination. Well, I start them off but get so bogged down with an ever-increasing to-do list, very few make it through the other end as completed projects.
You know that feeling when you’re so overwhelmed you do sod all – except make another cup of tea and check your emails. And boy does it have a negative impact. I wake up at night feeling sick at the thought that yet another day, week or even month has gone by and I’ve STILL not completed that project. The one that was going to make all the difference to me, my clients and my business.
So, what was the magic thing that Ben did that made me think I can succeed this time? Scrap that. That makes me KNOW I will succeed this time!
Ben did two things.
He suggested, well, he didn’t suggest, he told us to do something that pushes you so far out of your comfort zone it will make you positively quake.
Secondly, he told us to make sure that whatever we do we align it with our personal values.
That’s it. Simple isn’t it?
Well not really, I thought. What the heck can I do that pushes me out of my procrastination and time waster zone that will actually work. The fact that I procrastinate and waste time means all those great suggestions I’ve read on-line or heard about don’t actually work with me. I’ve been to multiple workshops that tell you there are simple solutions. Just allocate your time in the diary for the jobs you have and you do them. That’s after you’ve put your tasks in a square marking them a mixture of urgent, non-urgent, important and not important.
My problem was by the time I got to put the jobs in that square they all ended up in the urgent/important bit – making my head spin even more! Oh and look, I’ve just had another email, I’d best put the kettle on then. You get the picture.
My ‘Brain-gasm’
Then, I had what Ben calls a ‘Brain-gasm’ (I don’t think it’s his word, I think he’s heard it somewhere else first but whoever’s word it is – nice one.)
My two biggest values in my life are Fun and Adventure. If it’s not fun, or it doesn’t feel like an adventure, I struggle to be 100% committed. When I say that, I’m not talking about huge adventures or a continual rounds of parties.
Fun and Adventure
Adventure to me can be taking a new route when driving to see a client. Using those heavier weights in the gym. Smiling at a complete stranger or going to a new coffee shop. An adventure is something that I don’t know what will happen if I do it. Will I get lost? Will I be able to do 10 reps with those weights? Will the stranger smile back? Will the service and coffee be up to my high standard at the coffee shop? Get the picture?
Fun can also be simple things like running down the stairs, dancing to that tune in the supermarket, singing along to the radio in the car, sharing a joke with a friend. Simple stuff that makes me smile.
Anyway, onto my Brain-gasm.
Here it comes – I’m going to deliver a Time Management for Procrastinators Workshop!!
That’s definitely an adventure as I’ve not got a blinking clue what I’ll be delivering and anything could happen. And I always have loads of fun in all my workshops – it’s a total winner!!!
Time Management For Procrastinators Workshop
So the very next morning I booked a room at Glasdir Conference Centre in Llanrwst for 20 people for Monday 9 April, created an eventbrite page and shared my workshop on Facebook.
I didn’t dupe people. I told them that I was rubbish at time management and brilliant at procrastination but that I was doing it to meet those things that were stopping me achieving my goals head on.
That was yesterday (Wednesday 24 January 2018) the workshop was the day before. By Thursday morning (25 January) my workshop was fully booked and people asking me if there are any more places. So, I booked a larger room and opened the workshop up to 50 people.
At the time of writing this blog, that was half an hour ago and five more people have already booked.
So, is this pushing myself so far out of my comfort zone working?
I’d say it is.
I didn’t procrastinate on creating my event. I didn’t waste any time in getting it out there. I’ve managed my time pretty well so far.
Better than that. I’ve been meaning to write a blog post for freaking months – literally months. The irony is that I deliver workshops on how to create blog posts! – see I told you I was a brilliant procrastinator with bad time management skills! (If you fancy coming on my blogging workshop check it out here.)
And here is my blog post. Written in half an hour and put up on my website straight away. Oh, and I’m going to do a video about it later today – something else I’ve been putting off for ages.
Bring on the workshop – that’s all I can say!!
Oh, if you’d like to book a place on my workshop, you’d better be quick about it – no procrastinating guys! You can book here – or if you’re interested in seeing how I got on – drop me an email to teresa@tbcmarketing.co.uk or message me on Facebook, I’d love to hear from you.