"It's a job that's never started that takes the longest to finish."

J. R. R. Tolkien

Whether it is starting a business, writing a book or travelling the world, procrastination is the enemy of success. It is time to stop procrastinating and realise your ambitions!. Let’s explore how!

Why Do you Need to Stop Procrastinating?

You owe it to yourself to be the best version of you. If you delay, put off, postpone or hold off with your aspirations, they simply won’t happen. You can’t dawdle, hesitate or shilly-shally if you are going to succeed in life. 

What is Procrastination?

According to the Cambridge dictionary, it is: ‘the act of delaying something that must be done, often because it is unpleasant or boring.'

How many times have you thought about starting your own business, but then a few days later you talk yourself out of it? You fall into the procrastination trap because you doubt your own abilities.

One of These Days...

How many people have you met in your life who have said they are going to write a book ‘one day’? The proverb ‘One of these days, is none of these days’ rings so true. You have to stop procrastinating and just do it or it will never happen!

Procrastination and Anxiety

At the seat of our procrastination are often emotions blocking us from taking action. We might not start a new business because we are anxious about rejection or failure. Procrastination is often caused by anxiety, stress and not valuing ourselves according to the Business Mind Coach David Rahman. 

“I believe 100% that our life can change direction and change everyone around us.”

David Rahman

Procrastination: The Science Behind it

In layman’s terms, procrastination is when the limbic system or emotional part of the brain dominates the prefrontal cortex or rational part of the brain. E.g. Sitting at your desk, your logical part of your brain knows it has an important task to do. However, your emotional part of your brain is anxious about the task and instead you procrastinate by checking your social media. 

Procrastination is a habit

There is a common misconception that procrastination is about time management. However, it is about self-discipline and managing yourself. As the great Bruce Lee once said,

“The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.”

Bruce Lee

Ted Talk - Procrastination

Here at Love My Businesses we love a good Ted Talk. We recommend the fabulous Tim Urban for tips on how to stop procrastinating. 

Stop Procrastinating And Start An Online Business 

Here is a list of tips to overcome procrastination and start an online business. These tips are useful for daily life as well.

1. First things first

If you have been talking about starting a business for years, sit down and brainstorm a list of your skills and work experience. Then write a list of possible online businesses you could run. Narrow it down to your top five. 

2. Write A List 

Write a list each day of the tasks you need to do to start your business. Divide your daily tasks into order of priority:  priority tasks, less urgent and things which can wait. 

3. Avoid Time Thieves

Family and friends and Social Media are our biggest time thieves. Don’t answer non-work messages until after work. Be strict and protect your valuable work time to build a successful business. 

4. Schedule Your Routine

Use Google Calendar or another tool to set appointments with yourself to do the essential tasks: e.g. write a business plan, find an accountant, open a business account, attend a training course etc. Also set yourself daily tasks for lead generation, marketing, sales appointments etc. 

5. Negative Emotions and Overthinking

Be aware of the emotions you experience when you procrastinate e.g. did you put off phoning a friend for business advice because you were worried they would decline? Did you delay talking to your bank manager due to nerves? Don’t overthink things. Just go for it. 

6. Reward Yourself For Overcoming Procrastination

Behavioural psychology suggests that habit formation is reinforced by rewards, so if you manage to break a negative habit and start a new cycle you should give yourself a treat e.g. after a difficult task watch your favourite TV series for 30 minutes. 

7. Procrastination Ends Here

Our ethos at Love My Businesses is to encourage entrepreneurs to step out and realise their dreams. Stop talking about people you know who have made it big in business and do it yourself. Change your habits with self-discipline and have the courage to start a business. 

For some great examples of online businesses you could start, click the button below: