For a week, I knew I wanted to send a proposal to a new client for work in the New Year. Whenever I thought about this presentation (a 60-minute evening presentation to a group of executives from Los Angeles) my thinking was, “This is going to be a hard one.”
Now, I know I know better, but sometimes that still is not enough! I have to find ways to get past the gap between knowing and doing. (Whenever I’m in London, I am always reminded of this each time I board the Underground: Mind The Gap is painted on the cement!)
The trick I have used for many, many years now-a-days is more than “just doing it.” I know a lot of people say they get through or around procrastination through such a methodology. What I’ve found is that “just doing it” works when there is a serious time crunch. At the last minute, things MUST be done.
What, however, does someone do when they are ahead of schedule, have plenty of time, and are still procrastinating? My cure, start from the end!
I have a mission, before I am done on the planet, to take the “I-do-not-have-enough-time” excuse out of our everyday vocabulary. To replace it, I hope people will say, “I am choosing to start small.”
Make the hard work easy, stop working hard, and get going.
Oh, by the way, in case your interested I was able to get the proposal done by starting with the three things people would walk away with as a result of attending the presentation. Here they are:
- Technology savvy and proficiency is non-negotiable. I will share some things you know you need to know, and you don’t know you don’t know to make it easier to get your work done faster and at a higher level of quality with the technology you have.
- Thinking about work is different than working on that thinking. I will provide very practical AND tactical ways to separate the THINKING you do about your work from the actual time and focus you put on DOING something about that work.
- It is more than just time management. All the time in the world will not get something done. You have to sit down, reduce distractions, eliminate interruptions, and maximize your tools, systems and methodologies for managing your workflow. I will share some of the very tactics I use with my executive clients who need to get more done, with less. (*Less time, less focus, fewer resources, and not as much money!)
Great idea Jason, thanks.
p.s - your feed is not being picked up in my reader since 10/12/07, all my other feeds seem OK.
Posted by: rob | December 19, 2007 at 03:16 PM
A lot of people find themselves plagued with procrastination. They tend to put off the things they can do today simply because they feel that they have already done enough or because the task is just too difficult. To get over it, we need to practice self-discipline and to make a conscious effort to move forward.
Posted by: Jay, writer MemberSpeed.com | December 19, 2007 at 04:54 AM
Jason,
Great post. I really liked this paragraph:
"I have a mission, before I am done on the planet, to take the “I-do-not-have-enough-time” excuse out of our everyday vocabulary. To replace it, I hope people will say, “I am choosing to start small.”"
I recently wrote a post on choosing to start small, really small, that may interest you. It also leads to a great book on the subject.
http://zonebyzone.blogspot.com/2007/12/do-you-want-to-change-something-in-your.html
Best regards,
Mike
Posted by: Mike Williams | December 19, 2007 at 03:43 AM