Havi from the Fluent Self and her sidekick (Selma, her duck) have put together a fantastic “get your stuff done and stop beating yourself up about it when you don’t” program. I would give it four thumbs up if I had four thumbs. Four thumbs? I’ll just borrow yours. Believe me you’ll give this program two thumbs up.
The Procrastination Dissolve-o-Matic covers internal blocks and tried and true productivity techniques. As we all know the only way to get stuff done is to understand why we avoid it in the first place. We don’t avoid meeting our best friend at the local coffee shop. So why do we avoid that email or report?
We usually procrastinate the stuff that brings up uncomfortable feelings that we want to avoid. This program helps break these patterns down so we can change our habits.
Three A’s
Havi describes it as:
- Acknowledge
- Allow
- Act
The three A’s that help us overcome our emotional baggage.
We beat ourselves up when we don’t get our stuff done. We look back on the day and wonder where the time went. We know where the time went. It was sucked up by email, the phone, and meetings. It’s important to acknowledge these failures and stop trying to whip ourselves into shape.
If all we do is whip our asses into shape then we’ll just end up with sore asses.
We think that if we are hard on ourselves then eventually it will sink in and we’ll start knocking out the work. How naïve can we be? If our ass kicking hasn’t worked to this point then it probably won’t ever work.
We must feel these blockages, understand why the resistance is there, and figure out how to overcome them.
Gathering this self knowledge will lead you to make decisions that will help you use your patterns to overcome procrastination. Once you come to these informed decisions, all that’s left to do is act on them.
It Really is Up to You
It’s up to you to put yourself in a winning situation, that’s what the last half of the book is all about. This program gives you seven productivity techniques that will help you take action. My favorite was number #4 – Apply Pam’s Algorithm. Chopping down projects into smaller tasks and making them so digestible that it almost doesn’t seem like work. You can accomplish quick amounts of work and know exactly what to do next.
The program is a bit pricey at $108, but in my mind worth the effort, especially if you try these techniques and implement them. I’ve created a little preparation ritual to help me finish my ebook. It has done wonders for me. That’s all you can ask for in any knowledge based program – a few concrete ideas that you can apply to your life.
There is no magic fairy dust that will end your procrastination, although Havi does have a fairy dust method that has helped me calm my anxiety before I begin a project. I digress… It’s up to you to keep adding to your tool chest of good habits. Hopefully over time you stop beating yourself up about the stuff you don’t get done (You need some “me time” too) and appreciate all the hard work that you do for your family, your projects and your own happiness.
If you want a little sample of Havi’s program click this link here and you’ll get a little taste of her skills that will leave you wanting more.
When do you procrastinate? Why do you think you hold yourself back from just doing it?
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Check back on Sunday and I’ll have an Interview with Havi that will delight your senses. So much so that you’ll feel like floating away from your computer and doing some great work. You’ll laugh in the face of procrastination.
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I’ve found that when I have large tasks at hand breaking them down is the easiest way for me to handle it like you mentioned. Thanks for the post you definately helped out 1 long time procrastinator.