That was the maddening (but effective) response from Val Strang when she would hear us whine about doing just a few more push-ups or running one more hill in her brutal (but effective) boot camp. And she was always right.
Same deal for business tasks. Procrastination a problem? Quit yer whinin’ and get on with it.
You Can Do Anything for 15 Minutes!
Instead of waiting for large chunks of time to do big projects, which just makes us experts at procrastination, break the project down into manageable bites.
For example,need to get started on a proposal or article? Set a timer* for 15 minutes and focus like a laser-beam on your project until you hear the “ding”. Let the phone go to voice mail, shut your door, ignore your wristwatch and FOCUS. When you hear the bell, move on to something else if you wish.
Is your filing is way behind? Same process. Set the timer and focus. You choose the amount of time you can allot for this laser-like focus time.
And before I hear cyber-whispers that “I simply can’t be out of touch for any amount of time”, remember that we’re only talking about 15 minutes. If a business will fall apart because you’re unavailable for 15 minutes, that business has bigger issues than a pile of overdue filing.
*I respond very well to the timer because I am the youngest of five kids and my mom used to play a game called, “Beat the Clock or Beat the Kid.” No lie. Worked every time.