Myo Life

#16 How to Stop Procrastinating

• Carmen Woodland • Episode 16

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Procrastination is a sneaky habit that disguises itself as productive work, keeping us stuck instead of moving forward. In this episode, Carmen shares why we procrastinate, how to recognize when you're avoiding real work, and a simple five-step system to overcome it. Whether you're launching your myofunctional therapy business or struggling with task paralysis, these strategies will help you take action and start making meaningful progress.


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Speaker 1:

Hey, I'm Carmen and welcome to Mayo Life. That's short for my Outrageous Life, which is exactly the kind of life I get to live since I found the courage to ditch dental hygiene and build a life I'm bonkers about as a myofunctional therapist and entrepreneur. Here you will find all the things myo business and how to build a life that you, too, are bonkers about. I'm very happy you're here. Shall we dive in. Well, hey there, myo friend, and welcome back to the podcast. I am so excited that you're here today because we're diving into a topic that happens to all of us. I'm also hoping that my voice holds out. Sounds like I'm trying to lose my voice, so we're going to try and get through this.

Speaker 1:

So we're talking about procrastination. You know that moment when you were supposed to be working on something important but instead you find yourself doing something that is completely unrelated. Well, that was me recently, which was actually the impetus for this episode. It was a Monday, which is typically a very busy day around here at Carmen Marie Companies HQ, because it's metrics and marketing day. So there's lots of moving parts, there's lots of numbers. It's a very busy day, but anyhow, on this day, after I had been out to hike with the dogs. Normally what I do is I go out, hike, I come back in, I brew coffee and head to my office to start work. But on this day, without even thinking, I found myself deep in the cupboards organizing my tea stash of all things. I was supposed to be recording my sales funnel conversion numbers for the prior week, but here I was trying to decide if I really needed three kinds of chamomile tea. Cracks me up just even talking about it, because it seems so silly. Procrastination, my friend, is a sneaky little gremlin that disguises itself as productive tasks. It happens to me, it happens to my students. So today I'm going to break down why we procrastinate, how to escape the cycle, and I'll give you my five-step system that I use when I find myself procrastinating.

Speaker 1:

So first of all, why do we procrastinate? It's not laziness, so let's just bust that myth right now. It's typically one of these culprits. So it might be fear of failure, or it could be fear of success. So sometimes when we start, uh, we avoid starting something because deep down, we're afraid of messing it up. Or, on the flip side, we're scared of doing really well and then having to keep that momentum up. Okay. So that might be why you're procrastinating. Maybe it's because of overwhelm, so you know overwhelm is too many tasks. Overwhelm, so you know overwhelm is too many tasks. And so you freeze.

Speaker 1:

So you might look at your to-do list and suddenly feel like, oh my God, I need a nap. Right, does that sound familiar? So I call it like having a plate and having peas and carrots falling off your plate Cause you try and do too much. Okay, we only have so many minutes in the day. Maybe you're saying yes to everything. Maybe you're failing to set boundaries.

Speaker 1:

When your brain sees too many options, it just shuts down. It's like a toddler Nope, not going to do it. Maybe it's perfectionism. So perfectionism is waiting for the perfect time or waiting for the perfect plan. Spoiler alert, my friend, there is no perfect time. The longer you wait for the stars to align, the longer you're going to stay stuck.

Speaker 1:

And also, if you are a dental hygienist, you are probably very intimately familiar with perfectionism and also people pleasing. I mean, people pleasing is a whole nother conversation, but I think it's kind of in our, in our fabric of our being is to be, you know, perfectionist. So the thing that I think would help you look at it a little bit better is, you know, we, many of you guys have been a dental hygienist for years and so you're good at that. So it's scary to start doing something that you're not used to or you don't know anything about. So it's easier to just stay safe and stay doing what you're good at. But I want you to kind of turn that on on its head and say, but I have proof, I have evidence that I can figure things out. I can do hard things. I just have to get going. So that's a tricky thing for us hygienists, because we're so used to like we've already done the hard thing, okay, and maybe lack of clarity. So that's.

Speaker 1:

The last thing is, if you don't know what your next step is, you're just not going to do it. So if your next move isn't crystal clear, your brain is just going to say, hey, let's just hang out and watch cat videos, rather than figure it out. The truth is you don't need more time, you need more focus, and that's what we're going to talk about. I'm going to show you exactly how I fix it when I am procrastinating. So the first out of five steps is the first one is that you identify it, you call yourself out, you catch yourself in the act and ask yourself is this actually productive or am I just dodging the real work? So think about it. If the thing you're doing feels productive but doesn't actually move the needle, then it's just fancy procrastination. Okay, if you were starting a myofunctional therapy business. It requires work and consistency.

Speaker 1:

Now, inside the Ditch Hygiene Academy, I teach you the difference between massive and passive action. You've probably heard me talk about this. Massive action produces revenue for your business. It is something that can be measured. This might be something like writing content for your website or marketing materials, or sending emails to your email list, or creating a lead magnet that will help you build an email list. Maybe it's making offers to humans to tell them like hey, dude, I can help you, okay. So massive action is basically anything that your reptile brain is going to just be like Nope, I'm scared. Okay, this is uncomfortable, this is making my pit sweaty, I don't want to do this. So anything that you feel resistance, that's probably what you should be doing Now. On the opposite side, passive action feels really good and it tricks your brain into thinking that you're really doing something important, that you're really moving the needle, but nothing is produced, so it doesn't make you any money and you can't evaluate it. So passive action is doing things like more research, you know, getting ready to get ready, or taking another course, or reading another book, or listening to another podcast, or more learning, job shadowing, all of that kind of stuff. You need to be doing massive action and then reward yourself with passive action so that that that will help.

Speaker 1:

So step number one call yourself out. Okay, with love, but also with brutal honesty. Step two is to reset your brain with a hard stop. So drop what you're doing. Literally get up, shake it off. Stop what you're doing, snap out of it. The goal is to interrupt the autopilot. Whatever you're doing, like me finding myself, um, organizing the tea. I just I was in avoidance mode but I wasn't even paying attention to it. Okay, so once you identify it, then just stop it. Stand up, stretch, take a deep breath, reset. This tells your brain that you were switching gears. Okay.

Speaker 1:

Next you're going to identify the real task you're avoiding. So ask yourself what's the one thing I'm dodging that would actually move my business forward? So examples might be writing that email, making a post on social media, reaching out to a potential client following up on an exam. The thing that you are avoiding the most is usually the thing that is going to change the game the fastest. The scarier it feels, the more important that it probably is. So I want you to get real with yourself. If you only did this one thing today, whatever it is you're supposed to be doing, would it make a difference? If the answer is yes, then that's your priority.

Speaker 1:

Also speaking of priorities, you might be wondering how you know what you should be working on If you are trying to grow your business. I teach you this inside my total calendar control lesson, but let me sum it up for you If you are trying to grow your business, you will have three essential priorities every 90 days, and you will derive these priorities once you set your annual goals. I teach you how to distill your annual goals down to monthly goal or quarterly goals, which then become monthly goals, weekly goals and daily goals, and then you will focus on your essential priorities for 90 day blocks and then evaluate what's working, what's not working and what you need to do differently. These needle moving essential priorities will involve marketing your business and your services, selling your services so this is the helping humans part and then delivering your therapy service. So in my case, I was avoiding the marketing and metrics which was part of my marketing process. Okay.

Speaker 1:

So step four is to set a 10 minute timer and just freaking start. So no overthinking, no perfectionism. No, I will do this tomorrow. Okay, this isn't the diet we're going to start on Monday. You're just going to freaking start. Okay, the 10 minute rule. You can do anything for 10 minutes, and the thing is we all know, once you start, you're going to keep doing it. Okay, but even if you don't getting 10 minutes in is better than zero. But even if you don't getting 10 minutes in is better than zero. And then step five I love this one to reward yourself like a toddler who just used the potty. So we're all big kids at the end of the day. Okay, our brain loves rewards, so use them.

Speaker 1:

Dopamine is a powerful thing. If you train your brain to associate completing tasks with rewards, you will start craving productivity instead of dreading it. So this is where the passive action part comes in. I will gladly do my chores so that I can do something that I want to do, like read a business book or listen to another marketing podcast. So you need to make the reward worth it, or else your brain isn't going to think that it's important. So that's how I reward myself, because passive action, you know doing more learning. I like to take a lot, I do. I take a lot of courses, so I want to go through those courses that I purchased because I'm curious about certain topics, or I want to grow my business, or I want to learn another skill, but that me learning another skill isn't going to put money in my pocket Okay. So that has to be a passive action. So that's kind of the carrot that I dangle. That I get to do something fun Okay. Or I get to listen to a podcast, or I get to read another business book and I love my rewards, so okay. So let's get ready to land this plane.

Speaker 1:

When you find yourself procrastinating, you are going to bring attention to it and you are going to stop what you're doing yes, even in the middle of organizing your pantry. Okay, you are going to figure out what it is that you should be doing and you know, going back to the total calendar control that I teach, figuring this out is easy because you probably already have a plan. So in my case, I lay out my week first thing on Monday morning, so I can brain dump all of the tasks that I must accomplish this week and from there I am able to create a clear action plan and timeline for each item. So in my case it's not like I have no idea. I know exactly what I should be working on. I'm just not doing it. So when I call myself out on my BS, it's easy to stop. It's easy to look at my calendar and know exactly what I'm supposed to be working on and then I just start.

Speaker 1:

So getting started is the hard part, because, especially when your little reptile brain is telling you that this is scary and it's more fun to organize the the, the tea or the pantry or the toy box, but it's not, you got, you have to. You gotta be the big girl. Okay, so it. When that happens, it's okay to hear it, it's okay to say, yep, I hear you and move on anyhow. Okay, acknowledge what your reptile brain is telling you and then move on with what you were supposed to be doing. And last, my friend, reward yourself. Bake in the rewards. You might not have a ton of time to work with, especially if you were just starting out, but it's important to have those rewards to look forward to. It's not about being perfect, okay. It's about taking action, and action beats avoidance every single time. Let me say that again for the kids in the back we're not trying to be perfect, you're trying to just take action, because that beats avoidance every single time. Take action, because that beats avoidance every single time.

Speaker 1:

So, lastly, if you are stuck in analysis paralysis and you need someone to help you get your calendar laid out, or you need someone to help you determine the essential priorities, then I invite you to come work with me inside of my grow coaching program. This is my one-on-one program. Uh, so if you want to see if you're a good fit, you can book a call, let's. So if you want to see if you're a good fit, you can book a call. Let's chat wherever you're watching this. There will be resources for that and that, my friend, is a wrap.

Speaker 1:

I gave you the five step system to kill procrastination. So, step one call yourself out. Step two reset your brain with a hard stop. Step three identify the real task that you're avoiding. Step four just frigging. Do it for 10 minutes. Odds are you're probably going to finish it. And step five reward yourself like a toddler who just used the potty. Reminds me, my grandkids always got jelly beans whenever they use the potty, so that's what comes to mind for me. So those are the five steps, okay, so hopefully that was helpful for you. One last favor share this episode to a friend who needs help with their business and, if you love it, leave a review. It helps more people find the show. Now, my friends, stop procrastinating and go out there and make some moves so that you can build a life you're bonkers about too. I will see you soon. You, you, you, you.