Why Overthinking Your Systems Leads to Procrastination | 102

Have you ever felt like you’re constantly prepping but never actually starting?

In this episode, we’re diving into how perfectionism and overthinking systems secretly fuel procrastination, and how to finally break the cycle.

This isn’t about being lazy. It’s about chasing the perfect system instead of getting started with what you have. If you’ve ever said, “I just need the right tool before I begin,” you’re not alone, and this episode is your wake-up call.

What you’ll learn:

• Why overthinking your systems is a form of procrastination
• How perfectionism is keeping you from making progress
• The mindset shift that will help you take imperfect action
• What to do when you're stuck in planning mode
• How to stop procrastinating and move forward today

This is a preview from the private VIP podcast feed tied to my free training 3 Steps to Say Goodbye to Task Overwhelm. And yes, you’ll leave with actionable steps to stop procrastinating and start making real progress today.

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Free Workshop: https://cheerstoproductivity.com/3steps?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=free_workshop&utm_content=ep102

Connect with Lucy:

✨ Join My Free Community: https://cheerstoproductivity.com/community-invite

✨ Free Workshop: https://cheerstoproductivity.com/steps

Show Notes: https://cheerstoproductivity.com/podcast/ 

Transcript

0:00

Hey, I'm Lucy Reyes, your host of the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast, where I'm on a mission to help online entrepreneurs that like you focus on all the right things and kiss overwhelmed goodbye. Here, you're going to learn strategies that will boost your productivity so that you can scale your online biz and impact lives sooner. It's your time to shine. So let's get started Hey, hey, welcome back to the Cheerful Product the Chats podcast. I am hosting a free training next week if you're listening to this in real time, called Three Steps to Say Goodbye to Task Overwhelm. And I'm telling you, this is not your typical free webinar. It is a, uh, workshop style where you need to come prepared to take action. Like you are going to leave with something tangible that you can actually start to implement, and I'm so, so excited. Definitely go check out the link in the show notes if you haven't signed up for it yet. Now today's episode is a little bit different. It's something special I have for you. It's. A, it's an audio from the VIP upgrade, so whenever you sign up for the free training, you're going to be presented with this option to upgrade to VIP and what this VIP option is going to include, it includes an extra bonus q and a session after a free training, so that way you can get your questions answered to everything or anything that was covered. You get lifetime ongoing access to the free training because like I said, this is not your typical free training. It is something where you're actually probably gonna wanna go back and reference in the future. So you get lifetime ongoing access to that and you get some bonus resources. One of'em being a daily private podcast with little audio snippets to help you really get into the right mindset and along with some actionable tips that you can start implementing right now before the training even gets started. So. We're only on audio drop number two. The first one was released yesterday and today I figured why not give you a preview, a sneak peek as to the types of episodes that you're going to hear and to know what's to come. So I'm actually dropping the exact audio that I have put into this VIP package and putting it into this. Public podcast, the cheerful protected Jazz podcast for youth to listen to as well. From here, the rest of the episodes are only going to be available to a VIP. So I'm going to go ahead and drop the audio and enjoy. Hey. Hey, yo. Welcome back to the podcast as a VIP. In our first episode, we learned that the number one mistake that's keeping us stuck is over complicating everything, including our systems. And today we're going to. Dive in. Dive in even deeper into what we started to talk about in the last episode, which was perfectionism. Oh my goodness, perfectionism. I know this one all too well. I have struggled with this and honestly, it's something that my husband, who has been a business owner for over 20 years. It's something that he still battles with today as well, so it's normal. If you are someone who is constantly trying to make things perfect, it's a normal, maybe not so healthy habit, but it's normal. It's just good to acknowledge that it's there because then we can do something about it, right? Like we know, like maybe you do this where you're endlessly tweaking your systems or just anything that you do in your business, just trying to make it perfect, just trying to get it to be just right. And in reality, that doesn't really help much. So if you've ever spent hours searching for the perfect system, or the perfect tool, or the perfect planner. Only to just feel more overwhelmed than this episode is for you. A lot of us get stuck in this cycle of trying to perfect our systems before we even use them. And it starts just by the moment you start looking for that perfect digital or paper planner, the perfect. Project management tool that's gonna cover everything that you need. Should I use Trello? Should I use Asana? Should I use clickup? Which one is better? Which one is gonna have this feature? What if this one doesn't have that? What if? What if? What if? Which one do I use? I get it. I've been there. I went through the same process. Two. I just happen to see some people stay in this process a whole lot longer and it really can hold you back. Or how about making, trying to make the perfect process because you know, this is supposed to be like this and maybe this isn't the correct order. And I like, oh, nope, that's not, that's not right. And now you're. Second guessing and you're going back and you're tweaking, and you're not actually doing the work that the system is meant to help you get done. So we waste so much time looking for the perfect solution that we end up not using or doing anything at all. And that's not what we want. That's the opposite of what we're trying to achieve with systems, right? So you start a new system, or you take the free trial, or you test out the new tool, and you might think it's like the answer, finally the answer to all of your organizational problems, and then you just tweak it and adjust it, and then you're not consistent with it and you don't use it at all. This is when analysis paralysis comes in, and before you know it, you're just. Stuck in this phase. That's like getting ready to get ready. Like that is the phase. You're getting ready to get ready and you stay stuck there for a long time. Like I said, I get it. I've been there too. When I first dived into the world of project management tools, I was the exact same way. I did all the free trials, spent hours trying to find the perfect tool that would do everything I needed. Especially because you see so many gurus saying you only need one tool. Here is the one tool that can do everything. So I was trying to find that tool and I didn't, I didn't find it, but I finally, after three tries settled on Trello, and here I am now, years later, still working for me. No, it's not the only tool that I use, nor do I need it to be the only tool that I use. I just needed to help me do what I need to do, and that's perfect enough. That is good enough because listen. It is not about the tool. It's not even, it's not really even about the system or the process. Being a perfectionist in general just leads to more procrastination. You end up spending more time thinking about the perfect way to do something rather than actually doing it, and the longer you wait for the ideal system or process. The more you delay progress, and when you don't make progress, you start feeling overwhelmed and stuck all over again. It's this vicious cycle. It's a vicious cycle that you don't want to stay in. So how do you overcome this? How do you break free from this? Well, the key is to focus on progress, not perfection. Instead of trying to find this perfect system or a tool, just pick something simple and start using it. You instantly kind of can tell. Which one? Your brain is like, Oop, nope, nope, nope. And which one? It's like, okay, let me, let me try this one out. You can always tweak your systems as you go, but the most important thing is that you're taking action. I. In my upcoming of free training, we will dive more into releasing the pressure to get it all right, and finally make consistent progress on your terms. But today I want you to start thinking about how you can take in perfect action. That means just picking one tool or system to use today, even if it's not perfect, and just get started in fact. Since you're a VIP, I'm going to throw in a special bonus to get my course on getting started with Trello for just$5. The link in coupon is in the show notes. Remember, you have to, you don't have to have everything figured out to make progress. Just take one small step and momentum will follow. I hope today's episode helped you see how perfectionism is actually keeping you stuck, and not to let this idea of the perfect system even existing. Because spoiler, it doesn't, don't let this hold you back from taking action. In our next episode, we're going to talk about how tracking your progress is leading to more overwhelm and what to do about it, so stay tuned for that. And of course, don't forget to save the dates for the free training on your calendar. For April 29th. It's coming up soon and I really, really hope to see you alive. Thanks for tuning in, and I'll be back tomorrow with another episode. Okay, I am back. I really, really hope that you enjoyed that snippet, that not even a snippet. It was a full episode from the VIP upgrade when you signed up for my free training on April 29th. So that is just one of the episodes. Some other topics that are yet to come into the private feed include. Not tracking your progress leads to overwhelm, and here's what to do about it. That episode is dropping tomorrow for VIP upgrade members. We're also going to talk about why you don't need more time and what you need. Instead, we're gonna talk about how to build momentum so that way you can finally and actually stay consistent with your systems. This is a big one. This is one that I hear. So often from my members and my students that it's some that staying consistent with their systems that they create or grab or use or whatever, like they, they just struggle with actually keeping up with them on a consistent basis. So we're gonna talk about that. We're gonna talk about how you can actually get through to that and. A couple of other topics. So we have a few more topics to go in the VIP upgrade. So when you sign up for the free training on April 29th, you're gonna be presented with this at VIP upgrade offer, and these episodes are going to, uh, drop four VIP members only the first few minutes after you sign up is the best time to sign up because that's the best and the lowest price. So if not knowing where to even start with your systems, if you have been feeling inconsistent with using anything that you grab, whether it's a Trello board and Airtable base, whatever it is. And you don't even know why. You just can't seem to move forward or why you're not making any progress, and you really want to set yourself up for the best possible experience at the free training and be sure that you are mentally prepared to take in and soak in all of the goodness that I'm going to share in that free training. And get a lifetime access to it along with the bonus q and a session and some other bonus resources that will drop right before the training so that way you can keep to make the process implementing so much easier. If that's something that sounds like you need, which if you're listening to this episode and if you've made it this far, I'm going to go ahead and assume that it is. So go ahead and upgrade to VIP after you have signed up for that free training, and I will see you there. Thank you so much for listening to the Cheerful Productive Chats Podcast with me, Lucy Reyes.To view the full transcript and all the links mentioned in today's episode, visit cheerstoproductivity.com/podcast. And before you go up, make sure you follow or subscribe wherever you're listening so that you know once the next productive chat is released. Talk soon and cheers to your productivity and success