It’s hard to get ish done when there’s a mysterious force telling you to “do it tomorrow.” Procrastination is the absolute worst! 

How many times have you thought of a brilliant idea, passionately pursued it for a few days, or maybe even a week, just to let it fall by the way side? Too many times eh? Don’t worry me too!

From business ventures, to authoring a book, to starting a new workout plan, to simply completing an assignment, I used to be the Queen of Procrastination… until now.

Starting my blog has been one of the most purposeful and strategically mapped out goals that I’ve ever followed through with. Below are 5 steps that helped me complete a project that I originally procrastinated on.

5 Ways to Get Ish Done

1.    Find a purpose bigger than yourself- Many times when we get excited about a new goal or project we are in the ideal state of mind. We are encouraged, motivated, energized, and ready to achieve! However, what happens once that excitement dwindles? What will inspire us to follow through with the vision that we had, once the initial enthusiasm dissipates? I’ve found that finding a purpose (or a why) that is bigger than me helps me to get out of bed more swiftly to complete a given project or task.

My blog is an outlet for me to share my life lessons, shortcuts and insights that I’ve gained from my elders and through personal experiences. My hope (and purpose) is to inspire and encourage my readers to transform the quality of their lives through my motivational stories, quotes and by depositing seeds of positivity. This is the why that gets me out of bed when I don’t feel like digging deep to create a post. What’s your why? What’s going to keep you going when procrastination knocks at your door? 

 

2.    Create a road map or find one– Two of my most common excuses (among others) that I used for failing to complete a task or project were “I don’t know where to start” or “I don’t know how to do it.”  That’s bull! We live in a world of incredible technological advancements. With the internet at our fingertips there are an abundance of resources that follow. Create a plan on how you want to complete your goal or project. A step by step guide can help to minimize intimidation and disorder.

Considering that I’ve never created a blog and have absolutely no experience blogging it would have been pretty foolish for me to create a road map on a subject that I wasn’t familiar with. So, I thoroughly researched other bloggers and I came across an amazing easy-to-follow guidebook by Rosetta Thurman entitled, The Blogging School. I followed her book precisely and thus, Mocha Girls Pit Stop was materialized.

 

3.    Get rid of distractions- Technological advancements are indeed a gift and a curse. Lord knows that I’ve wasted countless hours on social networks liking, commenting, tweeting, reading, Facebook stalking (hey, don’t judge me) or pinning. Getting rid of those things that distract you most may increase productivity and decrease idle time.

During the preparation phase of my blog I decided to go on a social networking “fast.” I was so much more productive and less distracted as I moved closer to completing my personal project.

 

4.    Find an accountability partner- Holding myself accountable for completing certain tasks frequently leads me down the path to EPIC FAILURE.  I’ve found that when I have a positive, encouraging and steadfast accountability partner who challenges me, checks in on me and pushes me, I perform significantly better than if I did it alone.

Once I found my purpose for blogging I shared my goals with positive and encouraging people: family, friends, mentors, supervisors and more. After sharing my goal and verbalizing how I wanted them to hold me accountable it gave me an extra push to follow through on what I said I’d do. On those days when I feel like slacking they’ll be in my corner challenging and encouraging me to complete my project. And thanks to you, I’m now accountable to my readers as well!

 

5.    Give yourself an incentive to follow through- A powerful incentive will create and maintain a strong connection between your efforts and the motivation behind them. Treat yourself to a shopping spree, a dessert, a new book or come up with a big enough incentive that will propel you to accomplish your goal.

The incentive behind my blog is a pretty damn good one, MY GRADE! My Master’s program requires me to complete a summer practicum relating to my career goals. One day I’d like to be a motivational speaker and author. I met with my advisor with a “marketing plan” on why he should accept my proposal to complete 10 blog posts (along with a few other assignments) for my summer practicum requirements and he accepted!

These 5 easy-to-follow tips have helped me follow through on my goals after the honeymoon phase dies down. If you enjoyed this post, you’ll love my ebook, Break Up With Procrastination. Take a look here.