Time Management Technique: Overcome Procrastination

Hey guys!

So, I'm super excited to share with you a "technique" that I've learned recently for cutting down my procrastination.  Now, this method isn't new.  In fact, it's been around for quite some time, HOWEVER, no one seems to talk about it much anymore.  It's not taught to you in school and it's not mentioned in college, unless you luck up and get a professor that thinks you should know it.

I'm using this technique for college and I'm applying it to my Beachbody Coaching business so that I can ensure that I can reach my dreams of opening a medical clinic for eating disorder suffers and being a Top 10 Beachbody Coach!  It's going to happen, just you guys wait!  I'm so excited!

Well, enough about me!  Let's get on to what can HELP YOU!  The gist of this technique is narrowing down your focus and turning major goals into smaller, manageable, daily activities to achieve a goal.

Oh!  And if you do find this information helpful, please share it with people that you think might get something from it.  ^_^

"You're ability to choose between the important and the unimportant is the key to your success in life and work!"  Brian Tracy

The "Technique": Prioritization

• Make a list of key goals, activities, projects, and responsibilities in your life.
• Use Pareto's principle (80% of success comes from 20% of activity) to decide which:
• Goals will give you the maximum amount of fulfillment (emotional, physical, financial, etc).
• Activities/projects will help you the most to achieve those goals
• Responsibilities will help or hinder you towards achieve those goals.
• Dump what you can that isn't going to help you achieve your goals.  Make the sacrifice today for the possibilities of tomorrow.
• Analyze the rest and decide which would have the greatest LONG TERM impact towards helping you achieve your goals.
• Top priority needs to be given to what will have the greatest positive impact if it's done and the most negative impact if it's not done!  Doing those first will give you the greatest chances of preventing time wasting by working on several smaller, less important tasks. 
• Analyze your list of goals again (I know, I know!  Just trust me) to find your one TRUE goal.
• Look for any goals that are really stepping stones for another goal on your list.  When you find that goal that is achievable by reaching all of those other goals, then you have your TRUE priority!   Don't toss out those other goals that don't tie into your big goal!  Oh no!  You'll need those puppies for when you achieve your big goal.  You'll choose one of those to figure out what you're going to focus on next!
• Write out your TRUE goal and under it all the goals that will make that come true and under those, the daily/weekly/monthly Pareto's principle activities that are tied to your true goal. 
• Make sure this is written somewhere that you will see it DAILY!  You may want to print out multiple copies and just have them around the house, your office, the car, everywhere so that your subconscious mind is forced to think about your goals on a daily basis.
• Do the activities DAILY that'll get you to your true goal(s)!  Remember, they're the activities that follow Pareto's Principle!
• Complete your projects based on the Priority Matrix!  This will ensure you're doing that projects that HAVE to get done first and not wasting time doing things that aren't due for some time. You use this matrix by asking yourself (1) how important a task/project is and (2) when is it due.  If it's very important but not due soon, it goes in do next.  If it's low in importance but due soon, it does in the "do later" (which is really "do after next").  If it's not important and not due soon (aka busy work) just don't do it.  LOL! 

Using me as an example:

List of Goals

• Open a medical clinic for people with eating disorders
• Be financially secure
• Have $100k in savings
• Be a top 10 Beachbody Coach
• Become a registered dietitian/nutritionist (RDN)
• Graduate college
• Own my own house
• Take my mother on a cruise (she's always taken me on them...)
• Help 300 people a year reach their health goals

Analyzing the List

• Opening my medical clinic requires me to be a RDN, which I need to graduate college for.
• Being a Top 10 Beachbody Coach would mean that I'd be: helping people reach their health goals; making six-seven figures a year, so that covers being financially secure; having $100k in savings; owning my own house; and taking my mother on cruises.

Daily Activities

• Study to ensure that I graduate
• Expand my network by 3-5 people DAILY 
• Talk about Beachbody and my dreams DAILY 

Projects

• Create content of value that will help people
• Blog posts, images, online support/challenge groups, etc
• Assignments and exams

And there you have it!  Until I broke this down in this way, I felt like my goals weren't tangible and that the workload would be daunting!  When we're not shown concretely the work that needs to be done, the abstract idea of the workload we form in our minds often has 100 times MORE work in it than it needs to!  It's not wonder people procrastinate and don't achieve their goals quickly!  Well, look at what I need to do daily!

Now, there's other things that I have to do (work, see my boyfriend, be there for friends) but there are sacrifices that I've had to make to ensure I have the time to do the daily activities that I must do in order to successful.  You are going to have to make sacrifices as well!  That can mean no more TV (or allow yourself only ONE show), no more fast food, no more late nights at the bar.

Using me as an example (again):

I've pretty much given up: gaming (I used to be a Gaming Specialist that supervised the gaming department at Best Buy...it's a big deal for me. >_> ), anime, television (I don't even have cable), YouTube, K. Dramas, reading fiction, drawing, writing fiction and poems, hanging out with friends (it's a once in a while thing now), and many opportunities to get back into tabletop games.

Yes...I'm a nerd. LOL!  I gave up almost EVERYTHING that made me a nerd.  I'm sacrificing now so that in the future, I can subscribe to Loot Crate and not care.  In the future, I can host table top gaming parties at my house in a room dedicated to that purpose.

But, most importantly, in the future, I can wake up and know that I am going to work to fulfill my life's purpose.  And that, that right there is worth all of the sacrifice in the world.

Thank you so much for reading!  I hope that you found this to be helpful!  I know I'm using it on a regular basis now and it's helped me find clarity again.  If you've found this to be helpful, leave a comment!  If you have something you'd like to add or share, leave a comment too!  ^_^

References:
"Eat That Frog" by Brian Tracy
"30 Day Push" by Chalene Johnson
Skillsyouneed.com

Six Ways To Build Self-esteem and Confidence

Hi guys!

Thank you so much for coming by!  ^_^  I really appreciated it!  Today I want to talk to you about something near and dear to my heart: self-esteem and confidence.  These are two things that I lack for quite a long time, for as long as I can remember really, and they're recent discoveries in my life.  So, I wanted to share what worked for me and some other things that may help you as well.

1. Accomplish Something Tangible No Matter How Small (or Big!)

This, I believe, had the largest impact on me increasing my self-esteem and my confidence because I proved to myself that I could be successful.  I didn't start out doing anything huge, mind you.  When I first started I felt like I couldn't do anything right, to be honest.  The first tangible thing I did was start making my bed.

Yes, I started making my bed.  On a daily basis I knew there was at lease ONE area of my life that was organized.  There was one area that I successful made into a beautiful space.  :D  From there I started making creations in video games and sharing them with others online.  These included small things, like player homes, to large things, like stories around characters I created in the Sims.  Every chapter I completed was something that I could look back on as an achievement.

From there, my achievements gradually, over time, grew larger and larger.  It was a slow going process.  One with set backs because of my low self-esteem and depression.  But whenever I would take some steps back I would remind myself that I accomplished at least one thing, I made my bed.

Other small things you could accomplish daily are: going grocery shopping, making dinner, meal prepping for the week, completing a 10 minute workout, or cleaning one room in your house.  These small things may not seem like much, but when you feel like you can't do ANYTHING right, trust me, doing at least one of these will show your brain (consciously or subconsciously) your line of thinking was wrong.

2. Repeat "I love myself" Almost Obsessively

I started doing this when I read it in the book "Love Yourself Like Your Life Depended On It".  I was highly surprised when this silly notion actually WORKED!  I gave into the idea of repeating this mantra because if I can harbor the spiritual beliefs that I have, then I should also be able to have faith in this process...no matter how silly it sounds.

So, everyday, I repeated out lout and in my head "I love myself".  While I was showering, brushing my teeth, driving my car, walking, eating, before bed, upon waking.  ANY moment that I wasn't doing something, I was telling myself "I love myself".

At first it was without conviction.  At first, I just felt like an idiot.  But after a few days, just DAYS, I was feeling pretty freaking good about myself.  Haha!  ^_^  I noticed that I was more motivated.  I was kinder and happier.  I was smiling more.  I wasn't slouching as much.  And I had finally started following my meal plan again.  LOL!

3. Talk To Yourself

Say whaaaat?!  Yup!  This is something that I still do if my brain starts falling into the negative self-talk trap.  I correct my negative thoughts by saying something like, "No, Marquita, that's not right.  You ARE successful and you ARE going to graduate!" or "Remember, I'm actively CHOOSING to be positive right now.  I'm choosing to respond to [situation] positively."

It took me awhile to learn when I was having negative self-talk because it was so ingrained in me.  So, figuring that out is a must.  Once you know your triggers (for me, not living up to unrealistic expectations) you can try visualizing a giant stop sign to stop the downard spiral of thoughts and then start correcting your negative thoughts with positive ones.

4. Remove the Word "Should" From Your Vocabulary

Trust me, your life will be a lot happier without that word.  Should has a way of automatically setting you up for failure because if you don't do exactly what you should do (even if it's damn close) you've failed.  Instead of saying "should" I say things like:
- would like to
- need to
- am trying to

It took me years to remove that word, it was something a psychologist suggested for me back in middle school (I'm 29 right now, btw).  Now, after years of practice, that word actually doesn't come to mind.

5.  Create a Success Record

Record down all of the accomplishments you've had and pull them out DAILY to read.  For example, when I was working retail I had an email folder dedicated to customer praises, stories of helping customers find great last minute gifts, praises I got from managers, or any awards I got.

Now, as a Beachbody Coach, I keep track of messages from people that have said I've inspired them or changed their lives, my weight loss and fitness successes, and days that I've successfully done everything I'm supposed to do for my business (blog & social media posts, meeting new people, follow ups, the three vital behaviors, etc)

6. Read Books Around Improving Mental Health or Confidence

I've found that consuming LARGE quantities of positive and motivating material leaves my brain with very little time to lament on my failures, real or otherwise.  Haha!  There's just not enough room with all of the positive input for my brain to come up with nearly as much negativity as it used to be able to!

I'm currently reading "The Slight Edge".  Next I will be reading "You Are A Bad Ass" and then "The Compound Effect" and then "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" and then... You get the point!

And when I'm not reading, I'm LISTENING to podcasts or audiobooks about self-improvement.  Much like how I repeated to myself constantly "I love myself", I'm upping my self-esteem and confidence by practically drowning myself in positivity.  I know it sounds weird, but try it for three days and tell me what you think!



Thank you again for reading!  Please feel free to check out the other entries that I have in the blog.  AND, if there's any topics you'd like to learn more about that I haven't covered yet, especially in the areas of nutrition, fitness, and mental health, please feel free to comment below or fill out the form at the top of the page.  :D

I hope you have a blessed day! <3
Future Reading:

Building Confidence and Self-esteem (Psychologytoday.com)
Self-esteem: Take Steps To Feel Better About Yourself (MayoClinic.com