Talk yourself into beating procrastination

For the start-up business person, procrastination is one of the biggest barriers to success.

How many times have you sat there knowing you need to do a difficult task – making a cold call, chasing a late payment, disciplining a staff member – and thought to yourself “I can leave that until tomorrow”.

It’s natural – no one likes the confrontation involved in conversations of these types. But it is also potentially very damaging, as you can quickly find that the performance of your business is suffering.

Psychologist Eve Ash has some great ideas to overcome what she calls the “illness” of procrastination, but one of her central ideas is the notion of “scripts” which people use to either encourage or defeat procrastination.

Saying to yourself “I can leave than until tomorrow” is a negative script.

Eve suggests replacing that with a more positive train of thought that you can use to essentially “defeat” procrastination.

It might be something as simple as “I can do this” or “I will try this right now”.

I’m also a fan of “I will start with this” which helps you get moving.

This is all about forming habits. And a habit that suggests energy and positivity is a great one to get into.

Get it done – today!