Tips for avoiding procrastination

Hi! Welcome to the Complete Interpreter podcast by the Interpreting Coach.

Why 'Complete Interpreter'? Because you're not just a translation machine, you're also a person and a business owner, and I hope to help you take a 360 view of yourself and share some great tried-and-tested strategies to improve your interpreting skills, mindset, and marketing.

In this episode, I go through a series of techniques that can help you avoid procrastination, depending on your REASON for putting off the task you need to do:
- if the task seems too BIG, think about setting clearer boundaries; schedule your time differently, to make sure you've left space to work on this task in chunks.
- if the task seems too HARD, enlist help if necessary; set a time limit to work on it in chunks, pick your best time of day, and remember the Goldilocks principle: human beings get most satisfaction from tasks that are just difficult enough.
- if the task is BORING: find ways to make it fun; 'bundle' it with something more fun; use visual cues to help you see your progress; or set a time limit.
- try using the 'pleasure' principle instead of the 'pain' principle by choosing a small reward for the tasks you accomplish.

Take the time to examine your feelings around the tasks you are putting off: is the pain of doing them (frustration, boredom, fear, feeling threatened) really worse than the pain of NOT doing them?

Try building some accountability into your work, by enlisting an accountability partner (friend, relative, colleague, or Facebook group) or joining a co-working platform.

Finally, take an honest look at your work week: is there anything you could delegate, automate, or simply stop doing?

If you'd like to join my free Focus Sessions (co-working) on Fridays at 5 pm CET, you can register here.

Let me know what you'd like me to talk about next!

Sophie (aka The Interpreting Coach)