- Advice
4 unconventional strategies to stop procrastinating – for good
Motivating yourself to blog sounds easy in theory but difficult in practice. Why is that? Blogging as a skill isn’t something that is impossible to master; it is the discipline that it takes to write and create on a regular basis that discourages small business owners from investing in it.
Blogging is an exceptionally powerful marketing tool for those who can master it.
What can you do to overcome the “blogging blues” and kick your motivation into high gear so you can create awesome content?
In order to overcome the desire to sit on the couch and watch tv versus investing time and energy into your business blog, you need to understand why we procrastinate.
The primary reasons why we procrastinate are a task either is too hard, too complicated, or too overwhelming. Do you feel this way when it comes to blogging?
It is natural to feel that way as you can see, we are hardwired to procrastinate when faced with a difficult job.
This doesn’t mean that it has to be your default position, however. Learning how to push through the urge to procrastinate will put you on the path to a successful blog.
THE KEY TO KISSING PROCRASTINATION GOODBYE FOR GOOD
Take a cold shower in the morning
That doesn’t sound remotely fun does it? Who wants to jump out of a warm, cozy bed to be pelted with ice cold water? Not many people but I promise you it is worth it to give it a try!
A cold shower increases your alertness and increases your overall oxygen intake, which translates to more energy throughout the day.
Once you had your cold shower and a cup of coffee, you should be ready to create mind-blowing informative content for your readers!
Start jogging for your blog
Did you know that jogging once a day can help you jumpstart your motivation to blog? Studies have shown that jogging creates new neurons in the brain. These new cells lead to better understanding of complex tasks and increased concentration.
Jogging also elevates your dopamine levels, which will help get you motivated to write an epic blog post.
Increase your willpower
Having the desire to start blogging and having the ability to stick with it requires two different skills. The latter requires the willpower to keep blogging even when you don’t see immediate results.
Our brains operate on achieving short terms goals and long-term goals, and when rewards are delayed, we give up.
Think of it this way, when you first start a diet you are motivated by the long-term objective of losing weight, but this isn’t achieved in a few days or weeks.
Weight loss typically takes months or years to materialize fully; so the likelihood of failure grows exponentially.
Starting a blog is similar to dieting in a way. The motivation to create an informative blog for your customers is your long term goal but not being able to see a short-term reward of gaining new clients could torpedo your blogging efforts.
The best way to prevent your blogging goals from being unrealized is to increase your willpower to resist the temptation to quit.
Increasing your willpower will give you the ability to stay the course during the initial startup phase when blog traffic is light.
A simple way to increase your willpower is to eat foods that are packed with proteins such as steak, eggs, pork chops and chicken. Also, eat good carbs such as sweet potatoes, legumes, and fruits.
This will keep your glucose levels where they need to be in order to stave off procrastination.
Hold your feet to the fire
This is a motivational tool that I am especially fond of. The basic premise is if you don’t accomplish a goal within a certain amount of time, you have to do something you don’t like to do.
Fear is a powerful motivator and is something that everyone uses, from politicians to parents!
Fear can push you to do great things if properly channeled.”] Using this motivational tools is relatively easy.
Write down your goal for your blog on a piece of paper. It can be something like write three posts per week for an entire month. Put the paper where you can find it and come back to it in a month.
If you met your goal, reward yourself for a job well done. If you didn’t reach your goal, be prepared to do something that you didn’t want to do like wash the dishes for an entire month!
This is what I use to power myself to blog more and create content that small business owners and entrepreneurs alike will find informative.