Ever wake up with a list of 5+ things to accomplish for the day only to find that at the end of the day you’ve maybe accomplished one item on your list…if that? Where did the day go?
I know I’ve been there. I remember in college making an attempt to organize my week only to have to pull multiple all-nighter’s the night before assignments were due – telling myself I would learn to stop procrastinating by the time I graduated.
Then I became a mom and boy was I wrong about that! When I became a mom I felt like I might as well stop trying to make lists. When I started my business, I realized that procrastinating was not an option if I was going to make my mompreneur lifestyle work.
A mom’s life is always busy. The list of things to do is endless and throwing a business on top of that does not exactly make it easier. I knew that being a mom and running a business was NOT going to be easy but I HAD to figure out how to become more productive.
One eCourse that can be tremendously helpful in this journey is, “From Procrastinating to Productive Mama: Why Moms Procrastinate and How to Get over It!” by Amylee Udell. In this eCourse, you will learn why you procrastinate and how to get over it so you can get control of your household, family, and life!
Procrastination can become a nasty habit but we ALL fall into this at some point in our lives BUT, and this is important…we can ALL overcome this.
Here are my 4 tips to stop procrastinating and become more productive
Tip #1 Figure out WHY you procrastinate
What is going on in your life that is keeping you from accomplishing your daily, weekly, monthly goals? Identifying what is holding you back from reaching your goals or what is distracting you is the first place to start. Procrastination is a habit and in order to change a habit you need to figure out what is fueling it.
If you’re having a hard time identifying the things in your life that are holding you back from being productive, I highly recommend snatching up “Overcoming Procrastination: How To Stop Procrastinating So You Can Achieve Your Goals” by Uche Ndu. This eBook will help you learn why you procrastinate and discover practical steps to overcome it, so you can accomplish your goals.
Tip #2 Get organized
Organization is key to stop procrastinating. If you have a daily calendar, stick to it. If you create a weekly menu, stick to it. If you have a daily to-do list, cross everything off of that list.
Here’s the catch, you have to be realistic with your daily goals. For example, if you know that your kids need your undivided attention between 8:00 am and 12:00 pm, don’t schedule anything else during that time. If your child takes a nap from 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm, what can you accomplish in an hour? Plan ahead of time and don’t do anything else besides what you had planned during that hour.
If you’re the kind of person that can benefit from printable goal sheets, calendars, to-do lists/checklists, menu planners, and more, then my, “Get It Together, Girl! System” is just what you need! This easy, simple, flexible system that allows you to plan your life without a lot of complicated rules that don’t fit YOU or your family!
It’s amazing how much work I am able to get done in an hour if I have that time planned ahead of time and don’t allow myself to become distracted with anything else. This actually brings me to my next tip.
Tip #3 Cut out distractions
Whatever your distractions are, CUT. THEM. OUT.
We’ve all done it…started on a project, our phone pings and all-of-a-sudden, we’re down the Instagram rabbit hole and now our kids have woken up from their nap and work time is over….without actually completing what we needed to during that time!
Turn your phone off if you need to or put it on do not disturb mode. If you have to work around your kids and they are being loud, as kids do pretty often, it’s okay to tell them, “It’s mommy’s work time so it’s quiet activity time.” For this I do recommend a loud activity time and quiet activity time for your kids and sticking to a routine.
The best resource for cutting out your distractions is “Productivity by Design: Use Brain Science to Get More Done” by James Garrett eCourse. These brain-based strategies will help you supercharge your focus and dominate distraction. I know that as busy mamas we LOOOVE to multitask but realistically, we can only truly focus on one thing at a time and this eCourse can help.
While I know I love multitasking, I also hate it because realistically, it’s NOT productive. So when I’m creating my routine for my family, I cannot multitask during work time. It’s either family time or work time. Not both.
Speaking of routine, this is not only beneficial for your children but also for you. Creating a routine that works for your whole family will make EVERYONE happier. So here is my next tip.
Tip #4 Create a routine that WORKS for your family
When you figure out a good routine, stick to it. I know that this is much easier said than done and honestly it takes some practice and some getting used to. I’m telling you, once you do make your routine a habit, everyone in your life will benefit from it and you WILL be more productive.
If you feel like you could use some support, I recommend purchasing the “DrivenWoman Academy Membership” by DrivenWoman. The DrivenWoman Academy is a structured online membership program and community for women with ideas and ambition who want to achieve their goals fast. You not only get access to a Facebook group with amazing supportive women, but you also get access to printable workbook pages, webinars, challenges, and more.
There you have it, my 4 tips that will help you elevate yourself and stop procrastinating so that you can become MORE PRODUCTIVE.
I’m ready to quit procrastinating and increase my productivity, where do I begin?
There are so many tools out there to help keep you on task and be more productive. If you’re having a hard time choosing just one, you may want to look into purchasing the Ultimate Bundles Productivity Bundle. This bundle comes with 68 personal productivity products for only $67. If you would like to fast-track your productivity there are cheat sheets available for an additional $10 bringing the total worth of the bundle to $2837.06 for only $77! All of the resources I mentioned above are in this bundle plus a lot more.