9
Sue West ADHD & Life Management Coach COC®, CPO-CD® So Much to Do! Practical Strategies to Get Started! Feel like you have too much on your plate? You’re energized by your conference or the work with your coach, but it’s all so “big picture.” Now, what? In life, you have your business or businesses, your home, your children and perhaps your parents - your life to manage! So much to manage. We’ll discuss a few key practical strategies which will work for overcoming overwhelm, prioritizing what’s on your plate, and pushing aside procrastination. PAUSE PLAN PREPARE. Life management - the practical needs: a home for your ‘stuff to do’ which you trust holds the whole picture; a time to review what you need to do (weekly, daily, inter day); a method or thought process to decide what to work on next; prompts to actually work on what’s next; skills or often, outside support. Life management – the “inside stuff ” we need: A deep purpose or motivation: What’s this all for anyway? Awareness of your strengths; Awareness of where/when/how you get in your own way; Memory of what’s worked before; Understanding of the project (arguably could be on the practical list); Energy: quantity and type. TODAY, we’re going to discuss a mixture of both. You’ll start today. Bring it back to your life. Keep this with your planner/calendar. Pull it out tomorrow. Notice what you have figured out Website & Blog: www.OrganizeForAFreshStart.com Phone: 603.554.1948 email: [email protected]

Procrastination - Getting Started. Includes "20 Strategies" bonus

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Procrastination - Getting Started. Includes "20 Strategies" bonus

Sue West ADHD & Life Management CoachCOC®, CPO-CD®

So Much to Do!

Practical Strategies to Get Started!

Feel like you have too much on your plate? You’re energized by your conference or the work with your coach, but it’s all so “big picture.” Now, what? In life, you have your business or businesses, your home, your children and perhaps your parents - your life to manage! So much to manage. We’ll discuss a few key practical strategies which will work for overcoming overwhelm, prioritizing what’s on your plate, and pushing aside procrastination.

PAUSE PLAN PREPARE.

Life management - the practical needs: a home for your ‘stuff to do’ which you trust holds the whole picture; a time to review what you need to do (weekly, daily, inter day); a method or thought process to decide what to work on next; prompts to actually work on what’s next; skills or often, outside support.

Life management – the “inside stuff” we need: A deep purpose or motivation: What’s this all for anyway? Awareness of your strengths; Awareness of where/when/how you get in your own way; Memory of what’s worked before; Understanding of the project (arguably could be on the practical list); Energy: quantity and type.

TODAY, we’re going to discuss a mixture of both. You’ll start today. Bring it back to your life. Keep this with your planner/calendar. Pull it out tomorrow. Notice what you have figured out and what you need to work on. Check in with me if you need support, accountability, brainstorming or advice and expertise.

Website & Blog: www.OrganizeForAFreshStart.comPhone: 603.554.1948 email: [email protected]

Page 2: Procrastination - Getting Started. Includes "20 Strategies" bonus

Sue West ADHD & Life Management CoachCOC®, CPO-CD®

Pause - Plan - Prepare

A sense of a higher purpose is a potent source of life fuel, especially when times are tough.

~ICF Coaching World magazine

_________________________________________________________________

If my life/time were more under control, then I could ….

Or

I work at this business because …

Or

I’m frustrated when I get stuck, because I really want to …

_________________________________________________________________

The other day – wow – was I on my game. It felt like … (or) I knew it because …

That day, I remember what I did to make it a good day:

_________________________________________________________________

When I’m off my game, it feels …

I tend to procrastinate when …

When I’ve been overwhelmed, one thing that worked to get things back under control was …

Pause, be mindful, pay attention and reflect.

It’s easy to forget what works for us when we move or think so fast.

Website & Blog: www.OrganizeForAFreshStart.comPhone: 603.554.1948 email: [email protected]

Page 3: Procrastination - Getting Started. Includes "20 Strategies" bonus

Sue West ADHD & Life Management CoachCOC®, CPO-CD®

Pause - Plan - Prepare

Your time container – What do you use to capture commitments?

A home for your ‘stuff to do’ … which you trust holds the whole picture. Why do you think trust is important? What happens if you cannot trust?

Prerequisite: A roadmapHow much uninterrupted time do you have each day for your work or home life?Do this as separate exercises for work and home. Think about blocks or periods of time. Draw your most common, weekly roadmap.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday

Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Strategy Day. No calls.

Business Business Business Desk day

afternoon: personal or business

Family Family

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Business/Job # 1

Building 2nd business

Business/Job #1

Business/Job #1

Building 2nd business

Family 2 hours’ work time

Family

Focus/Themes

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri

Theme

Theme

Website & Blog: www.OrganizeForAFreshStart.comPhone: 603.554.1948 email: [email protected]

Page 4: Procrastination - Getting Started. Includes "20 Strategies" bonus

Sue West ADHD & Life Management CoachCOC®, CPO-CD®

Pause - Plan - Prepare

Your projects/to do’s – How will we get to where we’re going?#1 Look into the future: This project is successful, a smooth ride. I know we’ve arrived at our destination because _____________________.

#2 Look into the future: This project was not successful. What got in the way? Where were the potholes and bumps in the road?

Plan1. Commit to the work and keep your word.2. Know when this part of the project is “done” and “excellent enough.”3. Break up work into projects and periods of time/blocks. 4. Add appointments with yourself to your calendar, allowing you to make choices

and keep key commitments. These are placeholders when choices need to shift.***********

Pause - Plan - Prepare

Ready to rollo Review your day, the night before. o Peel off your “focus list” from your “laundry list.”o Pause for perspective on your larger goals.o Hold a short weekly review.o Keep today’s goals and the bigger picture visual.

When everything feels like a priorityYou have the following on your list. Which do you start with and why?

o Write your newsletter.o Review your monthly financials.o Update your LinkedIn profile.o Prepare for a new presentation.

o Talk to a vendor about their poor service.

o Review your business Facebook page and respond to comments.

o Something else: __________________

A fork in the road: on the spot prioritizing … Mid-day, you receive a request from your manager/largest client/child’s school/parent. What do you do next?

Website & Blog: www.OrganizeForAFreshStart.comPhone: 603.554.1948 email: [email protected]

Page 5: Procrastination - Getting Started. Includes "20 Strategies" bonus

Sue West ADHD & Life Management CoachCOC®, CPO-CD®

20 Strategies to Get Started!

Feel as if you have too much on your plate?

Practical and internal strategies to get started.

1. What’s the most interesting part of the project? Start there, even if you think you “should” start at the first step.

2. What part of the project will you be best at? Start there. 3. “Sandwiching:” Go and play first at something you’d prefer doing. Get it out

of your system. Key: Set a timer to stop the play after a reasonable time.4. Or do the difficult first, with “play” as the reward. (As you can tell, you need

to experiment, with #3 and #4 to know what works for you.)5. Set a timer for 5-15 minutes, however long helps you to say to yourself, “Oh.

I can do THAT.” This is just enough time to get you into the task. 6. Write down or draw out your list of steps. Take just the first small step.7. Change your environment. Go to someone else’s office, a coffee shop, a

library and use the environment to focus yourself. 8. Listen to instrumental music, TED talks, a book, or a class while you work.9. When someone else comes to your office or home (e.g., bookkeeper, cleaning

service, assistant), work on your “can’t get started” or tedious tasks. Use their presence to focus yourself.

10. Talk through your project with someone else to get your mind engaged. 11. Read about how others have handled this project – the experts.12. Hire out whatever drains your time or sometimes moreso, your energy!13. Use color: markers, paper, flipchart, online or handwritten mind maps.14. Ask yourself: Why am I not starting? What am I afraid of? 15. Say to yourself: I know how to do this. I know I can start it; I’ll just dip my toe

into the water and see what’s there. No promises. A rough draft. Practice.16. Ask yourself: Have I already made a decision instinctively? Listen to yourself.17. Ask yourself: What is the best and worst that could happen? What are the

benefits of starting now versus waiting?18. Break up the work so you can set small, interim deadlines before the big,

looming one. Step by step, reverse engineer, project plans: same ideas.19. Self-care: Sometimes it’s the rest of your life which is draining your mental

energy. Focus on self-care first. Just a small start; nothing complicated.20. Have you ever had this happen before on a similar task? Think about what

you did to get started with that; could you try it here?

Website & Blog: www.OrganizeForAFreshStart.comPhone: 603.554.1948 email: [email protected]