Procrastination Coach

Free for three days

Guess who procrastinated on sharing this with you…? I did. My excuse is that National Poetry Month has my focus now, but the real reason is that I didn’t want to bother people who might not be interested in reading about my poetry book. Strange how a simple deadline makes all the difference. I still don’t want to bother people, but now that it’s only free for another 3 hours and 20 minutes (at…

gourmet two point oh

I love #promoteyourselfmonday at the GoDogGoCafe website. It’s a lovely community and I get to read all kinds of poems. This one, I had to listen to. Sometimes that puts me off; I find most poems easier to understand when I read them. But this one… From the first guitar notes I was hooked. I hope you like it too!

Stop procrastinating on… self publishing tips #6

Now that my first books are out, I have to learn more about self-publishing. How to do it in a way that works? I used to think hitting the ‘publish now’ button would be the end of my work on a book. It’s not. Unless I want it to just sit there and not be sold. It’s been a a few weeks since I wrote tip #5. Since then, I’ve 99% finished the next book I’m going to publish, which is poetry (mine) and…

Stop procrastinating on… self publishing tips #5

Now that my first books are out, I have to learn more about self-publishing. How to do it in a way that works? I used to think hitting the ‘publish now’ button would be the end of my work on a book. It’s not. Unless I want it to just sit there and not be sold. It’s been a while since I wrote tip #4. Since then, I’ve learned a lot about marketing self-published books. My main take away? It would…

Or… how to not procrastinate on selling your books – by creating a discount.

I’m experimenting with the promotions feature on Google Play books today. I don’t like advertising, so I was searching for different ways to promote From do it Later to Do it Now in Ten Days – my anti-procrastination workbook that a friend described as “too short and practical to procrastinate on”.

Takes you to the book

Now that my books are on Amazon, I have to learn more about self-publishing. How to do it in a way that works? I used to think hitting the ‘publish now’ button would be the end of my work on a book. It’s not. Unless I want it to just sit there and not be sold. It’s been a month since I wrote tip #3. Since then, I’ve learned a lot about marketing self-published books. My main take away? It would…

Stop procrastinating on… starting

Stop procrastinating on… starting

Now that I have a book on Amazon, I have to learn more about self-publishing. How to do it in a way that works? There are tons of information out there, so I need to find a way to get started on it. Since starting is a key problem for many people who procrastinate, I’ve developed a simple tool to help with that process. It consists of three simple steps. I’ll…

Procrastination Coach Note Books

Never thought I’d need a page to keep track of where my note books are available, but here it is! There are three designs now, and the next one will be added as soon as it has passed the Amazon review process. I have bought a number of these myself, because I like them so much.

              The note books are available through: Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon France, Amazon Italy, Amazon Japan

Stop procrastinating on… self publishing tips #3

Stop procrastinating on… sharing reviews

How many of us feel that sharing reviews is beating our own drums? Now that I have a book on Amazon, I have to learn more about self-publishing. How to do it in a way that works? One thing that can help your book is reviews, from other people than family and friends (Amazon policies forbid those).

There are many resources that give tips on where and how to…

Stop procrastinating on… self publishing tips #2

Stop procrastinating on… keywords

Now that I have a book on Amazon, I have to learn more about self-publishing. How to do it in a way that works? All sources agree that finding the key words is, well, key. But I feel this reluctance to get it done. So I’ve adjusted the How to start tool slighty. Again, there are three simple steps. I’ll share these first, and then apply them to my own example.

A…

Don’t believe everything you think

When I was younger, I wanted to write books. When I got older, I gave up on that idea. Too difficult. Too much work. So many books out there already, what could mine add to the world?

Then I created a course on procrastination. I made a course book for it. A practical document that could also be used as a self paced course. A realistic book that wanted to help in getting things done, but – even…

Self criticism increases your chances on procrastination. Self compassion decreases them. That’s the short version. But how can you make this work?

Be warned: self compassion is not a tool. It’s not something you use to create something else. It’s nothing more (or less) than a practice – to use some jargon. Which basically means you have to practice it. Over and over again. Without ever getting…

Stop procrastinating on… self publishing tips #1

Stop procrastinating on… starting

Now that I have a book on Amazon, I have to learn more about self-publishing. How to do it in a way that works? There are tons of information out there, so I need to find a way to get started on it. Since starting is a key problem for many people who procrastinate, I’ve developed a simple tool to help with that process. It consists of three simple steps. I’ll…

I planned to do my administration yesterday. I didn’t do it (never mind the reasons) so I planned it again today. I consider it a priority. It HAS to get done, it won’t go away if I don’t do it. My accountant needs time to hand in my stuff before the end of the month. So there’s sort of a deadline (yes, ‘sort of’ is not the most helpful type of deadline, there’s room for improvement there).

I’m afraid it’s easy to guess what happened. I procrastinated. I started by doing something else when I came home tired from fysiotherapy. Last week a fan asked me if my Procrastination Coach merchandise was still available on RedBubble. I hadn’t looked on there for a long time, so I decided to put ‘check RedBubble’ on my to do list. To do some time… Today seemed a good day for a fun little task.

One thing led to another. I designed new products on Redbubble. I added pins of my stuff to Pinterest. I posted on Facebook that RedBubble has a discount today. I twittered about the stuff I have on there. I rearranged some of my Pinterest boards to have a better picture as a first view. One thing lead to another, my administration isn’t done – and I’m writing a blog post now.

Has this been productive? Yes? Does it feel good? A little? Does it feel bad? That too… Was it procrastination? Yes. Definitively. Do I count it as productive procrastination? Yes, up to a certain point. It’s time to stop and switch now.

I’m used to procrastinating on my administration. My quarterly taxes always need digging. Digging through files, digging through e-mails. Logging in to places that have digital invoices. And digging through piles to find where I left my paper receipt this time.

I’m fully aware WHY I procrastinate on it. I know I dread the process, because I always end up feeling like an unorganised idiot. Even when I’ve tried to be more organised this time. So what I avoid is not the actual work, but the feeling it brings me.

I make sure to schedule my administration when I still have some time to procrastinate on it. Giving in to the urge to procrastinate for a day or two, seems to be easier for me than to fight the fight to get it done simply because I tell myself I HAVE TO. My inner anti-authoritarian starts playing up too much in those cases. I’m not buying the “I have to” when I know there’s time left. My inner anti-authoritarian simple crosses its arms, looks at me defiantly, and says “no, not yet”.

My work is about creating ways for you that work. If I beat myself up too much over procrastinating, the strategy of ‘productive procrastination’ is not the best. It will make me feel like I fail, which decreases my self confidence, which is… yes, a well-known trigger for procrastination.

If I accept that administration is a Thing for me, I can find a way to work with that. Like plan in time to procrastinate on it. Ideally, I do things in that time that I normally tend to procrastinate on. Like marketing. Or tidying up (when I’ll probably start finding some of the receipts already.

Marketing? Done. Blog post? Done! Next up: some tidying. Tomorrow… My administration. That’s a promise!

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Have an upcoming task you don’t like? Try to see if you can make it more fun. By being playful around it for example. A classic form of this is a tidying up contest between kids. Most children don’t like tidying up. But turning it into a contest often works wonders, even when it’s the same task.

Adults don’t respond as well to contest, especially not perfectionists. They are in an eternal contest…