Over the past few weeks I’ve had serious issues with procrastinating. I kept pushing things off and before I knew it, days had already passed by. Not to mention I’ve been eating like crazy and totally off my entire routine. But, that’s another story! For some reason, I felt so all over the place and not in control of my days. I had enough of playing the victim, and decided to take control of my routine again! Here are 3 quick tips that helped me push through my moments of procrastination:
Keeping My Home Organized
If there is a bunch of clutter around me, it’s hard for me to focus on tasks that need to be done. If there are dishes in the sink or clothes that need to be folded, I’m constantly thinking about chores that need to be done versus creative/professional items on my to-do list. I started to devote at least one to two days per week to do all the cleaning and organizing at home. For days in between my cleaning days, I focused on putting things away and not letting them pile up during the week. This cuts down my time of having to straighten up outside of those days I use towards cleaning. I just hate seeing things out-of-place and it irks me to the core! I even purchased a few bins/baskets so that I could store things and have a place to put miscellaneous items. When our home is organized, I feel I can really focus. When our place is a mess, I feel like things just ain’t right!
Setting Goals and Blocking Out Time
I don’t always do this as often as I’d like. However, when I do it helps me be productive and get things done. I started blocking out small chunks of time to devote to certain projects. If I wasn’t blocking out time, I gave myself goals for literally everything! Here are a few examples: One of my goals is to create more partnerships or collaborations for my blog. My goal was to do at least one outreach task daily. Whether it was liking or commenting on a brand’s page, sending an email pitch, or reaching out to a local spa-I knew I had to do some form of blog development daily. Since I already had this goal in mind, I knew it was something I needed to get done. Almost as if it was so ingrained in my mind that I couldn’t go to sleep until I did that one outreach task. I also blocked off small or large chunks of time for projects. So I would say ok from 3pm-4pm, I will just focus on writing blog posts or brainstorming different looks for a photo shoot. Setting goals and blocking out time has helped me get organized when I have a full list of things to get done.
Don’t Take Long Breaks
After I got off of work, I used to say to myself I’m going to unwind for a few before starting any projects. Well, this break would turn into hours of doing nothing, and before I knew it was time to get ready for bed. I hated the feeling of not using my evenings for something productive. Especially since I am working part-time right now! For days when I know I have things to get done, I put a time limit on my breaks after work. So if I get home at 2pm, I’ll give myself an hour to eat and chill. By 3pm, I am starting on one of my projects. Then, I’ll give myself a 15-30 minute break in between projects. Sometimes I’m so laser focused that I don’t need a break. However, it feels nice to know that I gave myself some flexibility.
Hopefully, these tips will help if you struggle with procrastination like me. I’m a work in progress, but I definitely notice a difference when I practice these three tips!
