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Top 11 Ways to Kick a Procrastination Stupor

  procrastination 
  Originally uploaded by aelyn

I don't know one person, no matter how evolved, organized or productive they may be, who does not suffer from the occassional bout of procrastination.

Mere mortals that we are, it seems like we're contastantly in danger of falling into a downward spiral of avoiding things that we know we should be doing.

Accompanying this avoidance is often stress, shame and guilt, not to mention that the thing we're avoiding stays firmly planted where it is still needing to get done and perhaps getting worse because we've neglected it for so long.

Oy--what's to be done to overcome this dreaded foe?

Sometimes it helps to get past a roadblock if we understand the reason why it's there. JohnPlaceOnline lists the top 11 causes and cures of procrastination (via) as being:

• Complicated-task anxiety: Break big, complicated tasks into smaller pieces. Complete a starter task, no matter how small.
• Fear of imperfection: Accept that perfection is rarely attainable and seldom necessary. You’re a person, not a robot. Use the 80/20 rule whenever appropriate.
• Indecision: Determine your decision-making criteria, then set a deadline for your decision. Ask a friend to hold you accountable.
• Priority confusion: Distinguish obligations from options. What are you really responsible for? List and prioritize tasks.
• Boredom from minutiae: Automate simple repetitive tasks whenever possible.
• Lack of focus: Minimize distractions. Check e-mail and voicemail only twice per day instead of every 5 minutes. Find a quiet room where you can concentrate. Resist the urge to keep taking breaks.
• Poor organizational skills: Clean your work area. Put tools and utensils in their proper place so you can find them when you need them.
• Laziness: Remind yourself of the consequences of procrastination. Resist the urge to be a couch potato. Try to complete several small tasks to provide a feeling of accomplishment. Reward yourself.
• Lack of energy: Maintain a regular sleep routine. Eat healthy. Exercise regularly. Do not skip breakfast.
• Early morning lag: Before you stop working each day, make a list of the tasks you want to begin first thing the following morning so you can hit the ground running the next day.
• Post-lunch fatigue: Before leaving for lunch, make a list of the things you plan to do when you get back so you can pick up where you left off. Avoid eating a heavy lunch.

I totally agree with everything on John's list. Procrastination is something that we can try to control (kinda hard to cure!  ), but there will be times when we succumb to it. Here's a tip for when that happens:

If you are going to procrastinate, a good thing to do is to procrastinate using activities that are actually somewhat useful.

Let's say you're avoiding a report you're supposed to be doing--well, you might as well procrastinate by doing the dishes, or cleaning your house, or sorting through your mail. That way, even though you're technically procrastinating you're at least using your procrastination time wisely by getting something else necessary done.

Question for ya--What are the things that cause YOU to procrastinate and what do you think the cure is?

HowTo Make a DIY Blog Organizer

I am so old school when it comes to organizational tools--I vastly prefer paper to electronic organizers, and that's why I got all giddy when I read this post by Julie Bonner about this "Blog Binder" idea that she came up with.

When I just had the 2 blogs that I was writing for (eSoup and 901am) I used to keep a list of story ideas for each blog in my notebook, but now that I'm blogging on multiple blogs and am in the process of building a new niche blog called Chocolate Chipped (more on this later), I realized that I needed to turbo-charge my organizational efforts in respect to blogging.

I've followed Julie's outline of how her binder is organized, and have adapted it to suit my needs. I've made it more GTD-esque, and am also using it to keep track of writing projects, such as some ghostwriting I'm doing and this mammoth e-book I'm about to start working on.

Here's how my blog binder is organized:

Small Biz Owners: What do you do for healthcare insurance?

  Yuck! 
  Originally uploaded by Elizabeth Salib

Being self-employed is a haven for many entrepreneurs, but the part that absolutely bites is the struggle to find reasonably priced health insurance. In fact, sometimes it's a struggle to find insurance at any cost.

Consumer advocate Clark Howard says:

"The problem now is that we don’t have a health care market for individuals and families in America. People are reluctant to start businesses because they don’t know how they’re going to get health care. And that hurts the economy. Yes, health care is morphing into more of a personal responsibility, and we need to realize that."

I'm doing research on some healthcare assistance/insurance places that are a little outside the norm, and have so far come up with Sam's Club, CostCo, and a very interesting one called Medi-Share that a friend alerted me to.

Medi-Share is actually not an insurance company at all, but is "Biblical healthcare", and they say it "brings Christians together to share medical bills with one another." I need to look into that one further, because although I love the idea behind it, I just want to be sure it's on the up and up.

I've talked to other entrepreneurs who save 10% of their income for emergencies, in lieu of having health insurance, which is an alternative solution for anyone who might have trouble getting accepted by the health insurance overlords who don't want to insure anyone who might actually get sick.

Then there are also the Health Savings Accounts (HSA) which I also need to investigate. I'm not sure if you can simply open the HSA or if you have to apply in the same way you do to get insurance. Seems like the HSAs I've seen are through insurance companies, which isn't really helpful to folks who are having trouble getting accepted.

The darn thing is, unless you're in Olympic condition with no previous medical issues, it is very difficult for a self-employed person to find health insurance, and it's even more difficult to find it at a reasonable cost.

I'll keep on looking into this, but I wanted to ask you guys--what do you do for healthcare?

Does anyone have an HSA or do the "Biblical healthcare" thing or something else?