Stop Calling it Procrastination: The Truth About Task Avoidance

Welcome to the Overgivers Anonymous Podcast. My name is Angela Mondor, also known as the Geeky Girl. In this podcast, we're gonna be talking about some amazing things to help you get over overgiving. Hi, and welcome to this episode of the Overgivers Anonymous Podcast. My name is Angela Mondor, and I'm also known as the Geeky Girl. Today, I wanna talk to you about procrastination and productivity and how we can actually move from procrastination to productivity. And let's talk about some Misnomers about the concept of procrastination. Look, I am also neurodiverse, obviously. We've talked about it several times. However, I wanna just say that a lot of us with neurodivergent tendencies, those of us with diagnoses or those who are undiagnosed but still thinking maybe there's something going on there, generally it's not that we are procrastinating. It feels like procrastination or it seems like procrastination or other people see it as procrastination when actually I wanna challenge your thought around it. It's actually overwhelm. We are overwhelmed and we don't know what step to take next. So this can occur a lot of different ways. Sometimes it occurs because we are looking at a great big task. We just don't even know how to get started on this great big task. Other times it's literally, there's a task that you have to do and you just don't feel like it. It doesn't spark joy. It doesn't bring you that dopamine hit that you're looking for. It can feel like procrastination, but really there's ultimately something underneath there that's stopping you. It's not a typical procrastination as of, I don't wanna do it. It's not that you don't want to do it. It's just that you haven't figured out how to get yourself to be able to get that particular thing done. You wanna do it. It's, you should all over yourself about not getting it done. So to me, that's the difference. If you have a task and you're like, oh, I just don't feel like doing that, and you leave it and leave it and leave it, that's procrastination. But if it's the typical problem that we have where it's like, ah, I don't wanna do it, but I know I need to do it. And then there's a stress around this concept of why you can't get this thing done. This, this then is different than procrastination. There is something going on there that you need to kind of dig into. It's gonna be different for all of us. There's a lot of different reasons why we're gonna be doing that. Like I said, one of my main ones is when I'm looking at a big task and I just don't know how to break it apart. So when I get to those moments, I know that I just need to go, okay, hold on a second. I need to break that apart. So when you are paying attention to the things that trigger you to leave things or not do things on time or leave 'em to the Last minute. When you pay attention to those things, you can understand your patterns and thought processes. Think about what it is about what is stopping you. And then as these things come up in future, you can then now use the tools that you create to be able to move through these things for yourself. So there's a lot of reasons. Sometimes it's a fear of failure. Sometimes it's, I don't wanna do it because, or I'm not, I'm struggling to get it done because I'm worried I'm gonna do it wrong. The other concept of that is perfectionism. You struggle because you don't want other people to see that you've done it wrong, which also Also can lead to the fact that people can see what you're doing. So if you're worried about other people's opinions or people's, maybe other people shoulding all over you, then maybe that's something that's putting up a block or a barrier to you being able to get those kind of things looked after and done. And then that lack of interest is that emotional connection to the task. Again, it's not that you don't wanna do it, it's not that you don't agree that you should do it or those kinds of things, but you're trying to figure out how to make yourself get it done. You're trying to figure out how you can connect to the importance that you see around the other pieces. So it isn't laziness. That's what's really important to take away from here. It's usually more deeply rooted. It's not just I'm lazy and I don't wanna get it done. There's some kind of brain wiring difference that makes it difficult for you to do these tasks. Now, it could be time of day. There might be times where you pay attention to the things that are going on. For example, if I have to write a blog post, if I'm gonna write out a blog post and I try to do that work in the afternoon, it's gonna be way harder for me to get done than it is first thing in the morning. And that's just a time of day thing. That's just because my brain works better on those types of tasks earlier in the day. So these are some things to think about when you're doing these tasks. If you're having a hard time accomplishing a task, think about changing the time of day, changing the venue, changing your surroundings, changing things. You have to start sort of putting together the puzzle pieces of what works best For you. So the first concept is what can you do to make the first move? And what is that first move? Start with just a little bit. Okay? So if you have a task and it's monumental, right? So for example, let's— a monster task is us running the Neurodivergent Summit. That's a monstrous task. It's not a task, is it? It's a project. There's multiple tasks and multiple things that need to get done, and there's multiple people involved. It isn't simple, but sometimes we can go, oh, I just need to run a summit and I just need to get it done, but I don't know how to get started. That's when you start to dig in and go, okay, well, what's my first next step? Or what's the next step I can take right now? Understanding what's stopping you is what is going to be the key to all of your productivity. We have a brand new community that we're starting, and I've been really quiet about it. And I've been quiet about it because I've been concerned about the community and who's gonna come and all of those things. So my barrier to that entry is a bit of perfectionism. There's a piece of me that's stuck because I'm Fearing that failure and the perfectionism about being in front of people. And I needed to understand that that was the problem in order to move through the problem, to be able to get doing the things that I needed to get done. So if you could take your thing and break it down into something small, say, this is the next best step I need to take. This is just the one thing I need to do. And if you're able to try to take that step first, then things will get easier. Okay? So think about what is that next thing. Don't think about like, here's the 500 things that need to get done, but what's the next best step? So sometimes when we can break through that first barrier, when we can actually take that first moment to initiate a small task, something that opens the floodgate and allows us to go down that rabbit hole that we love so much. And, you know, then you can start to hyperfocus on all the other things. But taking that first step sometimes is the most difficult. So remember that you can benefit from some external accountability as well, possible support systems. Maybe you're part of a community or you have a coach or a community group of other entrepreneurs that you can get with and have conversations about. Sometimes that can help you when you're moving through these these things. Breaking down these monster projects, not tasks, into actual smaller tasks that you can get done is absolutely valuable. And sometimes having third-party information or other people giving you ideas can be very helpful to move through those things. So you now can use these little steps to move into the process of building momentum. Okay, so you take that first step and then there's this light that happens. Oh, I took that first step and now I've got these other things going on. So you can use things like time blocking. So you don't have to do the traditional time blocking. I know I've done some conversations about different types of time blocking that can be done, but, you know, figuring out here's where I work best. It's like when I'm talking about writing a blog post, like if I'm writing blog posts, I need to block that time off in the morning to get that done, not in the afternoon. So what day can I get that done? Where does that best fit in my overall schedule? Okay. Pomodoros, great. You could do Pomodoros for any length of time you desire. Pomodoros work work great with people or by yourself. If you're working with people, you can also do the whole body doubling thing, which actually is fantastic when you're working with somebody. Body doubling doesn't have to be done in person either. You can do body doubling with other people through Zoom, or in our Circle community, we have a body doubling area where you can actually body double with other people. Sometimes even just being there in the body doubling system, like, you know, on a video call waiting for other people to join, can also add some of that accountability that you might be looking for in terms of what you're trying to So you set aside, here's what I'm gonna get done during this session, here's what's going to happen, and here's the length of time I have. That allows you to put some accountability behind what you wanna get done during that piece of the day. So those are also really great. Some people work really well with rewards or gamification. Neither of those things work well for me personally, but I know that other people work really well. The concept of ticking things off, right? The dopamine hit of saying, oh, I did the thing. So writing up the list of things that you're gonna get done and then checking them off. Sometimes that works really well for people. rewards, make sure that the reward is not going to set you back in, in any kind of way financially or personally. Make sure that you're setting your goals— like, it could be as easy as, you know what, when I'm done these tasks, I'm going to watch an episode of a TV show, or when I'm done these tasks, I'm going to read a chapter of my book, or I'm going to have— make myself a tea, or whatever it is. Make sure that it is not always something that's going to cost you a lot, or not money or time to get done. But if you do a great big project, like, so the end of the summit, I mean, we get the summit done, if I was into rewards, I'd be like, oh, I get a day where I get to go to Thermia, which is a local spa here in town. It's a Nordic spa, absolutely one of my favorite places to spend time, to be honest. But if I was reward seeking in that way, then I could put it towards a larger task rather than just sort of like, oh, if I get these few tasks done, I'm going to Thermia. Sort of making the reward fit the work, right? So figure out what it is that works for you. What is it that you can do that you can— works for you? And you might not even know. You may be like, I am a gamification person. And then you start to try things and you go, Really, I'm not. And then you're like, oh, I'll try some reward stuff, right? So you gotta try a few things to see what works best for you, and then you can start to build some habits around those things to help you when you get into these moments. So part of it is understanding what's stopping you, and then part of it is figuring out what works best for you. Now, if you could take this information and use it to reframe the concept of procrastination, then it will also help you to get past this quicker. There's a lot of negativity and shoulding that happens around the word procrastination. As a society, we look at people who procrastinate as lazy and they're not as good as, they are not as successful. There's some logic around the word that could be holding you back as well. So if you're constantly saying to yourself, I'm procrastinating, or I'm a procrastinator, or if you're using that terminology around yourself, it's possible then that this can be holding you back. So let's try to reframe it. I encourage you to think about procrastination a little differently. And rather than saying those types of things to yourself, think about it in a different way. It will help you remove the guilt. Okay? The guilt monsters get us stuck every single time. So instead of thinking about this from a procrastination perspective, you can say, this is a task that I'm not really good at, and therefore it's difficult for me to get started because when I'm not good at something, it's difficult for me to get past the perfectionism. in that task. Or this task is really difficult for me to do in the afternoon. I really need to move it to a morning task. Or this particular task is hard for me to do because it really isn't a task, it's a project, and I need to figure out what's the next best step to take. So choose self-compassion. Choose to acknowledge the fact that smaller wins are really important. We typically are looking for big wins, and I know how important it is to see the big wins. However, I will say that one of the things we focus on in the Rockstar Success Circle is the fact that you can take your entire year and break it down into quarters and take those quarters and break down to months and you take those months and you break it down into those weekly things. What are the things I need to get done? What are these non-negotiables I need to get done every single week? And by focusing on those small things, those small wins are connected to the month, they're connected to the quarter, they're connected to the year. You see what I mean? So those small wins are actually really, really important. So if you can take that and reframe the information and reframe the way you feel about what's happening, it can actually help you to get over, to let go and understand that it's not procrastination, it's overwhelm. There's things that you can do to make a difference in the way that you work inside your business. You can reframe this inside your brain and then you can connect this to some things that are really important to you, your personal values and your goals. Like I said, breaking these things down will help you So that you can actually focus on the little things and not focus on those great big things, which alone is really, really helpful. So maintaining this productivity over time can be difficult. You're building new habits, you're building new thoughts, you're building new thought patterns, you're reframing the way you're thinking about things. It's not a little thing, but it is simple. It's not easy, but it's simple. You wanna make sure you have regular check-ins with yourself. Like I said, in the Rockstar Success Circle, we do a yearly planning, we do quarterly planning, we do monthly planning. In the Rockstar Mastermind, we actually do weekly planning. So So, you know, when you're looking at what you need to do, you got to think about what does that regular check-in mean for me? Where should I check in and how should I check in? And then how do you adjust what's working? If you're looking at your schedule and you're like, I can't do these things at this time of day, I need to move them that time of day. When do you want to check in? How long do you want to leave that before you make an adjustment in your schedule? And you want to celebrate your milestones. Those are going to really help you build your confidence. Think about the things that are working great, not just the things that really aren't working well, but what is working great for you. That's important so that you can celebrate that and give yourself some boost of energy, and that'll build some confidence in your ability to move through and get over and into a productive mode. Okay, you want to incorporate breaks. I actually have a little Google Home over there, and it'll actually talk to me during the day and say, hey, it's time to get up and go for a walk, or it's time to have a drink, or hey, Don't forget it's lunchtime. You know, make sure that you're taking breaks for yourself. You want to be mentally well as well, not just getting things done like a machine, because that's just going to break you down. That's not cool. So you want to make sure that we're going to prevent some burnout by making sure you're looking after your mental health and your body health as well. So creating systems like having the Google Home sitting here telling me those kinds of things, that's a system that helps me to honor my neurodivergent brain. It helps me to look after me and so that I can be the best me I can be. When I'm the best me, then I can be the best me for you. And that's what's really important here. I wanna deliver the best I possibly can to you, just the same as you wanna deliver the best you possibly can to your clients and followers. And so in order to do that, it's really important for me to look after myself. So getting enough sleep, making sure I'm drinking enough, eating properly throughout the day. One of my neurodivergent problems is that I will forget lunch quite often. I just keep working through. So I need to be able to make sure I have nourishing snacks here on my desk that I can pick at during the day so that if I do miss a meal, I'm not just relying on bad snacks. I have good nuts snacks here and seeds along with some naughty snacks too, but there's some balance. When I make up my lunch, it's usually something that I can pick through. It's like, it's more like an adult version of those Lunchables, right? So I have some meat and some fruit. I can just sit and pick through it. That is how I like to eat. It's more like grazing. It helps me to be able to get the nourishment that I need during the day, but it doesn't overwhelm me with having to, you know, create a meal and do all those sit-down things that, that really change the dynamic of my day. If I had to change and sit down and have like a meal at lunchtime, then I wouldn't want to come back to work after. So you have to know who you are and how you function. And just because that's how what works for me today doesn't mean to say that's going to continue to work for me forever, but it works for me now, and that's all that's important. So I hope you can take this information and really digest it and consume it Do some journaling, some meditation, something. Do some internal review for yourself and think about procrastination differently. Think about it instead of, instead of it being you're lazy or you're no good or you're not successful, you can look at those situations and say, what can I do differently? What is it that's stopping me in these moments? Because it's not my desire to be successful. It's not your desire to be productive. You want to be productive. You want to be successful. So what is it that's stopping you? you, because it's not that. I hope you have a fantastic day and I look forward to talking to you next week. Have a good one. Thank you so much for listening to the Overgivers Anonymous podcast. Your support means the world to me. You can find show notes for this episode and other goodies at overgiversanonymous.ca. And if you enjoyed this episode or you enjoy the podcast in general, why not join us in the Overgivers Anonymous Facebook group where you can connect with overgivers from all over the world? Head on over to geekygirl.ca/group.