22 Nov Procrastination Hack – How to Kiss Your Ugly Frog Goodbye!

Beat procrastination – and get stuff done

Written by Daniela Cavalletti

Most of us have come face-to-face with paralysing procrastination or “what are my priorities again?” struggles at one time or another. Whether in business or life, some days (or – yikes! – even weeks, months) just don’t flow as smoothly as we’d want them to.

The Many Faces of The Ugly Frog

There are many different reasons why we tell ourselves that we will deal with a particularly nasty-looking task (aka ‘ugly frog’) later: too soon, too late. Summer sunshine is tempting us to the beach instead. The winter cold is too paralysing, plunging us into lethargy.

We may be afraid that we don’t know our stuff (at work, in life) and get rejected. We don’t want to have that difficult conversation. Writing that next weekly blog post / performance review / assignment seems so hard right now, perhaps I better go off and gather some more ideas first. The gym membership needs some dusting of, but …

You catch my drift.

Let’s be honest: we’ve all stared the ugly frog of procrastination into its bulging eyes at one time or another.

Hop to It!

And – does this sound familiar? – when we’re in the thrall of the ugly toad, everything else but the uncomfortable, looming task is suddenly super important, and urgent.

Something else (anything will do, really) needs to be done before catching and dealing with today’s unpleasant amphibian. Urgently. Now. Sorry, just can’t wait. The world may just end if I don’t deal with that (more pleasant looking) thing. Our lizard brain has taken over – and it’s set to ‘flight’ mode.

But let’s face it, most of these oh-so-urgent (read: preferred) things can wait a while. What it comes down to is this:

We Rather Smooch The Pretty Prince(ss) Than The Ugly Frog

Here’s the thing, though: more often than not, the things we try to avoid are the ones that are the most important to tackle.

If not for what they are in themselves – the insurance for the car or business is important – then for the challenges they pose and the relief we will feel when they are dealt with.

Because having that weight of not-yet-done work sitting on our shoulders will colour our mood and motivation, and will slow everything else down.

Or as Mark Twain so eloquently said: “If you eat a frog first thing in the morning that will probably be the worst thing you do all day.” And I’ll add: a frog’s breakfast will leave you feeling free and productive.

Kiss (or Eat) Your Ugly Frog

I have used a few techniques to help me conquer the nasty-looking items first. Get them out of the way, clear my head and plate. Some work better than others on a given day, so it’s good to have a few options up your sleeve.

But one always works best. See, we get motivated to do those ugly tasks either because we want to do them, i.e. want the reward badly enough – or because we do not want to deal with or experience the consequence of not tackling that uncomfortable task.

What’s The Worst Thing That Could Happen?

So, ask yourself when staring into today’s frog’s ugly face:

“What’s my reward?”
“What’s the worst that will happen if I don’t get stuck into it?”

Your perceived gain or pain should be enough to get you moving – and bloody quick smart!
Go on then, … snog that ugly frog or have it for breakfast – you’ll feel good after, either way.

How do you get rid of your ugly frogs?