Why We Procrastinate, Waste Time and Self-Sabotage our Plans, Goals, and Schedules
Why We Procrastinate, Waste Time and Self-Sabotage our Plans, Goals, and Schedules
“I don’t have time” is Bologna and you know it. We take as much time as we have. It’s why we often say things like, “I work better under pressure”.
After covid shut down the world, our perception of time changed in the most drastic way. We take up the amount of time we have. We tend to naturally procrastinate. I found that my workload and commute decreased by over 70% but I was still taking up the same amount of time to get my work done.
I challenged myself to see how fast I could get everything done. The amount of work that I used to do in 40 hours per week, when I really focused and got down to business, I could get done is 6 hours per week. I used this same methodology on my ultimate laundry hack (if you haven’t heard me talk about it, click HERE) and I promise you will never drown in a mountain of dirty laundry again. As it turns out, all my laundry really only takes me 3 minutes per day. If, and only if, I can focus and get down to business.
It got me searching for productivity experts and I stumbled across Vikki Louise and her time hacking concept. Vikki explains that time hacking is simply healing people’s relationship with their perception of time and it helps them get all their anxiety, excuses and self-sabotaging crap out of the way so that they can focus up and get down to business. To listen to the whole episode, click HERE.
There were 7 things that really stuck out to me in the episode. I have since implemented them and have changed the way I work and live.
I challenge you, the next time you hear yourself saying, “I don’t have time” call bull sh*t on yourself. Is it that you aren’t prioritizing it? Or are you using time as an excuse to draw a boundary for something you don’t want to do? If that’s the case, that is perfectly okay but don’t try to fool yourself, time is not the issue here.
1. Remove time from the success equation
Avoid saying things like “Things take time or just give it time” Your goals are a certain number of steps away, time has nothing to do with it. Vikki explains that if that were true, all people who dieted for 1 month would lose the same amount of weight. Everyone who has been in business for two years would have the same amount of success. Time simply is not the answer.
2. Challenge and question your negative or self-sabotaging thoughts to get to the bottom of it- literally ask yourself, what is the worst thing that could happen. . . then what. . . then what. Two things may happen 1. You make a plan for what to do if the worst things actually happens or 2. You realize how ridiculous it sounds when you give negativity the microphone.
3. Reframe the habit of talking trash about the “hard” things in your life- we tend to say things like, “this is so hard, I hate this, I’m not good at XYZ.” Really though? On a scale of the Hunger Games to a vacation, how hard is it really? We tend to say things like this and then we are teaching our brain to search for the evidence to confirm how difficult things are.
4. Get the hard stuff done first, then Reward yourself- once you see that time hacking gives you time to actually relax, get creative, have fun, or otherwise enjoy your life then you will be more likely to be productive.
5. Set timer’s that are 25% less than the expected time to get something done-If you have to do something that you don’t want to do, and you expect it to take 20 minutes, challenge yourself to hammer it out in 15 minutes.
6. You can do anything you set your mind to, but that scares the crap out of yourself. So, if you can break apart negative thoughts, self-sabotage and anything else that holds you back, then the world is your oyster. Be courageous and self-aware enough to explore it.
7. When you get stuck, have a person in mind that you really look up to. (Like, a famous and super smart person, like Oprah or Brene Brown). Now, when things get hard or you don’t know what to do, ask yourself, what would they do?
We develop a narrative about ourselves, our work, the “hard” things about life and how that pertains to time. We have to challenge ourselves to pull apart these thought patters. Vikki teaches how rewire our brain using questions that help to hold ourselves accountable, push ourselves and get down to business.
Since I have started doing time hacking, I have been able to change my mindset and thought patterns, minimize negative self-talk and get more done. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy in the best way, because now I can push myself to reach higher and push farther than I ever thought possible. It also allows me to have more time to rest, recoup, and restore my soul in the evenings and on weekends.
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Connect with Sarah Zastrow
Pinterest Page: https://www.pinterest.com/micultivatebalance/
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMVcExxS1xgVghkfXQ7e
Connect with Vikki Louise
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Vikkilouise___/
Website: https://vikkilouise.com/
F*ck Anxiety & Get Sh*t Done Podcast: https://pod.link/1455953384
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