 and welcome everybody for attending this presentation on procrastination. Let's face it, how many of us actually procrastinate? Well, I'm going to say, actually, let me go back to the beginning here. Let's play from the start. There we go. We all procrastinate. It is simply the way that we do things. We put off tomorrow what we could do today, and we have lots of reasons why that is the case. So, as Leah mentioned to you, and I'm just going to try to figure out why I'm not moving forward here. Hold on a second. There we go. I'm a keynote speaker. I'm the author of The Fearless Factor, The Fearless Factor at Work, and I'm the creator of transformational strategies for success, an online self-awareness self-development program, and I'm also a trusted advisor to high-achieving women. This is one of the things that I truly believe. We are willing to face our limited beliefs and overcome any obstacles that we face. Now, if you think about that for a second when we procrastinate, that is definitely a piece. Limited beliefs and the obstacles that we face, we frequently put off facing those things because they make us very uncomfortable. And we're going to discuss this and much more as we go forward into this presentation today to talk about the reasons why we procrastinate, what we can do to overcome our procrastination, and the ways in which we can start to think about those limited beliefs and overcoming obstacles. And if any of you were here last month when I made a presentation on why fear matters to your success, we're also going to touch upon that delicate subject as well. So I hope you're going to dig in here, take some notes, and if you have any questions coming up, I know that Leah will be handling those for me, and I'm open to anything that you might have to to ask me or any questions you might have, whatever the case may be. We will have time for some Q&A as we go forward with this. So let us dive in and see where we're at with this. How we procrastinate. Okay, so here we go with this one. Move my camera. Filling your day with low priority tasks, the important stuff gets left to later. We read emails, and we know we need to make some action on it, but we avoid it. We are definitely caught up in distractions. We don't follow through. We say yes to unimportant tasks, and we wait for the right time or the right mood. Now, if we think about that, and as you're all considering this, how much of this actually operates in your daily life? How many of these things can you nod your head and say yes to? I know that I certainly can, because as I said earlier, we all procrastinate in our own ways. And that procrastination is what undermines our taking actions, which undermines our ability to achieve the things that we want to achieve, and undermines our ability to truly rise to the occasion on the things that are very important to us. So as you're thinking about how you procrastinate, I'd like you to share with me, if you will, how do you procrastinate? And I'm willing to look at the chat here to see what you got going on. So how do you procrastinate? Seeing yes to unimportant tasks, waiting for the right time or the right mood. Absolutely. That's another big one that we get to. All of the things on the list, what's missing on this list that you could say is part of what you do? Chores, yes. What else? There's a lot of people on this call, and I know you're all here because you all procrastinate. So tell me more. You take naps, you're daydreaming, you watch YouTube or Netflix or whatever the case may be. Yeah, phone games. Look at all the ways in which we procrastinate, the ways we avoid things. Low priority tasks, yeah. We look at our list of to-dos, and then we think to ourselves, yeah, I'll do it later. Volunteer work, I'm not sure that's so much of a procrastination, but certainly can be. Mindless social media, God knows how many hours we spend on social media instead of getting on with what we need to get on with. So you can see there are lots of ways that we can actually get into the whole procrastination thing. There you go. Volunteer work doesn't pay the bills. I agree with you, but it does make you feel good. So here's the excuses that we have going on with regards to our procrastination. It'll be difficult. It is too risky. It takes too long. I can't afford it. I'm not smart enough. I don't have the energy. I'll start tomorrow. So think about that for a second. It will be difficult. Maybe, maybe not. Is it risky? Maybe, maybe not. It will take a long time. There's a, there's a big reason right here why many of us don't get started on things, because it'll take too long. I can't afford it. Where do we not invest in ourselves? Where do we not invest in getting the services that we need in order to move ourselves forward? The I'm not smart enough quote is frankly, another excuse about where you get caught up in. I don't have the right resources. I don't have enough information. Somebody else is smarter than me. I'll just let that go. You see that a lot at work, frankly. And I don't have the energy. Well, that's where you can turn on YouTube. You can turn on Netflix. You can go play games instead of thinking about the more important things that you need to be doing. And of course, you know, turning your tomorrow into today is always about mañana and how we go from there. And again, I'm going to ask you, what's your thinking on this? What excuses do you have that's different from what I have here? And someone said waiting for the right time, but it never comes. It's very true. What other thoughts have you got going on through regards to excuses? You don't feel like it. There you go. Yeah. Feeling a failure before you even try. That means you're giving up before you've even had an opportunity to find out if you could actually do this. And how many times does that get in the way of you really bringing your brilliance to the things that you do? Any other thoughts on this? Overwhelmed. Is that an overwhelm before you even begin because your list is too long? And that happens a lot because the to-do list never gets any shorter. And so we have to choose which on this list is really the things that need to be focused on. What's important? So fearing the outcome and so just ignore it and then it gets worse and worse. That's a big one right there because if we've made up a story about what the outcome is going to be, and I touched upon this in my last presentation, then of course you're just going to keep putting it off until it's absolutely on top of you. How many people say they love deadlines? How many people feel like they procrastinate until that deadline is absolutely upon them? And then they get stuck in and they get it done. I know I've done that many, many times. Like I knew I had to do something but I wait until I'm about a week out or a day out from the deadline and then you dig in and you find out that it was nowhere near as bad as you thought it was going to be. It's actually a lot easier. And it does put a fire on underneath you to push you to get things done. But why wait for the deadline? Because the stress of this is enormous. Guess what? It's on your head every single day. I need to get it done. I must get it done. I've got to make more time for this. I'm not quite sure why I keep avoiding this. And then you've got the deadline which says do it and then you do it and then you think well what was so hard about that? And I think that's, anybody disagree with me on that one? And once you get there you find that it's nowhere near as hard as you thought it would be. Ah, perfection. Now there's a big one for you. Perfection is something that drives a lot of people into a hole because it's never good enough. And perfection is literally the enemy of excellence. And I'm going to repeat that again. Perfection is the enemy of excellence. Why? Because there's no such thing as an end point on perfection because it doesn't exist. Japanese have a wonderful philosophy on perfection. It's called the art of the wabi-sabi. And that's W-A-B-I-S-A-B-I. Look it up. And basically what it is, it's the art of imperfection. And when I first heard about that I thought, that's our lives. Our lives are imperfect because we as a human species are imperfect. And the procrastination that we've got going on around I need to get it right first time is that fear of failure which strikes a lot of people, frankly. And the fear of failure, I've talked about this before in the last presentation but for those of you who weren't here, what is failure but a choice of decision or an expectation that did not go the way that you had planned? And there is only one word that you need to use for that and it's next. So if you're procrastinating because you're afraid that you're going to fail before you've even begun, then we're back to what was Yoda's advice which is there is no try, there is only do. So when we think about why we avoid these things, I would suggest that you give that a little bit more thought because we're all failing our way to success. And I think I want you to take that in a second. We're all failing our way to success. You can't expect it to work the right first time. But if it does, that's terrific. So if you're putting off because of that, give that another thought. Let's move it along to the next slide here where we procrastinate. Let's look at that for a second. Undesirable work projects. God knows we've all had a lot of those. Somebody throws something on your desk and says I want it by next week and you wait until the absolute last day to do it because you didn't want to do it in the first place. Challenging work projects. That's where the I'm not smart enough piece comes in. Somebody hold hands you something that you think might well be outside of your knowledge, outside of your awareness, whatever the case may be. Challenging work projects are pushing you to reach for something bigger than you think you're capable of doing. So where do we hold back on that? Where do we get into that we voice that says you're not good enough? Where do we get into that place of you're stupid? Where'd you get into that place of there's no way I'm going to be able to handle this? And why how do we deal with that differently? That becomes the big question because when you're given undesirable work projects, that's pretty obvious. It's like, you know, this is the grunt work or this is something that's beneath me or something I really don't enjoy doing. And we could say the same thing about challenging work projects. But here's the thing about challenging work projects. They're meant to push you. They're meant to get you to show up differently. They're meant to get you to stretch yourself. Ending something uncomfortable. How many people have stayed in relationships much longer than they need to be because they hate confrontations because they don't want to be in that conversation about it's over. And the same thing can be applied to jobs. How many jobs do you stay in simply because it pays the bills? And what would it look like if you could actually address some of those issues and not procrastinate on it? The fear of making a mistake or failing, I've already covered that one. And starting a project, well, again, that comes down to there's a lot more here than I need to do. And again, I can point to myself and say, yeah, as many times I've looked at starting a project, I put it off, I put it off, put it off until finally you can't put it off anymore and you get started on it. And then you find out that when you get into it, it's never near. It's nowhere near as bad as you think it's going to be. Feeling overwhelmed, this has got to do with details. When we feel like we've got too much on our plate and frankly, there's a lot of problems with this in the workplace right now, the people feeling burned out, feeling like they've had got too much work to do, feeling like they can't manage things. There's a whole self-esteem issue attached to this, by the way, because I truly believe that burnout is a self-esteem issue. And it's easy to feel overwhelmed. So how do you break it down? How do we get into creating space for ourselves to see some of the details? And here's the big thing about feeling overwhelmed. Being able to say no, no to the things that you really want and no to the things that you don't want. And this is a big piece right now. So when I say no to things you don't want, that becomes a really big piece to think about as you're going forward. So feeling overwhelmed is easy. When your to-do list has a list of 30 things on it, and you need to boil it down to what do I really need and what do I not need? Because frequently, we're taking on far more. How many of you on this call right now are very good at saying yes. I'm going to put the chat up again. I want to say how many of you actually say yes when you should be saying no to things that don't work for you. So the saying of no is a hard one. No is this very, very small word with a tremendous impact. But here's the thing, if you're someone who likes to people please, who likes to make sure that everybody else is taking care of before you take care of yourself, it's very easy to feel overwhelmed because that yes becomes an automatic response. You must learn how to say no, that doesn't work for me. No, that doesn't serve my needs. Because when we are feeling overwhelmed, it is frequently because we've said yes too many times. And I know there's a lot of you on the call right now who can relate to that. So finding you know is a big one. We could do a whole section on that one. Speaking up and making a decision. Speaking up is a big one. And I just did an event for an organization called Speak Up Women. And for the women on the call right now, I would say speaking up is a big issue. Many women don't ask for what they want. They don't speak up in meetings. They don't allow themselves to take ownership and authority of their specific roles. And they allow other people to make the decisions for them. Making a decision can sometimes feel like it's dangerous. If you make a decision, then someone else is going to shoot it down. If you speak up, somebody else is going to speak over you. There's a whole lot of issues around those two particular parts of why we procrastinate. If I speak up, it's dangerous. I'm taking risks. If I make a decision, I'm taking risks. The risk taking is where we need to push ourselves to go forward. So how many of you on this call right now have trouble with speaking up for what you want, what you need, and forgiving yourself the space to be seen and heard? I would hazard to guess that there's quite a few of you on this call who feel that way. How many of you have trouble making decisions? Maybe there's too many options. Yeah. So I'm looking at the women who are responding here. Absolutely. I see this all the time. Self-doubt gets in the way. And all of these are about self-doubt one way or another. And when we fail to speak up, we watch other people take the opportunities. When we fail to make a decision, then other people will step into it and we lose out. And when we procrastinate in general, we're not seizing opportunities that could actually serve us and move our lives forward in a more significant way. In order for us to really step into that place of confidence, of ownership, of authority, we must possess the determination, the resilience, and the perseverance to withstand the challenges that come our way. Many of us don't feel like we are good enough. We struggle with whether we're bright enough. We struggle with whether we'll be acceptable. We struggle with the sense that somehow we don't have the goods on how to step up and really be seen properly. But if you are determined, and I like to say my middle name is determined, there's a reason why I write about fear and write books on the fearless factor is because I am determined. I am resilient and I do persevere. And we're going to talk about some of these elements in a moment when I move through this. Procrastination is essentially insecurity. It's about uncertainty. It's about not knowing if you have all the relevant information. And when you procrastinate, when you feel like you're letting yourself down, you can develop a deep sense of shame around that. And that's when you call yourself names. You're lazy, you're incompetent, you're incapable, none of which is true. And when you stay focused on the wrong things, then of course, time passes by and you're still no further forward with what matters to you. But I like to say that the direction you take is not as important as the act of beginning because procrastination frequently is I haven't even begun to get started. So let's talk about that in the chat for a second. Talk to me about what you think when you read this, what comes up for you. And having other people make decisions for you is not necessarily the way you want to go because frequently when we let other people make decisions for us, they're not the decisions that we would have chosen if we had the power to speak up and say what it is that we want. So as you think about these particular issues, procrastination is often about uncertainty. Anybody disagree with me on this one? Yeah, the fear of failure is a big one for sure for a lot of people. I like it, draft a plan. Yeah, progress, not perfection. And the fear of success, fear of success and fear of failure are two sides of the same coin. And they come down to the same thing. I'm afraid that I'm not good enough. The fear of success is actually that fundamental piece. I'm not good enough. But to actually admit that openly takes courage, but it's also about taking that next step. Because what I like to say is that being fearless is not the absence of fear, but it's the courage to take the next step. And that next step can be as big or small as you want it to be. And the same thing is true of managing your procrastination. And not making a decision or a choice is a decision or a choice. And that, of course, as you said, I often let time make the decision for me. And that's usually when you're backs against the wall. But the first step is just start. Are you addicted to stress? Some of us are. There's good stress. And then there's really bad stress. And some of that stress is created because you just keep putting stuff off. You don't want the confrontations. You don't want to have to make a decision. You don't want to have to boil things down so that you can really take that first step to make it happen. And so each day is the list gets longer and longer. Guess what? You get more and more of that feeling of uncertainty and that sense of shame about you're better than this. Because the truth of it that is you are better than this. And the excuses that you use as to why you don't move forward are simply that. They're simply excuses. One thing I do with my clients regularly is I hold their feet to the fire. If they're going to come up with excuses, they better have a really good reason for it. Otherwise, I'm going to chase them. Here's the fearless markers of success. And this is something that I learned doing martial arts for many years. I hold a black belt in karate. And I also did CrossFit for several years as well. And one of the things that I know for sure and why I've earned this title of being fearless and determined is these six things. In martial arts, I realized that if you're going to be in a fight, you've got to be committed to the fight. You've got to be all in. You've got to be focused on your opponent. And that's not on their arms and legs and where that's going. But you've got to be looking in their eyes. Because when you look in someone's eyes, you're going to see the whole picture. You've got to be disciplined enough to do thousands of hours of repetition, repetitions over and over again. And then you've got to have the follow through. Somebody throws a punch. You've got to be able to counter that in some way. You've got to be consistent in your actions, which means you get to do the same thing over and over again. And when you get knocked down, you have to have perseverance to get back up again. Because otherwise, the fight is over. And when I thought about all these elements that was in this piece doing martial arts, I realized that all of this is relevant to our success. Every single part of this, you've got to be committed. If you're going to get past your procrastination, you've got to be committed to making a move. You've got to be focused on where you're making a move to. And you've got to be disciplined to be able to push yourself past that point of saying, I can't be bothered. And you've got to follow through with the actions that you need to take and be consistent in the ways in which you're showing up for yourself. And when you do fail, and when things don't go the way that you had planned, you persevere and you move beyond it. So once more, I'm going to open up the chat and I'm going to ask, which part of this do you get stuck on? Follow through, focus, consistency. Yeah. What else? Distracted by other items, absolutely, bright, shiny objects, discipline, focus and perseverance. Yeah. Follow through. Follow through is a big one for a lot of people. Just getting started. They're all the same thing. No, they're not, actually. They're not all the same thing. They're very different in the ways in which they show up in our lives. And what I see in this chat right now is the follow through is the biggest piece where most people fall down. And that's where we procrastinate. You might think you've got the commitment. You might feel like you're focused on what you need to do. You might feel like somehow you've got the discipline, but the follow through is where we fall down. And that's a problem. And distractions are real. I mean, let's face it, we are surrounded by distractions every single day. Social media is the biggest one of all. I heard a statistic the other day. I can't remember the exact number, but it was very high in terms of the number of people who spend a great deal of their day on social media. And the question for that is how is that serving you? It's very nice to watch TikTok videos, Instagram videos, posting, Facebook, all of that. It's a great distraction, but it doesn't get you where you want to go. And that's why I make a point of this on procrastination. Yeah. And yeah, at 82, it's harder to keep focus. Yes. And technology is going to be way beyond you no matter what, Marjorie. We can't keep up with this. And social media is part of your jobs. If that's your focus, if you're in marketing, then that's very much a big piece of it. But again, we've got to be careful about how much time we're putting into it and overlooking the things that actually do make a difference in our lives. Yeah. What can you do today? So here are some questions that you can ask yourself as you go forward. What is your priority today? And why? What can wait until tomorrow? Realistically wait until tomorrow? And what resources do you currently have in order to start your project or continue with your project? And what resources do you still need? What do you still need to complete, eliminate or clear out that is either a distraction or no longer serves you? We touched on that with social media. But what else is there? What else is getting in the way that you can completely eliminate? And let's go back into the chat again, because this is a very interactive presentation today. And I want to hear from you. When you look at these questions, what do you think you want to focus on? I can tell you right now that starting with number one, what is your priority today? And why is a very good question to start your day with? Because if you start your day with 20 things on the list, that's not your priority. That's just a list. So if you look at what's the most important thing that you need to achieve today, and then ask yourself why, you're probably going to come up with a very good answer that will help drive you and motivate you to take action. So why is important? But think about the why there. Why am I doing what I'm doing? Why do I do what I'm doing? Well, I do what I do simply because I want to see people change. I've spent my years going through the change process. As Leah said at the beginning, 35 years, I'm probably more of going through some really major changes in my life. And that's what drives me today to help other people, because I've done it. And I know exactly what this stuff looks and feels like. So if you can figure out what can wait till tomorrow may be a clear purpose, well, again, you're waiting for the lightning to strike and give you the inspiration you need in order to move forward. So let's talk about that one for a second. We don't want to wait until we're inspired. We want to wait until we're clear on what action to take. But then again, is that another excuse? Is that another form of procrastinating? Or is it that you miss business hours as someone just pointed out here? So what can wait until tomorrow that's realistic, not about I'll shelve it? And how can you make the lightning strike? If we all knew that, we would turn it on like a light switch. So nope, I can't tell you the answer to that one, but I can tell you on a practical level, what can I handle today that would make a difference? That is the big question, isn't it? What can I handle today that would make a difference to tomorrow? And that's a big question. So right now, what are you procrastinating on? Let's dig into that one for a second. What are you procrastinating on at the moment? You want to taxes? Yes, it's April. Repairing a leak in your RV, putting together a new bed frame, sending emails, homework assignments, exercising. Oh yeah, we can all procrastinate on the exercising. There's always other things to do. See, everybody's got something that they can move forward on. So if it's cleaning the house, maybe you start with a bathroom and you're right about the programming of the past. That's a whole other story right there. And as a writer, you just have to write every day. Some days I'm inspired and some days not so much. If I start writing, I become inspired. Well, good writers know that the first draft of anything is called the shitty first draft. We don't expect perfection on the first go around. And as a writer, I can say that. And again, looking for a new job, are you settling for safety? Or is it simply it feels overwhelming? So there's a lot of ways in which we look at stuff in our lives. And I like the idea that was put here. Having a project buddy would help. I agree with you. Accountability is half the battle. Tell somebody what you are procrastinating on and you then have to go do something about it. Of course, you know, a lot of people could say, you know, as Estefania says right now, cleaning my car, you could tell somebody you need to clean your car. That's not really important. But the project buddy or accountability is an excellent idea because you want people to hold your feet to the fire. Did you get it done? Now you don't want to be a nag on this, that's for sure. But if you allow other people into this conversation, they can be there to support you and give you some ideas on how you can handle this differently if you're struggling. Two minds are better than one in many respects. Okay, so I'm going to talk to you about this one, be intentional. And I've kind of been saying that the entire time through this presentation, you have to be intentional going back to my fearless success markers, being intentional around your commitment, your focus, your discipline, your follow through, your consistency and your perseverance. That is called being intentional. I will get this shit done. So here's the homework for you. Identify three important tasks that must be done in the next two weeks. Okay, number one, three important tasks that must be done in the next two weeks, that you will give yourself a deadline for, and that you will make a commitment to doing, that you will actually put your focus into the materials or whatever it is that you need to do to take those next steps. And that you will find the discipline and determination necessary for you to follow through and take consistent actions so that you achieve the results that you say you want. Determine what time of the day is best for you to stay focused. For many people, if you're a night owl, it's the nighttime. But if you're like me and you're a lark, you do better first thing in the morning. I do some of my best writing between four and six in the morning. A lot of people would say that's crazy, but I am completely focused at that time. I don't have any distractions. Nobody's emailing me at four o'clock in the morning, that's for sure. And I'm not really interested in social media either at four o'clock in the morning. So I focus on my writing and I focus on the ways in which I can express myself early hours in the morning. But I also know people who do that well at one o'clock in the morning. By that time, I'm sound asleep. Or at least I should be. Block your time on the calendar and stick to it. You know, you've heard about blocking time on your calendar. Certainly many business professionals give out that advice and you can see it on your calendar and you can also ignore it. Ah, yes, I put two hours in there for this project. And guess what? I sat on LinkedIn or Facebook for an hour and there with that time is gone. So again, the discipline of sticking to it is really the big piece for you. Don't allow distractions like phones, browsing people, and such to get in the way. Now, sometimes it's unavoidable, but you can turn your phone off. You can shut down the internet if you don't need it for what you're doing. And as far as people is concerned, you can let them know that you're not to be interrupted. And whatever other ways that that you find get in your way. So let's go back in the chat a second and talk about what you're going to make a commitment to. So Amalinda says she created a spreadsheet. That's perfection in me. And I have to say I am spreadsheet allergic. I look at spreadsheets and I go, it's too much detail. So I would procrastinate on creating a spreadsheet. I can tell you that right now. I'd much rather somebody else did it for me. So when your family distracts you and they make you feel guilty for setting boundaries, how do you manage that? So this is a problem when when their expectations is that you're just going to show up because somebody else said for you to be there. But when you're setting some boundaries for yourself on that, Estefania, you've got to be able to say to people, this is important to me. And I know that you really need my time right now, but I just can't be interrupted whilst I do this. So this is about communication. And the expectations, of course, of that your family has basically gotten used to you saying, you know, I want, I need, and you're there. So setting that boundary for yourself is a new habit. And you've got to educate people into it by being sensitive to it. And especially for women, they're used to women being available all the time. But this is where women and you yourself have to learn how to say, no, that doesn't work for me. The timing is not right for me. I have other things that I need to be doing. I like this idea of spoons of energy per day. We are all energy beings. Every part of us is energy. That's what we bring to the world. And when we're busy giving it away to other people all the time, guess what? It's not a whole hell of a lot left for you. So you might want to think about how much you're willing to say yes, and set some better boundaries for yourself. So I agree with Martin. It's like, you know, setting a clear shift of priorities for the day. And I used to hide in the bathroom. One of the people's knees got to be too much. Yeah. And if you didn't hide in the bathroom, you would be able to say not now. I'm sorry. I can't help you right this second. That takes a lot of courage. And when people are not used to being addressed that way, it's a problem. It's the same bathroom you need to clean. Well, why don't you get at it while you're there? You might as well have a laugh about that one. I love it. Okay. So last one I bring up here was be disciplined enough to stay with the task you have to complete. You know, we all have self-discipline. It's in there. But you've got to believe it, that you can in fact carry through with what you say you want to do. And I hope if nothing else today, you're taking at least one little nugget away from what I've said so far that might be helpful. In fact, share with me if you have discovered any little nuggets that might be helpful to you today. There must be something in here that I've said that's going to stick with you. Okay. I love it. Noticing where you procrastinate. So you consider options. Absolutely. Yeah. Isn't it amazing, Susan, that there is so much that you all have in common here? Yeah. There's no real rocket science to this, frankly. We can all find shades of it, including me who's giving this presentation today. You know, we can all relate to it. It's all very relatable. But it's not just about knowing about it. It's about doing something about it. And yeah, you're not alone. And if you talk to anybody, and you were to give them the same information that I've just given you today that all not their heads and go, yeah, yeah, I get it. That's me. I do this. It doesn't have to be that way. And there are times when we do procrastinate, and somehow it just materializes, we get stuff down. But when you spend too much of your time in this, and this is really why I make this presentation, if you spend too much time avoiding things and not getting on with it, then ultimately you're playing a small game, and your life is not going to take off the way that you want it to. Because we all dream. Some of us may dream big, but dreams are simply dreams unless we take the actions around it. And that's a big one. Yeah, being disciplined, it's everything. Here's the thing about being fearless. Being fearless means that you can trust, that you can handle whatever comes your way. Now, if you trust yourself, and you can communicate that trust to other people, then you're going to be able to handle the circumstances that come your way. But when we don't trust ourselves, when we don't believe that we're capable, when we really get caught up in that sense of failure before we've even begun to try, then that lack of trust is what absolutely gets in the way. So learn how to trust that you can handle whatever comes your way. And as someone said in the chat, it's a mindset issue. And the fear, please, is real. But fear is a function of the stories that we tell ourselves. Change the story, and you change your life. And I like to say it this way, too. Are you going to be the author of your own life? Or do you want to live in someone else's epic novel? And when we're living in someone else's epic novel, we don't trust ourselves. We don't trust that we can handle whatever comes our way, no matter what the circumstances are. Yep, tackle the to-dos. What are some small steps we can take? Again, think back to what I said earlier. Think about that list of things that you want to do. Or think about your priorities. You know, you want to clean your car. Go clean your car. Take a hose to it. Clean the windows. You don't have to go clean the interior, but you might want to clean the outside so you can see a little bit more clearly. You want to clean the bathroom? Go clean the bathroom. It's not that hard. Get out the bleach. Go for it. These tiny little steps are really what's going to make the difference. And when you start making a habit of taking these small steps, the bigger steps don't feel quite so bad. So if you feel overwhelmed, ask yourself the following questions. What is my priority today? Why is it a priority? Does it make me happy or satisfied? Is it an important step or responsibility? What can I delegate? Where am I distracted? What is unnecessary? Where am I being pressured? Is the pressure internal or external? What am I avoiding and why? And what am I afraid of? Let me go back to that list again. Okay, this is key to managing your procrastination. Number one, what is your priority today and why? I said this in an earlier slide and I'm saying it again. You start your day with what is my priority today and why. And then ask yourself, does this make me happy or satisfied? If I finish this, if you can have the vision of completing something, how are you going to feel around that? And is it important? Or is it simply just another responsibility that you feel like you have to do? And of course, what can you delegate? Because sometimes we feel like we have to do it all when in fact you don't. You just have to figure out who needs to take care of this beyond me. Where am I distracted? We've talked a lot about distractions during this conversation. And of course, what is unnecessary? Again, back to that list. There's a lot on your list that I guarantee you is not necessary. But you've made it necessary. And there's another excuse for why you can't get stuff done. Where are you being pressured? Now, you've touched upon that from outside sources. You can get it from your boss, you can get it from your family, you can get it in your relationship. You've got to be able to set your priorities again around what's going to work for you on that. And again, the pressure is internal or external. Where do you beat yourself up? There's a lot of that goes on, negative self-talk, the ways in which we raise the ugly voice internally. Or is it coming from the outside, as was mentioned in chat a few minutes ago? And of course, avoiding, why are you avoiding it? What is it that makes it so difficult? And of course, the fear comes up. Again, am I good enough? We've got a lot going on in the chat right now. I'm going to take a moment to take a look through this. Yes, you are getting a copy of this. I made a PDF of this presentation, so you'll have plenty of reminders about what you can do. Ice cream is actually good for you. I found that out, but in small doses, it makes a difference. And Martin's right. Why is it a priority? It's big. That's really it. And can we contact you for private counseling? You can definitely do that if that's something that works for you. The details are going to be in the end of the presentation here. I've really appreciated how you participate in this today. This has been great. And I really do appreciate all of you for thinking about how you can do this better. So let's look into how can we procrastinate creatively? What an idea. Creative procrastination helps you focus and lets your ideas mature. Margaret Atwood, who is a very famous novelist, said that she needs time for procrastination in order for her to let her ideas mature. And I think that's a wise thing to say. But again, you've got to be very clear on your reasoning behind it. Keep a journal for your ideas, but implement them as soon as possible. This is not a don't forget note. Let's think about that for a moment. We can all say don't forget, but the moment that you say don't forget, you forget. So keeping a journal of your ideas are the things that you want to do and then put a date beside it. But don't say don't forget because you will forget. That's just how it works. Identify those small steps that make the complex easy by identifying what you can do now today. What can I do today that would make a difference to tomorrow? I'm going to say that again. What can I do today that would make a difference to tomorrow? That comes back to setting a priority, isn't it? Remind yourself why the thing you've been putting off is important and how life will be better once done. How will you feel when you get the stuff done that you've been procrastinating on, what you've been avoiding, the ways in which you have been finding all kinds of other ways to distract yourself? How will you feel? Wouldn't you be proud of yourself? I believe you will be. And of course figuring out how much time is available and spread out the tasks because when we look at it and we go oh those six hours of my time, well what about if we just take it half an hour at a time or even 15 minutes at a time? And we keep moving consistently forward with what needs to be done. And when you're clear on your steps, when you know what your priorities are, don't hesitate. Go full speed ahead and avoid the distractions. So what do you think of being creatively procrastinating? Tell me, a motivation cup? Maybe you should put a dollar in there every time you do something that's good for you. Then you can save money at the same time. We are in financial month with the San Francisco Public Library, creating a spreadsheet for more projects. Okay, I would suggest that if all you're going to do is create a spreadsheet for project after project after project, you'll end up getting nowhere. Is procrastination related to mental health? Only in so far as you think of yourself as not being capable, that's how it relates to mental health. And the amount of stress that you put on yourself in order to handle the things that you say you want to do and don't do. Yeah, and create a list of things that you need to do. And don't tell yourself not to forget it. People with ADHD procrastinate more, I'm told. Well, I have to tell you, I'm an ADD person. I don't have the H part. And it just, it's simply about, again, back to those six things that I told you, you got to get yourself back on track with that. And yes, I can be distracted, but I've learned how to stay organized, and I've learned how to focus on what's important to me, what my priorities are. And procrastination does create anxiety. There's no question about it. I have a whole program on anxiety and stress, and how we can handle it better. Because the mindset of procrastination is what creates the stress and anxiety. I know I should be doing this, but I'm not doing this. And if I don't do this, well, I'm going to get into trouble. And that is like the cycle that goes on in the head. So, you know, here we are. You want to get out of this cycle? You want to get off the hamster wheel? Start taking and identifying those small steps so you can start to keep moving forward. All right. I think I have covered it for today, and I want to hear from you. What's your biggest takeaway from today? What are you going to do tomorrow? Let me ask a different question. What are you going to do tomorrow? I'm glad it worked for you, Ann. I love it. So, Alex, you're going to clean your desk tomorrow. You're going to make it happen. And segment your schedule so that you can dive into those two projects. I love it. And definitely believe in yourself, Estefania. And clean the bathroom after this. Yes, let's make it happen, Ann. Does procrastination relate to imposter syndrome? I hate the label. It's all about self-doubt. Yeah, it's all related one way or another, definitely. All right. Well, I am delighted. Schedule a reward for yourself if you get your tasks done. Terrific advice. Find something that gives you pleasure. And thank you, Estefania, for participating as you did. I'm glad that this was helpful. And Amalinda, go forward and do that school enrollment. Superb. I'm going to come back into the room now. Thank you. This has been wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being here and joining me today. It has been my pleasure to present this material. And if it makes any difference in your life, that makes me happy. So go away with something here that you can use and definitely think about how you can play a bigger game that allows you to shine and not hold back from who you truly want to be and what you truly want to do in life. And if you're interested next month, what are we going to be talking about next month? I've forgotten. Oh, are you living life on purpose? Excellent. We're going to talk about setting a vision and how we can be clear on setting a clear idea of where we go, what our values are, and what does living life on purpose actually look like? So I hope you can come back and join me for that. Well, thank you so much, Jacqueline. And thanks to all of you for joining us today. We appreciate that you were here and look forward to you at the next, to seeing you at the next program. All right. Good night, everyone.