Coaching in Motion : Resources

Article: Just Do It!

The familiar slogan from Nike. We see it everywhere – on billboards, in magazine ads, usually accompanied by a pair of feet in sneakers.

Knowing that October was just right around the corner, and the time for my next newsletter was looming, I kept putting it off. I couldn’t decide what would be the most valuable for my readers and clients. I tossed ideas around in my head, discounting them as quickly as they came up. I found all sorts of other jobs on my “to do” list to occupy my time. Accounting, organizing, a multitude of projects, client needs…my list was filled with items that leap-frogged their way over “write newsletter article”. Even vacuuming and laundry gained sudden importance in the face of the looming article-to-be.

The longer I put my task off, the less pleasant it seemed and the more insurmountable. Soon, what was once an intriguing, exciting process loomed ahead as an undesirable, insurmountable task destined for failure.

Sound familiar?

At some point, a voice inside me said, do what you tell your clients “Just do it!” I rebutted with a litany of reasons why I couldn’t, shouldn’t or wouldn’t. And finally the voice said “Enough! You can keep wasting energy making up reasons not to do it, or you can just get off your butt and write the darn thing!”

And that what brings me to the topic of this month’s newsletter: PROCRASTINATION.

Procrastination is one of those little bugs that bites all of us in the you-know-where at some point or other. It is a slimy little beast. It does a number on us by logically convincing of all the reasons why we shouldn’t, can’t or won’t do something. The important question to ask is: THEN WHY DO IT? If you are spending that much time putting something off, chances are there is something for you to gain by actually completing it. Otherwise, you would just delete it from your “To Do” list.

It’s not that easy. Fear gets in the way. Fear is often masked in a variety of clever ways. What is your mode of procrastinating?

Often, the best way of dealing with procrastination is to JUST DO IT. Easier said then done, right? Notice that feeling you get when you procrastinate. Where is it located in your body? For me, it is in my stomach. A big, ugly knot. So when that knot is there, I know that the only way to relieve it is to JUST DO the thing I am avoiding. Of course, as I get closer to the task, the knot grows and tightens. But, I know that as soon as I’ve actually taken the step, the knot starts to loosen.

The important thing is to start noticing what you are avoiding. What is the thing that you are avoiding doing yet know you must?

JUST DO IT: The First Steps 1. Choose a task you have been putting off. Write it down. 2. Notice how you feel when you think about this task (what is the sensation and where is it in you body?). This is your “red flag”. Identifying this feeling and being in tune with it will eventually save you TIME. 3. What do you have to GAIN by completing this task? Make a list. 4. What do you have to LOSE by NOT completing this task? Make a list. 5. What FEARS are stopping you from moving forward on this task? Check in with yourself. Take some time and list all the fears that come to mind. 6. What is the FIRST step (make it a baby step) towards taking action on this task? 7. Commit to a time when you will take this first, baby step. 8. Plan a reward for yourself.