"Oh, I wish I could... but I don't want to."

Phoebe said it best on that first Friends episode... you know, the one where Monica gets a roommate.

We all have things we don’t really want to do.

Let’s talk about procrastination over the next few blog posts and the reasons we put off doing today what we could do that proverbial tomorrow. I am very familiar with procrastination, heck I have practically been its queen!

Reason number one for not getting things done is simply that you don’t want to. The task looks ugly, eternal, or enormous. When you see the scope of the project before you, you feel the weight of it and you cannot even fathom where or how to begin...so you just don’t. Problem solved? No, not at all. In fact, putting things off longer tends to just build stress and also allows you time to lie to yourself. You may begin telling yourself that you can’t do it, that you are a failure, or any number of other negative things. This is totally unhelpful.

In reality, you just need to start. Break the larger project down into smaller pieces and then set aside time on your calendar to tackle it. Schedule appointments with yourself that have specific start and ending times. If you plan to work for 30 minutes a day on this project, then set a timer. At the end of the 30 minutes, stop and observe what you’ve accomplished. Reward yourself with some kind words! If it feels good to keep going, then do! Otherwise, just keep your next scheduled appointment and know that it is okay to put things aside for now because that is how you planned it. You are in control and you got this! Few tasks are really so overwhelming that they can’t be tackled in small, consistent pieces.

Accountability is often an important part of getting things done and moving forward. This is just one reason why having a coach is so helpful; a coach can assist you in determining what needs to be done, help you set reasonable goals, and help you be accountable to make things happen! (If having a coach is something you would benefit from, don’t procrastinate! It just takes writing one email or making one call to get started on the incredible journey to the best possible version of you!!)