How I Became Productive As A Perfectionist Entrepreneur PT2

How I Got better at following through, doing the tasks I planned and scheduled 

In this post, I‘ll take you through the struggles

you might face & could be facing when it comes to getting things done after you’ve scheduled them as a perfectionist

and how can you stop struggling and start getting work done

If you missed part 1 about the struggles I had to become productive relating to scheduling and planning read it here

I’ll share my own and what did I do to become better at getting things done

where I was in terms of getting things done after scheduling them

really doing the tasks I planned

I was…

1-Procrastinating on doing the work until later.

sometimes because I was trying to forget about it and do something else because of thoughts

like I don’t feel like it, I don’t know how to do it eg. writing about a specific topic.

And context-related thoughts for example if a task feels hard, difficult, or huge like a mountain

other times because I was distracted, scored, doubtful…

or simply because I am used to doing work at the last minute

or because I overplanned that my brain need it to rest so, it took it as a form of procrastination

2-getting distracted by things around me like phone, tabs on the browser

and people interrupting me & thoughts in my brain

3-getting overwhelmed by tasks because they were vague or big because I didn’t break it done

eg. work on branding( what exactly do I need to work on here?

branding has many things it could mean aesthetics, ideal client, message…etc)

4-overthinking what to do because

-I didn’t make it specific eg, work on the website,start a podcast, create a freebie,

-overthinking the work itself because of my tendency to think my work isn’t good.

-or thinking “is it right” because I want to be perfect eg. overthinking what to write because you want it to be perfect

5-getting caught up in making things great, amazing, or perfect

eg, over-editing a blog or IG post when it’s already good enough. How do you know? It just is

6-letting feeling doubt that I can get it done( doubt in my ability & self )

or much worse if I can get to my goal and build my business

7-letting fear of what comes next after I finish the task

eg. fear of selling after getting clear on my offer & what I sell

which leads me to do busy work instead

8-imposter Syndrom the voice that keeps telling you that you’re not an expert,

you don’t know what you’re doing, people will find out that you’re a fraud,

you don’t know much, who qualified you….etc.

naturally, you’d want to hide, procrastinate, start & stop…etc that’s exactly what I did

9-wanting to learn, and research more because you’d don’t know enough

for instance, When you want to create a course about how to be productive your brain keeps telling you “you don’t know enough, learn more first”

when in reality you know enough to create it.

in fact, it tries to screw you and makes you do(the opposite)

eg. all the unproductive things so, it can say” see you’re not” and stop you. so it did with me so many time

10-letting myself go into a panic/stress if I miss the start of a particular task

Instead of fixing things and keeping moving with my schedule,

another reason is that I didn’t want to change what I planned 

11-the schedule feels overwhelming which will lead me to not want to do it(wasn’t aware of it)

12-i wanted time to do fun things like reading comics, watching youtube…etc

and I wasn’t giving it to myself which lead me to feel restricted by the schedule

because I didn’t plan them and didn’t have time for them on it.

so, I create the time by taking it from a task I scheduled

13-My Identity Being Wrapped Up Around Being Productive Which Lead Me to do a lot of busywork

when I look back at everything that happened this is what went wrong:

1-the way I was thinking about work is that I need to do a lot of things and work for long

when my brain didn’t want to do

so, I end up doing less than I wanted to and feel disappointed

2-not handling the fears that come from finishing some tasks  

3- I wasn’t used to doing that much and

when i overplan & put too much on my calendar i put too much pressure on myself

which lead me to not do it. change needs to be gradual

4-i prioritized the wrong things (learning, editing,..etc) over what really moved the needle

like showing up, posting, connecting, making offers…

5-i was letting my fears, doubts and imposter syndrome stop me

from doing the work like making videos, creating content

6-i was letting perfectionism stop me

7-getting lost in my mind and overthink

where I am now in terms of getting the actual work done 

Now, 

1- I get more things done than I used to.

I’d say I get 40% more done than I used to

2-procrastinate less by catching myself when I do it and getting back to doing it 

3-i focus more on making the work good enough not perfect.

I used to do it unconsciously 

4-i no longer make it a big deal if I miss the start of a task or if something happens

and makes myself guilty rather than moving on with my day or if there is no time for a task I just move to next week

5-working on my fears and doubts and dismantling them.

Building a high self-confidence and belief in myself 

so, I can do the scary work that comes with building a business

6-making my tasks clear as much as I can

Therefore, my brain can’t have it as an excuse

which allowed me to deal with the other thoughts it brings the deeper issue if any

7- making changes easily on my calendar 

8-accepting that all of it I won’t do it perfectly which is the most important.

I won’t be perfect but I get better and improve each time that’s my goal from now on

what helped me to become productive are the following 

1-giving myself rest and time off intentionally to do my hobbies

2-understanding my procrastination thoughts,

that I thought for the longest time that it became a habit for my brain to think them and present them to me to stop me

because our brains don’t like exerting energy or feeling uncomfortable

examples of these thoughts are

“I don’t feel like it, it’s too much, I don’t know if it’s right, I don’t know how-to, it’s not valuable”

3-making tasks more clear outcome-based not activity-based

4-putting less on my calendar and focusing on identifying what matters

rather than just piling things in my calendar

5-gradually changing and adapting new thinking & ways of planning

Thoughts/beliefs/questions that helped me

How can I improve?

What didn’t work that I need to stop doing?

“It’s a work in progress”>>> getting things done isn’t going to happen magically

it requires work and diligence to be there and will always do

Tools that I use to get things done and work

1- notebook to write distracting thoughts or journal before I start if I really can’t get myself to start

2- a timer to focus. I use my phone timer)

If you missed part one where I shared the struggle of planning and scheduling and how I overcame it click here

to you success

Wafaa