Procrastination - 15 Strategies To Overcome Procrastination Today!

#5: One Commitment a Day is Enough

2011-04-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

Do you commit too much?

Maybe some of your commitments are outdated and needs to be re-negotiated.

It will free up your energy!

Sometimes Procrastination Work

2011-03-28T04:16:00.000-07:00

Let time work for you!

My new webshop is very delayed but time has done its work;

now I am much more clear about the vision I have for it.

Mindful Procrastination

2011-03-16T05:38:00.000-07:00

          There is a time and a place for everything ...

             Sometimes the timing just isn't right ....

       Finding a better time is Mindful Procrastination

#1: Clean Out Your Clutter

2011-03-10T04:01:00.000-08:00

If all else fails you can always clean out your clutter.

It never fails and it frees up your energy!

#3: 5P's: Prioritize, plan, proceed, pause, praise

2011-03-03T03:54:00.000-08:00

These days I have 2 blogs, 1 new web shop and 1 e-book in the making so I have to use the 5P’s to manage my time and energy.

I constantly have to ask myself:

“which task is most important in moving me forward towards my goal?”

I then use the 5Ps to proceed, plan, pause and praise.

How about you, how do you manage?

#8 Energy Management!

2011-02-25T05:24:00.000-08:00

No need to use your energy on daily shopping lists.

Make a template with the kind of food that you mostly buy every week.

Print out a stack. Post one on the fridge and tick off as you go.

Saves you time and energy.

#4: Structure liberates!

2011-02-10T00:41:00.000-08:00

I'm in the process of editing my second e-book

"Suzette von Hornbæk's Dating Guide".

Since there is no publisher I have to create a stucture that works for me.

So I allocate very specific time and deadlines each step of the way. It works.

Launch day will be April 27.

#12: Break it down!

2011-02-01T01:51:00.000-08:00

Feeling overwhelmed?

If so you are not alone.

According to a recent poll on a popular radioshow 70% of the listeners were in the state of overwhelm.

The solution is to break your project into doable pieces.

Start somewhere.

Do what’s possible and soon the ball starts rolling.

#9: Keep Yourself Fit and Healthy!

2011-01-27T03:29:00.000-08:00

Fitness is about fun.
Find out what you like best.

My own favorites are:
xx
1) A refreshing walk in the forest
xx
2) “Body flow” which is a combination of Yoga and Pilates
xx
3) “Freestyle” - my own combination of what I like best.

What's your Favorite Fitness?

#2: Broadcast Your Goals!

2011-01-26T00:58:00.000-08:00

It's a big mistake to think that you can reach your goals by going it alone.

Share your goals with like minded people.

Select "Visions-keepers" to help hold your visions like a "true north".

It more fun and it works.

2011-01-13T01:05:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it's the fear of success that's holding us back.

Yes. It may sound strange but it's true.

What would happen if you were truly successfull?

How would you feel?

Maybe you are holding back because being successfull is out of your comfortzone.

#4: Structure liberates

2011-01-04T03:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I started writing on my next e-book called:

"Suzette van Hornbæk's Dating Guide"

I allocate very specific time to write every day - it works and it's liberating to know that the work gets done.

Do you need help working out a structure?

#1: Clean out your clutter!

2010-12-13T02:07:00.000-08:00

Now is the perfect time before the New Year!

What do you no longer want in your life?

What will you say "YES" to in 2011?

#5: One Commitment a Day is Enough!

2010-12-06T01:55:00.000-08:00

Do you have too many commitments?

Maybe some of your old commitments doesn't work anymore.

You may need to redefine your commitments ..

Is procrastination causing you pain?

2010-12-02T01:27:00.000-08:00

I've decided to make the "Procrastination Rescue Kit" free for the readers of wake2life.com's e-zine.

It will be out next week, sign up for newletter at http://www.wake2life.com/

Stay tuned!

#4: Structure Liberates!

2010-12-01T04:41:00.000-08:00

Many people dream of being “free” but truth be told

if you were totally free to do whatever you want would you know what to do?

Quite often total freedom creates chaos that’s why creating a structure that works for you is liberating.

#1: Clean out Your Clutter!

2010-11-24T04:47:00.000-08:00

All to often people assume that cleaning out your clutter is all about physical mess.

This is not so.

Cleaning out your clutter has to do with your relationships too.

What's one relationship where you know you have to clean out some clutter?

Don't settle for less, stand up for yourself!

2010-11-22T03:13:00.000-08:00

To procrastinate over something that you truly want is like settling for less than you deserve!

Don't settle for less!

Stand up for yourself and get what you want. If you need help to get into action I will soon have the "Procrastination Rescue Kit" out!

What are the Top 3 Procrastination Killers?

2010-11-17T07:17:00.000-08:00

Last week on November 10, 2010, I was interviewed by Ellen Violette for her eBook Empire Builders Membership Club to talk about procrastiation and one of the questions that came up was:

"What are some great procrastination killers?"

Obviously, being the author of "Procrastination - 15 Strategies To Overcome Procrastination Today!" this is a question that I have given a lot of thought and the following is what I believe is the best answer:

1. Find your passion and align with it

2. Create a sense of urgency

3. Wakeup calls

Although you can read a lot more in dept about all that in my book I will give you a couple of examples right off the bat to give you an idea of what I am talking about.

Find your true passion and align with it
Have you ever felt so passionate about something that you completely forgot about time and place? If so you will know that when you are in touch with your passion work seems a lot less hard! You will actually have fun and - best of all - you may even "forget about yourself" and the blocks that could be holding you back in the first place, e.g. the fear of not doing a great enough job.

In other words when you feel truly passionate about your work, procrastination really isn't an issue you just do it for no other reason than because "you had to".

Creating a sense of urgency
We all tend to live our lifes as if it is "forever"! Unfortunately this is not so and that's why it's very helpful to create a sense of urgency to help us make the most of our time while we've still got the time.

Some very powerful ways to create this sense of urgency is:

#2: Broadcasting your goals (letting others know what your goals are)

#7: Join a dream team

Both of these strategies will help you move forward by providing 1) deadlines and accountability 2) Support and inspiration so that you don't have to wear yourself out by "going it alone".

Wake up calls
The simple truth is we cannot create "Wake up Calls" which is why they come in a category of their own!

"Wake up Calls" are given to us by life. E.g. if we are told by our doctor that our health is at risk. Or it could be that we experiece the loss of a relationship that causes us to stop and think of all of the things we wished we would have done different while it was still time.

Although "Wake up calls" aren't exactly pleasant they certainly serve to help us to move forward if we are willing to do so.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In a nutshell I encourage you to consider these stategies to help you move forward:

1. Find your passion and align with it

2. Create a sense of urgency

3. Remind yourself that time is a limited ressource

Warmly Michala

Throw some spaghetti on the wall!

2010-11-11T02:52:00.000-08:00

Many times we fail do to something because we fear that if we commit it – it has to be for the rest of our life.

This is not so!

Even if you commit to do something you can always chance it if it doesn’t work.

It’s like throwing spaghetti on the wall, some will stick, some won’t but you will not know unless you try.

Let Your Talent Shine!

2010-11-08T04:39:00.000-08:00

Do you procrastinate because you don’t know your true talent?
Watch out for what comes easy for you.

You talent often lies where you have to make the least effort. Sadly you probably don’t recognize this as you automatically assume that it would be easy for others too. This is not so.

Don’t keep your talent hidden as the best kept secret in the world.

#8: Energy Management!

2010-11-03T02:08:00.000-07:00

How do you manage your energy?
I suggest you look at your energy the way you handle a bank account. To be able to spent energy you need to make sure that you actually have some on your account. One way to get some more energy into your account is to take a nice, fresh walk in the forest.

#7: The Power of a Dream Team!

2010-10-25T02:31:00.000-07:00

Recent studies prove that people are 6 times as likely to produce a desired outcome when they bundle up in groups of people who know them and hold their intention for them.

That’s why I’m a big fan of Dream Teams - they help you move forward!

#5: One Commitment A Day is Enough!

2010-10-20T01:38:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it could be as simple as making "that" important phone call that you been avoiding for so long now - yet you know you would feel so much better if you did!
Could be a sales call, could be a personal call. It doesn't matter. What matters is that by making that call you would move forward.

#12: Go with the flow!

2010-10-18T03:50:00.000-07:00

Do you ever get so many ideas that you get overwhelmed and don’t follow through on any of it?

I suggest you keep an idea log (could be as simple as a spread sheet) then write down your ideas when you are in the flow.

That way you have a warehouse of ideas to select from which makes it easier to carry through on the days with less flow.

Surfing on top of the wave is going with the flow!

How to move past the fear of rejection!

2010-10-06T01:36:00.000-07:00

Do you fear rejection? If you are like most people the answer to this is “yes”. And let’s be honest most of us have felt rejected one way or another at some time in our life and it didn’t exactly feel great did it? Worst case feeling rejected stopped you from ever trying again. However, there is a way to never feel rejected ever again, I promise. This article will explore how you can shift your perspective on rejection so that it will no more stop you from taking action.

What are some of the most common situations that we fear rejection?

Let’s dive right into it and name just a few of them: Speaking in front of a large audience (in fact it doesn’t even have to be a large audience before the fear kicks in does it?), applying for a new job, making a so called “cold call” to sell your services, calling someone you like for a date, getting introduced to someone in your network, wanting to make up to someone (fearing that they won’t accept your apology) and so the list goes on.

Why do we fear rejection so much?

To put it very bluntly our deepest fear probably is that if someone is rejecting us we do not feel “good enough” and when we don’t feel good enough we don’t feel loved. And whether we like to admit it or not we all need to feel loved. It all comes down to human nature and is as simple as that.

However, I am here to tell you that the whole concept of rejection is a huge misunderstanding and I cannot stress this enough. In reality there is no such thing as a rejection. It’s true. It’s all a matter of perspective and I will explain to you exactly what I mean by that.

Rejection does not exist. There is either a match or there is a no-match. That’s my perspective and it is as simple as that. And at the times where you may have felt rejection all there was to it was a “no-match” meaning that you and whatever it is that you wanted simply did not match.

Does that in anyway, make you “less” of a person?

No! It doesn’t. Let’s take an example. Say you applied for a job that you wanted and you didn’t get the job. Do you feel rejected and somehow maybe even a bit “smaller” or “less loved”? Maybe you feel that way but it simply isn’t true. When you think of it logically how could the other part be a match for you if they have come to the conclusion that they don’t want to offer you the position?

Please keep in mind that you and the other part are equal partners!

Maybe you have even had the experience of something that didn’t seem to be working out for you at the time being and then sometime down the line another opportunity showed up and turned out to be the exact right match for you.

You can apply this “match or no-match” perspective to any other “fear of rejection” areas in life. For instance in the area of relationships which is a common “fear of rejection zone”. I remember years ago when I was working as a single relationship coach and I was dating and trying and testing out the whole dating scene. In the process of it all one day my personal coach simply said to me “rejection doesn’t exist there is either a match or a no-match”.

Bang! That was the turning point for me. The simple truth of what she was saying rang so true with me and since then this is the perspective that I carry in any kind of relationship be that a work relationship, a social relationships or a romantic relationship.

The “match or no-match” perspective serves several purposes:

1. It reminds you that you and the other part are equal

2. It give you a chance to define your requirements, wants and needs

3. It reminds you that there are choices to be made

4. It’s empowering and helps you to stay in action

If you are still not convinced all I ask is that you try the “match or no-match” perspective on the next time you procrastinate over something for the fear of rejection and see how it works for you.

Look out for my next article on how to decide if something is a match for you.

#2 Broadcast your goals!

2010-09-21T03:12:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you have to claim yourself an expert in order to become one. A good way to do that is to broadcast your goals. I'm learning Spanish and totally grammar-fobic as I am all I could say was "HOLA". As I claimed myself an expert of the verb "SER" (to be) in front of the class I have since learned it by heart simply because it would be embarrassing not to.

How about you?

Where in your life would you like to become an expert?

And when will you claim it?

Warmly Michala

Learn how to be your own best friend with Anne-Grete Belmadani's "A SUPERWOMAN's e-guide to INNER WELLNESS"

2010-09-14T03:24:00.000-07:00

Feeling overwhelmed is one of the most common symptoms of today’s superwomen! The answer to this lies in front of you - Anne-Grete’s much needed guide will help you move past the unhealthy pressure that many of us put on ourselves. Anne-Grete’s message simply is to accept yourself and to be your own best friend! As easy as this sounds we all know that it’s not always easily done. But with Anne-Grete’s ”A SUPERWOMAN’s e-guide to Inner Wellness” you don’t have to procrastinate anymore. With this uplifting, easy-to-read and much fun guide you will find the simple tools to get you started today. Anne-Grete guides and inspires you by providing very useful exercises and life changing advice. Much kudos to Anne-Grete for her work I highly recommend it.

Get your copy of the ebook here
Join Anne-Grete on Facebook

Here's to you being your own best friend,
Warmly Michala

Meet Michala!

2010-08-18T03:03:00.000-07:00

Procrastination - How to move on when feeling overwhelmed!

2010-08-17T00:45:00.000-07:00

It happened again! You missed doing something that you had totally set your mind up to do. Maybe it was even something that you like doing. Anything from getting that sales letter written to organizing your tax papers or planting that tree in the garden. Despite of your good intentions it just didn't happen - other tasks "kind of" got in the way and now you feel a bit powerless - maybe even overwhelmed.

The question is: "Were you procrastinating?" Or were you plain overwhelmed by the many tasks that seemed to yell at you from the top of your desk or garden. The strange thing is we sometimes even procrastinate doing things that we like to do. This could be fear based. Maybe we are afraid that our work won't be good enough or, strange as it sounds, we may even fear being successful as we aren't really familiar with how that would be like.

In most cases chances are though that you got plain overwhelmed by the many chores of everyday life that got in your way - not to mention the challenges of computers, answering e-mails, being on-line, and keeping up with it all. So you got off track and forgot that which is really important to you. You may even be asking yourself "how could I so easily forget that which is so important to me?"

If you find yourself in a situation like that the first thing to do is to allow yourself some space so that you can see the big picture and gain some perspective that will help you to get back on track to that which is important to you. Of course it's easy to get lost in the never ending "to do list" but even if you did all of the tasks on your list chances are that it doesn't necessarily make you feel fulfilled.

A better approach is to allow yourself some space and to make a "priority list". The difference between a "to do list" and a "priority list" is that by doing a "priority list" you are making a conscious choice about how you want to spend your time and in return this will help you to achieve what you want the most a lot faster than by simply following an endless "to do list".

You probably will never get to do everything that you feel you need to do on the never ending "to do lists" anyways (who does?) so the point is that when you make a "priority list" you at least get to do and achieve something which is important in order for you to move forward towards your goals and dreams.

So the question is what single thing could you do today that - if all else failed - would move you towards your goals the fastest?

Now write that specific task down as the "no. 1" task on your “priority list”. It doesn't have to be a big thing it could even be as small as making that all important telephone call to someone who can help you move on. Then continue to write your "priority list" with no more than 6 tasks at your list at any given time. This makes it doable and prevents further overwhelm.

"But what about the rest of the tasks that I need to do" I hear you say!

Don't worry you will get to those tasks but keep in mind that it is really important that you make it a priority to do 1) that which is important 2) that which will move you forward towards your goals the most

By working through your "priority list" you will start to feel much more fulfilled because you are actually taking real action towards achieving your goals and this will also help you feel accomplished rather than overwhelmed simply because you are doing what actually matters the most to you.

Procrastination – Are you procrastinating over your relationships?

2010-08-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

Do you consider yourself “high achiever” and yet take a look at your relationships and boy that’s another story. The other day you had a fall out with your best friend and yet it seems so hard to swallow your pride and call to say “I am sorry”. Or you really need to speak with your co-worker who is causing you much frustration and yet you will speak to her/him “someday” when you have the time. This article will explore the ways you may be procrastinating over your relationships even if you think of yourself as “high achiever” and help you move past that procrastination.

In today’s highly paced world many people are high achievers and very good at “getting things done”. They have read all “the right” hard core managements books and certainly are most dedicated to their careers. If this resonates with you, you may not see yourself as procrastinating too much.

The thing is procrastination isn’t just about your career or working yourself through your “to-do-list”. Procrastination is as much about our relationships with other people as it is about what we need to do to get butter on our bread. By the end of the day enjoying healthy relationships with our friends, family and co-workers for most people truly is what makes up for a lot of happiness in life.

Some time ago I was sitting in the train on my way to a meeting in Copenhagen as I ran into a network friend that I had not seen for some time. We talked about our work and I told her that I had recently published an e-book about how to overcome procrastination.

“Oh, I don’t think I procrastinate, I am very good at getting things done” my friend said.

Then suggested to her that procrastination can be viewed from many different perspectives and one of them could be relationships. Blink! My friend’s eyes lit up as I said that - she declared “ahhh, I actually think I may be using work to procrastinate from doing something about my relationships. When I work hard I somehow don’t have to deal with my relationships. In other words I probably use work to avoid doing something about my relationships and improving my social life.”

I don’t think my friend is alone on that one. Using work to avoid intimacy is not something new but at least it was a new insight to her. Procrastination seen from the perspective of relationships can take many different forms. Here is just a few: Fear of the commitment of a new relationship or staying in a relationship that is long overdue, avoiding unpleasant conversations with co-workers, family or friends simply because it’s uncomfortable and so the list goes on.

Maybe you can add something to this list yourself?

I will give you an example from my own life. Working from home I get many calls from sales people. One day I got furious with a person whom I found to be manipulative. The case is that even if I was “right” it just did not justify my behaviour - I know this to be true because I simply felt bad afterwards which is a definite clue that I was way out of line.

So the next day I made the decision to swallow my pride and call up this person to apologize for the way I had made my point clear. Sure it felt pretty uncomfortable to start with but afterwards I got to feel the benefit as I experienced this pleasant sense of relief that comes from doing what you feel is right.

After all how can I expect peace in the world if I cannot make peace with a sales person?

How about you? Where in your life do you see that you may procrastinate over that all important but somehow uncomfortable conversation with someone? And what is one small thing that you could do to make it happen?

When will you do it?

Make that one commitment to take the very first step - you owe it to yourself and you owe it to the other person. The benefit of this you won’t always know beforehand but chances are that you could greatly improve that relationship by being the first person to reach out.

Overcome your procrastination today!

Procrastination - Could it actually work for you?

2010-08-08T04:46:00.000-07:00

Have you ever experienced that you procrastinated over something, you kind of gave up and then someday, months down the road, you suddenly realized that much to your surprise the challenge you were facing had actually worked itself out with no effort on your side. This article will explore how sometimes procrastination could, in fact, work for you.

Procrastination! We all know what that’s like. Be that the bills you need to pay, the stack of papers that needs to get organized, the never ending e-mails that are piling up in your in-box not to mention that you really need to talk to your best friend or spouse and “clean up” after you had a bit of an unpleasant argument the other day.

Boy don’t we all procrastination one way or another. The question is could procrastination actually work for you? Or could it at least work for you some of the time depending on what you are procrastinating over?

To be able to determine if procrastination could be working for you I suggest that you ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is this something that I am avoiding because I feel uncomfortable about doing it (fear of
failure/rejection and not feeling “good enough”)?

2. Is this something that I truly don’t know how to do?

3. Could it be something else that is going on?

If you can eliminate question no 1 and question no 2 chances are that something else could be going on. Something else that perhaps has to do with “time”. You know how the saying goes that “time heals everything”. There is something about “time” which is beyond our power that does actually seem to work for us. “Time” simply is a factor we need to take into account when we make our decisions and plan our work.

To help make sense of this I will give you a couple of examples from my own life.

Working as a solo-preneur there is plenty of challenges that I feel very or slightly uncomfortable about doing (question no 1). This is usually when I am out of my comfort zone and where - “yes” – there is a chance that I could fail and get to feel “not good enough”. Be that writing my first e-book, starting a new blog, doing a video or making an all important phone call to connect with someone who could help me move forward.

Fortunately, over the years I have learned to recognize these fears so that I don’t procrastinate too much or let it stop me. I “feel the fear and do it anyways” so to speak. Sometimes I also recognize that to be able to move on I need to learn a new skill (question no 2) or swallow my pride and ask for help.

However, and this is where it gets interesting, I have also had the experience that the challenge I was facing simply was solved because of “time”. “Time” was working to help solve my challenge and it all worked out with little or no effort on my part.

Here is an example of that. Some years ago I co-owned a piece of property. The co-owner was a real challenge. He simply didn’t keep any agreements especially not around payments. As a coach I would try every technique I knew of to help work this out. But no matter what it just didn’t work. Finally, I gave up and did absolutely nothing. Then one day, years later, out of the blue, it came to my knowledge that the co-owner had sold his part which meant that my year long struggle was finally over.

Since then it has become crystal clear to me that not everything can be solved by taking action here and now. Sure if you need to pay your bills next Monday I don’t suggest that you “give up” and do nothing to make “time” work it out for you. You clearly need to make some distinctions here. Sometimes you do need to overcome any procrastination that you may feel and act here and now but this isn’t necessarily always so.

Think about it. Do you remember a time in your life where procrastination actually worked for you? And if so, what did you learn that would help you make that important distinction to help you sort things out next time you find yourself procrastinating over something which is important to you?

Need help to overcome procrastination?
Go to: http://overcomeprocrastinationtoday.com/ and get a free test to help you get started today!