Posted by Last week, I finally accepted my procrastination trigger. For over a month I had been delaying the launch of my business with the “excuse” that my website was not ready yet. The first version was too purple, and the second had the format misaligned, so I went back to draft mode and said I had to fix it before all else. Until I found myself in a conversation with a friend to hear myself say for the 3rd week in a row that as soon as the website was done I would go out there. BS really. Let’s face it. I was afraid to go out there. A bit of impostor syndrome here. A bit of aversion to sales there. It all converged into a beautiful excuse – I don’t have a website.
The first step is awareness
From the moment I said it out loud, I knew my procrastination would have an end. So that same Friday night, I swapped our usual date night with a date with my laptop, WordPress and ChatGPT. Don’t get me wrong, I had all my content written. But if I wanted to have it all up to scratch with my perfectionist standards, I was going to have to do better with my WordPress skills, and ChatGPT was just what I needed to boost my speed. I sat down at 7 pm, and whilst having dinner, watching the Portugal football game and putting the kids to bed, I knew I would not stop until it was all done. It was no different when I launched Make Space for Growth in 2018. It was pretty much done overnight.
Action unleashed
There are countless guides on the internet on how to stop procrastinating. James Clear offers a “scientific guide on how to stop procrastination”, and Petr Ludwig offers a book on “How to stop postponing and live a fulfilled life”. Even I have written about this before. But there was a key difference in generating action that I feel is important to mention. One that is not often at the forefront of a lot of these guides.
Do you know why you are procrastinating?
I knew I was procrastinating for a while, and I tried to follow some of the rules. I broke the task down into parts, I tried to use habits to dedicate time for this task on a regular basis and move it forward, I even listed all the follow-ups I was due to make the weight of my procrastination more concrete. It was all clear to me, except I was not making progress. So that is when I really asked a few times – why?
“5 Whys is the practice of asking why repeatedly whenever a problem is encountered in order to get beyond the obvious symptoms to discover the root cause.” – Wikipedia, on the Five Whys
Turn your why into your motivation
When you identify a major procrastinator, you have 2 options. You can either pass it and get on with what you need to do (in my case launch the business). Or you can just get it done once and for all, giving it a real deadline and putting your hands to work. I chose the latter, it suited me best. And the deadline was “by the weekend”.
When facing this fork in the road, how do you make sure you make the right choice? I believe the most effective way is by turning your fear into your driver. Yes, you heard me right. Rather than being afraid of getting myself out there, I started visualizing being out there. The launch, the people I would speak to, and even what I would write about it. To be honest, I think I even outlined part of this article at that moment. I started thinking of all the things that would be exciting to try out, instead of dreading them.
As HBR suggests, writing down goals and visualizing the path can activate the “action brain”. This technique was key for me, I imagined the message, the conversations, and the partnerships I’d build. That mental rehearsal shifted my mindset from hesitation to determination. It changed my internal narrative from “What could go wrong?” to “Here are all the things I can do when I succeed!”. By reframing this possibility, the action became more urgent and appealing.
Don’t let fear hold you back
So selling what I do is not my thing. It’s ok, no biggie. But 18 months after leaving the Corporate world, I think a challenge like this is just up my alley. And rather than saying “I can’t do that until I have a website”, I said, “I will go out next week on Monday, so I need to get this done now”. By reversing the incentives and looking at the website as an instrument to get me to my point of action, rather than an excuse to keep me in the dark, action was unleashed. And I think the website came out pretty neat too.
Humans are wired to fear the unknown. But there are steps to counteract these fears and reframe the situation. In my experience, it starts with taking action. And being an action-orientated person, once I start with an end in mind, I am unlikely to stop. If you don’t know where to start to unblock a situation, it is always helpful to have a Board of Advisors, Mentors or Friends that help you see it. Even when they may not know the answer themselves.
This week, I’ve felt the most excitement about my new venture. By taking action and embracing the unknown, I’ve turned fear into power. Next time you find yourself stuck, ask yourself. “Why am I really delaying this?”. Embrace your trigger and use that insight to drive you forward. Next, ask yourself “What can I do with this?”. Find your power in what you can do and unleash your actions. Procrastination may feel like a roadblock, but it is really a signpost. By seeing it, you might surprise yourself with how fast you move away from that fork in the road.