How to Deal With That Deadline Dread
By: Mela Davey
Tags: Entrepreneurship, Productivity, Creativity, Procrastination, Business

If attention is the new currency, where are you spending yours? Are you giving away your creative energy to your social media, to your needy work colleague, or to fearful dithering? There is so much going on out there, and most of it has just become noise, making us feel overwhelmed by it all. The overwhelm, coupled with the fear of missing out, can make us procrastinate like a crazy person. Before we know it, a day, a week, heaven forbid, a year, has disappeared and we are no further forward with our dreams, or our lives. I suspect that attention hijacking has become the great remora of our times.

Being someone who is just as easily pulled into attention sucking black holes as the next person, I’ve had to learn to be super disciplined with my time and get all Judge Dredd on my own ass. (see what I did there. :) Here’s some ideas that you may find useful. Let me know if they work for you or if you have other ways to protect your precious hours.

Learn to say No.

You gotta say No, folks. Not just to people but also to distractions. This is a big one if you are a procrastinator. Your body and your mind will do all that they can to trick you into not doing the hard stuff, or the boring or sometimes just any stuff that is going to move you forward.

Suddenly you’re thirsty, must go and get a drink. On the way, you’re caught into a conversation with Jo at the water fountain. Then she asks if you know how to clear the cookies out of her browser and you try to explain it but it’s easier to show her, you end up doing it for her. Thirty minutes later you’re back at your desk and trying to pick up where you left off. Ahhh!

Whatever the scenario — in the office, freelancing from home, in your makers studio, networking at events — to get closer to your goals learn to say no to things that are not aligned with you.

Chunk your time and focus.

I chunk all my time into small, focussed segments. Into 33 minutes of no distraction, bum on chair, out-flowing, work periods. I don’t use any fancy apps anymore; I have an old iphone that has a countdown timer on it, that’s it. This works perfectly for me but you may prefer to use an app. You could even go old school analogue and use an actual alarm clock or hourglass timer. As long as it’s simple and doesn’t lead you into a funnel of distraction each time you use it.

Then, my earphones go on with sounds that put my brain into the best state to create or to focus, depending on the work I’m doing. I’m currently using binaural beats that put my brain state into theta for creative flow. Also, jazz or classical music is good for focussing and shutting out distractions. Try out different ones and see what works for you.

Set smaller, not so scary, deadlines.

So, now that you’re chunking your work-time into small focused segments, you can do the same with your deadline. For example, if you have to complete an essay or presentation in three weeks, create a 1-week and 2-week deadline with a reward if you get it done and a consequence if you don’t.

Whenever any new project or idea comes my way, and it seems huge and daunting, I break it down into smaller projects. Then I trick my brain by telling myself, ‘well, you know, we’ll just do this bit and see what happens.’ Next thing I know it’s done, and I can start the next small bit. Simple, but awesome self-trickery.

Turn off all distractions.

This is obvious, and yet, we all still do it. I’ve recently turned off all my social media notifications, badges and updates, then only check in on it a few times a week. If you need to check more that’s fine but at least you aren’t being lured by the red beacons of diversion.

I use a social media app manager to manage my daily posts, by setting up my posts for the week in advance which then get posted at the times I’ve set. I keep an eye on direct messages through email notifications so I can respond within a few hours of receiving them.

I check my email after I’ve done my morning work for anything important, then I set an hour aside late in the day to reply to important stuff. Then I clear my inbox by replying to not so important emails, reading updates and deleting not needed emails twice a week. I started doing this about five years ago and it totally changed how productive my week was.

Keep your workspace as your WORK space.

Set up your workspace so that it is comfortable for you and when you are there, your body and mind know it’s time to get stuff done. Once I walk into my office I’m in my creative zone, when I walk out, it’s (mostly) switched off again. It’s one of the ways that I use to control and channel the stream of creative energy flow.

My workspace is set up to give me maximum impetus, with no excuse for distraction. Everything I need is within arm’s reach, with all the right ergonomic arrangements. There is plenty of natural light with my desk under a window looking out onto a luscious green garden. It is warm and inviting with all my favourite things around me. This works for me; you need to find the best way that you work. When you’ve figured it out, train yourself that this is where the work happens.

Set Your intention.

Before you start, be clear on what you want to achieve. Say it out loud if you need to, so the goal genii can hear you. Setting an intention is akin to making a wish, only luckily, we don’t have to look for a magic lamp before we can start. By stating it out loud or writing it down we are engaging more of our senses to get focussed.

Becoming more Self-Aware helps tremendously.

Most procrastination is caused by fear, fear causes stress. It helps to become more self-aware. If you are procrastinating or self-distracting in some way, try asking yourself ‘What am I scared or anxious about, right now?’ Bringing our fears out into our awareness is the first step to conquering them. Perhaps you’ve heard of Susan J. Jeffers book, Feel the Fear and do it anyway? It’s worth a read if you need more help with fear.

Acknowledge your fear by seeing it, being ok with it and then dealing with it. Addressing or letting go of what you are fearing is just about the only way I know of to really moving through procrastination and back into the creative flow.

Lift the lid on your procrastination stress and see if you have any of the following fears. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it might get you started.

Indecision

-fear of picking the wrong thing or idea to work on. The only answer is to pick something and move forward with it. Working on something will help your mind to relax and then you will probably discover what is the right thing for you to work on.

Being Ridiculed

-or being judged or criticised. What if I mess this up? What if they hate it? Yes, this is always a possibility and what’s the worst that can happen if they do? Are you proud of your work, or at least happy with it? Then you’ve done your best. Time to put your adult pants on.

Lack

-of any kind. Fear that you won’t have a good idea, or the right ideas or enough ideas, or enough anything….which you then convince yourself to believe could end in dismal failure. The more stressed we become the more difficult it is for us to be in ideation or creative flow.

Feeling Unworthy

-I’m not clever enough or good enough or… (replace with any other lack-lustre, self-sabotaging statement) to do this project/thing/job. Stop comparing yourself with either a) other people; or b) some fantasy about who you think you should be.

Resistance –

-This is that horrid, sticky, heavy feeling that is stopping you from completing your activity. As Data said to the Borg Queen, “resistance is futile” (hello Star Trek geeks). I find that resistance is like a thick smog that is usually covering up some other emotion. Surrendering into it by focusing on the feeling of resistance and bringing it into your awareness usually helps you to move through it. You will probably then be confronted by another fear or emotion and we’ve already talked about how to move through our fears.

Boredom

-which is also a type of resistance. But also, perhaps you are uninspired by what you are doing. In that case, you need to think about the reason you are doing it. Perhaps the thing you are doing is boring and uninspiring but completing it will move you into the thing that IS inspiring or gets you closer to your goal. Finding the why essence in everything you do will make the doing a lot easier.

Be Ruthless!

It’s your life, your time, be ruthless with it. If you do have commitments that you can’t say no to, then you have to be firm with your time, and extra clear on your priorities. Focus your attention on the things that are going to move you forward in life and let everything else fall away. Don’t be busy for the sake of being busy. Remember your time is finite and more precious than gold, give it the sacred attention that it deserves and use it to create a life worth living.

Is the Deadline Realistic?

Of course, there is always the possibility that the project is too big to complete by the deadline. Pushing yourself to breaking point is not going to help you or your quality of work. This is when a virtual assistant can be your secret weapon for getting things done, giving you an extra set of capable hands to get you over the finishing line.

Now, stop reading this, and go, get on with crushing that deadline, task or project so you can move closer to your goals. I’m cheering you on! :)

Mela Davey

www.oxygenva.com