Slay the Procrastination Dragons

Hi and welcome to The Daily Dot, the daily edition of the Connect the Dots podcast. My name is Matt Raglan and in each episode I share a short lesson about how to be more focused and productive. I draw these lessons from personal experience, work with clients, modern psychology, and real-world application. Thank you for listening and if you enjoy The Daily Dot, please share it with a friend. Now here's today's lesson. Slay the dragon. One of the biggest blockers to productive, focused work is your own mindset about what productive work looks like. It's like, you know how to be productive, but you still struggle to get the work done. Does this sound familiar? Even if it's not your story right now, all of us can relate to that feeling. But I have good news. It's not all your fault. It's the procrastination dragons. You see, you face these little dragons every day. Dragons of self-doubt and distraction, fear of not being good enough, worry you'll be found out. Of long odds and missed opportunities. When you take on the mindset of a hero and combine all your power-ups to face daily dragons like this, you realize you have what it takes to overcome each challenge and move through the valley to the summit of your success. See, you can do this every single day with the right tools, community, and guide alongside you. Practically, you already know how to be productive, but it's so dang hard to do in the moment. It's easy to get in your own way, and I, I know I do it all the time. But you know, there's another level you can reach. That's really exciting to know there's an opportunity available to slay the procrastination dragons and do work that matters. Here are 4 ways to slay common daily productivity dragons. Number 1, self-doubt. If you're wracked by self-doubt about whether or not this is the best path for you, then apply the 10-round rule. Think about doing 10 rounds of effort on the goal or the new habit that you want to build in your life. For example, I've done things like publishing a daily podcast for 10 days, going to jiu-jitsu 10 times, making 10 sales calls. Number 2: distraction. I often journal to get these distractions out of my head because demons hate fresh air. Treat the practice as a reporter, not a judge. Something that we've talked about a lot in other episodes. Number 3: if you feel like you're not good enough. To slay this procrastination dragon, I often review my notes and journal entries to see the struggles of successful people. Knowing that I can be one of them too. Number 4, overwhelmed. To slay this procrastination dragon, I often create a master task list, prioritizing by value, and then blocking time for those tasks. The GAP and WRAP methods are very useful here. See what I mean? With the right tools and mindset, you can approach the challenges of each day with confidence instead of concern. Your productivity kit is a wealth of mental and logistical power-ups to deploy in the face of all these procrastination dragons you face every day. Today's quote comes from the writer Jack London. He says, "You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." Question to ponder: Where do the procrastination dragons rise up and attempt to stop you from doing your best work? Thanks for listening to The Daily Dot. I really appreciate it. The best way to help the show grow is by sharing with a friend, but the other way is to rate and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. I'd love to hear from you on Twitter or Instagram. You can find me @MattRagland. I'll be back tomorrow with a new episode, so thanks again, and I will talk to you tomorrow.