Why Founders Procrastinate and How They Can Learn To Move On
Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash
The reasons we waste time are often deeper than we think. Knowing their origin helps us build more productive habits
At my old company, my executive assistant once brought me a little sign that I put over my desk. It said, “Stop thinking so much and just get on with it.” I’ve never been a huge fan of the expression “don’t overthink it” because I value thoughtfulness; but I will admit she was spot on. I’ve been as guilty as the next CEO of analyzing things to death.
I’ve thought a lot about this issue (ha!) and have come up with three examples of procrastination. They don’t all involve overthinking things, but they do share one thing: they get in the way of getting down to work.
They are:
Analysis paralysis
This happens when we spend far too much time trying to understand what the consumer wants or the marketplace or the investor wants at the expense of confirming what you want as the founder of your business. Step one in the strategic mapping process, which is also outlined in the Findaway Growth Model, is to know thyself. So, before I go deep into any data with an entrepreneur, I focus on helping them understand what it is they want and what fires them up and brings them the most energy.
Yes, data is very important and should drive your decisions, but data can also bog you down. And, if you are setting goals and objectives that you are not attaining, recentering around what your personal goals and dreams are as a founder can free you from getting lost in the numbers.
Upper limiting
I’m working with a company right now that is devoting a lot of time to fundraising. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but when they meet an investor whom they know is not a good fit, they continue talking to them anyway. I think they are demonstrating an “upper limit” problem, which Gay Hendricks defines as a self-sabatage we practice on ourselves when we don’t believe we deserve to be successful or are afraid of hurting others.
If you recall from my previous blog on conscious leadership, I wrote that part of acting with integrity is to be honest about your emotions, which often manifest themselves in what your body tells you. In some cases I’ve seen, the entrepreneur gets so caught up running in circles and trying to please a prospective investor — who has waved some money at them — that the entrepreneur ignores the fact they are stressed out and taking a beating to their health and wellness. They should just cut bait and stop thinking about all the money and move on to other possibilities because there will be other possibilities.
Old-fashioned procrastination
When I’m working at home and my dog comes in with the ball, there is nothing else I’d rather do than look up from whatever file I’m eyeballs deep in and go outside and play catch or go for a walk. It’s beautiful here in Florida. In addition, my kitchen is about 30 feet away and sometimes just the thought of the tasty treats in there distracts me with hunger–even if I’m not particularly hungry. And so creating systems to help alleviate procrastination is huge for me.
I’ve developed a system for eliminating procrastination and just getting on with it.
Here it is.
One, look at your playbook every single day. If you have a corporate playbook, or even a personal playbook, which I also recommend and have written about here, look at it every day, first thing in the morning, and then plan your day around that in Asana or another workflow management tool. Focus on the most important thing right now. And remember, what is most important right now should be well-thought out and already entered in your corporate and personal playbooks.
Two, pick out the big blocks of work that you need to deliver on for that most important thing and block out your early mornings to work on it. Rearrange your daily calendar as well as your weekly calendar to eliminate all non-essential activities. (Coming up with an explanation for your team should be the least of your worries!) I recommend telling your team, “No, not now” for the secondary priorities. Your weekly calendar should be packed with dense blocks of time, preferably early in the day, when you will commit yourself to tackling your most important actions.
Three, you may have heard of James Clear. He’s the author of Atomic Habits, which is one of those essential books you should definitely read. Clear outlines four rules for developing new habits that can drive behavior change. The four rules for creating a new habit include:
Make it obvious.
Make it attractive.
Make it easy.
Make it satisfying.
To this sensible list, I would add “build it from your playbook.” If you’ve done the right work on your playbook, then your personal mission and “why do we exist?” statement should make your habits obvious and attractive. Further, if you have used your playbook to determine what is most important and cleared away the time and space to get it done, it will be easy, or at least easier, to do it until it becomes a habit.
The more easily you focus on what matters, the more satisfying your new habit will be as you find yourself accomplishing your personal or corporate mission.
By the way, you can still reward yourself by making time at the end of the day for that walk or game of catch with your dog, but the reward will be all the more enjoyable for being a reward rather than a distraction and source of guilt.
If you get a minute, check out another book called The Five Second Rule, by Mel Robbins. If you’re having trouble getting started on something and that blank page has you locked in its vice-like grip, Robbins suggests a simple hack of counting backwards from five and then diving in. I’ve found that to be very effective as well.
Let me know what you’re doing in your change-the-world company to get things done, but not until you’ve actually done them!
5–4–3–2–1…..
Sincerely,
Rob Craven, scalepassion
Enjoy this article? If you would like to see simple, practical tips in your inbox every week sign up for TwoTip Tuesday to help scale your change-the-world business.
All credit to my ghostwriting partner, Dave Moore, who is instrumental in getting my thoughts out in a coherent manner & into these blogs. Thanks Dave!