The Finance Bible

#92 5 Ways to Beat Procrastination

• Zeke Guenthroth and Oscar Don

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Is procrastination holding you back from achieving your full potential? Get ready to conquer it once and for all. Join me, Oscar, in our latest episode where we tackle the ever-present issue of procrastination, especially in our tech-heavy world. We’ll reveal actionable strategies that make a real difference, starting with the power of setting clear and specific goals. Learn how SMART goals can break down overwhelming tasks and make them more approachable. Discover the Pomodoro Technique, a revolutionary time management method that ensures you remain productive through focused work intervals and rejuvenating breaks. Plus, we emphasise why disconnecting from distractions—especially those sneaky smartphones—is crucial for maintaining peak efficiency.

But that’s not all. We’ll also dive into the art of managing distractions and the importance of rewarding yourself to keep motivation high. From practical tips like using noise-canceling headphones and social media blocking apps to maintaining a tidy workspace, we’ve got you covered. And don’t underestimate the power of rewards, both big and small, to reinforce positive behaviour and sustain your drive. Additionally, we explore supplementary strategies such as mindfulness practices, having an accountability partner, and regularly reflecting on your progress. Whether you’re struggling with a cluttered desk or constant notifications, these techniques will help you reduce procrastination and achieve your goals more efficiently. Tune in and transform your productivity today!

For any enquiries or to connect with Oscar, Zeke, or their company, Asset Road, listeners can visit the following links:

The advice shared on The Finance Bible is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. The Finance Bible exists purely for educational / entertainment purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome back to another episode of the Finance Bible Podcast. Zeke here and your co-host, oscar. But before we get into it, please note that nothing in this podcast should ever be considered as personal financial advice. Of course, if that is what you are seeking, reach out. We'll get you in touch with the correct professionals. Get the job done properly, sit back, relax and enjoy the show. Let's get into it. And welcome back to a solo version of the Finance Bible Podcast.

Speaker 1:

Today you're joined with just myself. Oscar Zeke is up north this week, so that's why you stuck with me. But yeah, today I just wanted to dive into quite a popular topic in today's day and age, especially because of our technology. We have our attention levels, our attention spans are decreasing every few months and it's about procrastination. I don't know about you, but for myself I always, especially during school it's hard to concentrate, hard to sit down and do that homework or whatever it may be, because you've got your phone next to you, you might have a PlayStation next to you, you've got your laptop. Then all of a sudden you're on YouTube looking at different videos, calling your mates, whatever it may be, but finding ways to postpone the things that you don't want to do. Firstly, the definition of procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing tasks or decisions, often despite knowing that doing so may lead to negative consequences. So, to break that down, it's basically choosing to engage in less important or more enjoyable activities instead of focusing on the actual important, necessary tasks which you don't want to do, such as completing that assignment, getting that job going, putting that job offer in or whatever it may be which, deep down, you really don't want to do and you're putting it off. So what are five ways to actually beat procrastination and get on top of this? Because, like I mentioned earlier, we have our phones. The technology these days is so easy to access. All you got to do is just pick up your phone and you've got a whole world which can just distract you for as long as possible. First things first.

Speaker 1:

Number one to beat procrastination, which I found helpful in the past, is you want to set clear goals. So what I made by setting clear goals, if you're asked to do a project for work and you're not necessarily keen on doing it, instead of giving yourself the vague goal of all right, tonight I'm going to start a project for work, and you're not necessarily keen on doing it. Instead of giving yourself the vague goal of all right, tonight I'm going to start my project, it's better to actually specify how you're going to start your project. So instead of saying start my project, you might tell yourself, okay, tonight I'm going to start my project by researching three sources and then I might outline the introduction or even draft the first paragraph. So mentally, this makes the workload for yourself feel lighter and more manageable, putting yourself actually distinct goals and different steps to actually reach the overall goal of starting a project. So another way you can actually do this as well is using SMART goals. So for anyone out there who hasn't heard of SMART goals before, smart is an acronym for Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and Time-bound goals. I want to write 250 words for my first paragraph by Friday, and that will be clearer than you know. I'm going to write my first paragraph. So, even breaking down as much as you possibly can, mentally, it puts you further in front and actually kind of refreshes your brain to thinking that it's a lot easier to get started.

Speaker 1:

And I don't know about you, but for someone like myself, I like to tick off goals. So I've got a diary called Goal Digger. We're not sponsored by Goal Digger. But for anyone out there who wants a diary, tick off their goals. It's, by me, goals M-I-G-O-L-S, unbelievable. So if I was to start a project, I would put that in my diary to write 500 words or whatever it may be, by Friday, and then I like ticking it off. So that just motivates me as well.

Speaker 1:

But number one set clear goals. Number two use the Pomodoro technique. So Pomodoro technique well, for myself, it's quite new. I only started implementing it probably six months ago because I was trying to, because we work at home most of the time. When I sat down I was thinking all right, I'm going to just complete this email or complete this research, and all of a sudden I get distracted. So the Pomodoro technique, how it works, is you choose a task, so it might be. I'm going to start researching an investment property, an area, the demographics, the growth statistics, et cetera, for this client and I'm going to set a timer for 25 minutes and for that 25 minutes you are going to work without any interruption.

Speaker 1:

Put your phone away. You don't want to have the timer on your phone. For myself, I found it beneficial to put my phone away, put it in a drawer in another room so I've got nothing to do with it. I pop the timer on my laptop and it's full without interruption. So when the timer goes off after 25 minutes, you then take a five minute break. Now it's important with this five minute break to not go and get your phone and look at your phone, really just disconnect. With my five-minute break I go downstairs, go outside, have a glass of water, just walk around for a little bit, do whatever I have to do, but I avoid my phone because if you get on your phone in that break, 20 minutes goes by, you're back on, you're distracted. So take a five-minute break and really just disconnect on that break.

Speaker 1:

Generally speaking, do this pomodoro technique. You know around three to four cycles and on the last one you may take a longer break. But the benefits of this this will 100 enhance your focus, it will completely prevent any burnout and provides regular breaks to help you recharge. In the past, when you really want to do something, you may be locked in for two hours and then after that you are completely drained and just sluggish, tired. But because you're doing 25 minutes at a time, you are recharging after every 25 minutes. Even though it's five minutes, it's recharge, keep going, keep going. And also it makes it easier to get back to work For those who haven't tried it and they are struggling with day-to-day motivation, and especially if you're working at home by yourself because you've got no one to kind of motivate you or get moving, give it a go. Like the first time I tried it it was difficult to say the first few goes, the first few cycles, but after that it's quite beneficial, especially when you put your phone away.

Speaker 1:

Number three create a routine. Consistency is key. Routines stem from consistency, so try to start and end your work at the same time each day. Let's say, for example, you work for yourself and you've got a morning routine of waking up, going to the gym, having a cold shower, eating your breakfast or whatever it may be, and you start at 9am. Stick to that. Do that every day, start at 9am and make sure you finish at the same time, because this creates a habit for yourself. And between nine and five this will signal to your brain when it's time to be productive. And especially if you do the Pomodoro technique of 25 minute increments, you can plan out your days so you might have the first few hours nine to 12 to really just go Pomodoro the whole time and then have a break for lunch and then keep going. Yeah, like I said, this will signal to your brain to really know when to be productive and go from there.

Speaker 1:

It's also important which I found quite beneficial is the night before when you're going to sleep and when you brush your teeth and getting into bed. Plan your day for tomorrow. Outline all the tasks that you want to accomplish the next day and write them down in your to-do list, your notebook, your journal, whatever it is, the night before, because then a visual plan will keep you on track and give you a sense of accomplishment when you start ticking things off and completing them. Also, when you wake up, you know exactly what needs to be done and, as weird as it sounds, you'll be kind of motivated to actually get up and start ticking these things off and getting them done. And then you don't have to sit down in the morning and try and figure out what I have to do, because you already know. You wrote them down the night before. That's a really important one to avoiding procrastination. Because everything's there, you know what to do.

Speaker 1:

There's an author who has a lot of great books about self-help and development, as there's an author who has a lot of great books about self-help and development, but he really touches on the point of finish off what you started. What that means, and it's really simple. It's like you go to bed at night. You wake up the act of sleeping. To finish the act of sleeping is make your bed. So finish what you started. Make your bed first win of the day Finish what you started. You've wrote your to-do list the night before you've got to do it the next day. Finish what you started. You put the alarm on the night before to go to gym at 6am. When the alarm goes off, get up. Finish what you started. Don't sleep in and miss the alarm because you put it on for a reason, because you put it on for a reason. It's just little wins like that and they'll put you a long way through your day and get you those first few wins which will set up the whole day for success and put your mindset pretty strong.

Speaker 1:

Number four is limit distractions. So what pulls your attention away? Like you personally, what is your biggest distraction? Is it noise on the street? Is it social media? Is it your phone? Is it your dogs or people you're working with. Figure out your own distractions, because if you're trying to get somewhere in life and trying to accomplish tasks and move forward, if you're distracted every single hour, every single day, you're not going to move forward. If you're distracted every single hour, every single day, you're not going to move forward. It's as simple as that. So figure out what they are. And once you figure out what these distractions are, the next step is how do we manage that? How do we remove these distractions? So that stems from creating a focused environment.

Speaker 1:

If you're distractions of, let's just say, road work outside your house, you may want to use noise-canceling headphones. You may want to look at a co-working space which is not at your home so it's quieter, you can get out and also network. If your distractions are a messy desk, you might want to declutter your desk completely and just remove everything, so all you have is your laptop and a few notepads or whatever you need for work. If it's finding yourself scrolling the web all the time on YouTube or Facebook and Instagram you may want to get like a social media blocking app for your phone or your actual computer, like there's apps like Freedom or Cold Turkey for anyone who is looking at that. That will block you from distracting websites like social media. There's apps like Freedom or Cold Turkey for anyone who is looking at that, and that will block you from distracting websites like social media. And even though you may feel a bit of a pain internally because you're not getting a little hit of social media, this will allow you to prioritize your work and finally get rid of all the distractions, and then you have no procrastination.

Speaker 1:

That is a big one. The distractions first. Identify your own distractions. Everyone's distractions are completely different, so figure that out. And then how do we create a focus environment and remove those distractions?

Speaker 1:

Number five and this is an important one reward yourself. So this is an important one reward yourself. So figure out small rewards for completing tasks. Let's say, you've completed your Pomodoro technique a few times, you've done four sets, and that was your goal to do that. You might want to reward yourself with your favorite episode of a show such as the Office I love the Office Unreal show or a favorite snack, or go out for a walk or whatever it may be which gets you quite happy. Watch a few highlights of your favorite sporting team online. But this just goes back to psychology 101 of creating positive reinforcement. It's like when you have kids you want to create positive reinforcement to let them know that this is a good act, continue behaving like this, et cetera. But even doing it to yourself, it works. So incentives do matter, as funny as it sounds, but, yeah, small rewards for completing tasks it will just motivate you to keep going and continue completing tasks. As simple as that. Also, acknowledge your larger achievements too. So, going back to that first example of finishing a project or reaching a significant milestone, for example, take time to reward yourself. Take time to reward yourself so you might want to take yourself to a movie or let your better half take you on a dinner. Say, hey, I completed this, take me out, please. And they may or they may not, but rewarding yourself is vital because that would keep you wanting to have the same habits, what you're doing every day, to be full productive mode.

Speaker 1:

Avoid any distractions and remove procrastination from your life. Additional tips which I think are quite beneficial personally mindfulness practice, a bit of mindfulness techniques. This will help you stay present and if you have any anxiety about tasks that you don't want to complete, this will help reduce the anxiety. Accountability that's also a big one. Have an accountability partner. It could be a mate, could be a parent, could be a partner, a relationship partner or even a colleague.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, if you both have goals to let's just use going to the gym, for an example, and you're distracting yourself at home and don't want to go to the gym and procrastinating every day, an example and you're distracting yourself at home and don't want to go to the gym and procrastinating every day. Find a mate or, as I mentioned, anyone who goes to the gym or is wanting to do the same as you, and just keep each other in check. Like, make sure you're both going to the gym and put goals. Like we are going to the gym six days a week for at least two months and if one of us doesn't post a photo in the group chat, they've got to do blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, whatever it is they don't want to do. So have an accountability partner unreal, great idea, it actually works and then reflect on your progress, you know, regularly review what you've accomplished and, yeah, this will help you, you know see your progress and make you realize that, oh, okay, I can actually accomplish these things when I put my head down, and it will continue to motivate you to keep going. But, yeah, I hope these five different ideas in ways to beat procrastination help you. It's yeah, it's an interesting topic because it's just such a common thing these days. So, yeah, hopefully that helps.

Speaker 1:

If you have any questions, let us know. Hit us up on Instagram or on the website, whatever it may be. But if you haven't already follow us on Instagram, hit the subscribe button on our podcast. If it's on Spotify, apple Music or whatever it may be, that does help a lot. It shares this podcast to other people like yourself who may want to benefit from these tips and tricks. But until then, we will catch you. I will catch you next week. We hope you enjoyed the episode. As always, you know exactly what to do. Hit that follow button. Subscribe whatever platform you listen to this podcast on. Also, share it to friends, family, co-workers, whoever you think may benefit from it. But unfortunately it's the end and we'll see you next week.

People on this episode

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Oscar Don

Co-host
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Zeke Guenthroth

Co-host