The trouble with being freelance, is how easy it is to fall victim to procrastination! SO MANY SHINY THINGS.
When you’re paid based on what you produce, using your time efficiently is vital. Whilst it’s a running joke that freelancers work from home in front of the TV, in their pyjamas, my experience is that freelancers are more driven and efficient than people in traditional office jobs, because they’re judged far more on their output. Coasting has consequences.
I’m not suggesting you hustle all the time by the way. You’re a human, not a robot. I’m certainly not going to suggest we ‘all have the same 24 hours’ (we might have the same amount of hours in a day, but we don’t all have the same energy, ability, support, financial means and time we actually can dedicate to work).
But this post is for those days when you need to get stuff done, but your brain is taking a sail down the river of distractions.
I should also point out here that I have inattentive ADHD, which means I get distracted super easily. Like ‘ooh squirrel!’ easily (seriously, I have to close my blinds during coaching calls to avoid wildlife wonders). So these are tried and tested with a brain that struggles to naturally focus.
Here’s what I do if I’m stuck in procrastination mode.
- Hide your phone. Let’s kick off with the cliche. Stop being on your phone ALL THE TIME. Honestly. I’m so guilty of this (as in, I’ve been told off for hoovering while swiping through Instagram), and have to make a real effort to tuck my phone away for a few hours. If you suspect you might be a mobile over-user, tuck it away in your desk drawer for an hour and see how much you get done. Also, set up your notifications so they’re not going off at all hours. I also really like the Be Present app for limiting how many times I can go on my social media apps, and for how long.
- Block your phone. Download the Forest app to actually block you out of your phone for a period of time if hiding it doesn’t work (it plants a tiny virtual tree, and if you use the phone before the tree has grown, it dies!). My favourite bit about Forest is that you can connect with others, so you can plant trees together (and if one of you slips up and uses their phone, kill the forest).
- Question it. I also ask myself why I’m procrastinating on something. Is it because it’s boring? Feels hard? It’s going to be awkward? Identifying why you’re procrastinating can sometimes be the key to working out how to overcome it.
- Prioritise it. One of the things about having ADHD, is that we’re not importance motivated. We’re interest-motivated. It’s why we can hyperfocus on something that’s a niche interest of ours, to the point of forgetting to eat and pee, but we can’t when it’s boring. You can keep telling us something is important to do, but it won’t get done until either a) the very latest deadline is looming, giving us enough dopamine to do it or b) (and less stressful option), we find a way to make it interesting. If you have a boring but important task to do, there is no point yelling at yourself that you have to do The Important Thing. Put that energy into making it interesting.
- Reframe it. Following from the last point, the key is to find a way to make a task either a) more fun, b) more novel, c) competitive or d), the default motivation of deadline based. So if I know I need to get my accounts done today, I’ll make it more fun by doing it from a favourite cafe, make it novel with new stationery, challenge a freelancer friend to see who can do it first….or end up doing it at the last minute (or what I do now, e) outsource it to my accountant)
- Time it. Use a timer. If I get Alexa to set a 30 minute timer, it magically makes me get more done. Allowing too much time to complete a task can be as problematic as not allowing enough time.
- Double up. Is body doubling your thing? If you haven’t heard of it, it’s when you work on your own work, while alongside someone else working on their stuff. It can be virtual or in person. And sometimes, it can be listening to podcasts while you work. I use Flown sessions for group body doubling. And we often have accountability sessions in my membership to get stuff done.
- Template it. Save drafts or templates of emails you regularly send. It helps you overcome that ‘where do I start, it’s too overwhelming!’ feeling. For me, that’s coaching contracts, email confirmations, answers to common questions and my fee structure. I’ve got a bundle of email templates for difficult client conversations here.
- Out of office it. I’ve also got an auto-responder set up with the answers to common questions I get. Essentially an FAQ on your Out of Office, which means it’s likely you’ll answer their question without having to write an email.
- Automate it. I used to use MixMax in Gmail (affil, but it’s free) too, which lets me save templates, and very quickly insert things like available dates from my calendar, polls and more.
- Workflow it. If you want to take this to another level, try Dubsado (affil link) – you can create workflows with all the emails, contracts and scheduling included, so you don’t even have to get involved in the early stages.
- Plan it. Plan your weeks and days. Yes, it’s boring. But when you know exactly what you have to do that day, it’s easier to get focused than thinking ‘crap, I’ve got so much to do but I’m not 100% sure what!’ I use Sunsama to turn my emails into tasks, add all my tasks into my calendar and review how I’m spending my time.
- Goal it. In fact, goal setting in general will really help with keeping you focused and avoiding procrastination. Procrastination so often comes from a lack of clarity on steps to take. If goal-setting makes you want to hide and spend hours swiping through Pinterest, I have a course in my Freelance Business Lounge that’s perfect for you – Goal Setting For Freelancers!
- Self Care it. Oh, and putting my mum hat on, have you drank enough water? Had a snack? Had enough sleep? Sometimes procrastination is our body telling us we need to rest, eat or drink!
