Archive for April, 2009

Focus on WHY you want to get up at 5am!There’s no doubt that waking up at 5am can help you build your business. However, I don’t believe it is sustainable habit for the average person. That’s why it’s extremely important that you define the reason why you are subjecting yourself to the Procrastepreneur 30day Early to Rise Challenge

For example: my goal is to get regular with my blogging. Like you I have a ton of to-dos and my days go by way too quickly to get everything done. This results in too many articles that are 75% finished. That’s not good enough. Unfinished articles don’t get published therefore my time and effort is wasted.
Quite honestly we can’t afford to waste anymore time now can we.

A gazelle-like focus is necessary to get through this.

I plan on using the time to write. Nothing else! No emailing, no twittering, no researching just straight writing. No distractions. No exceptions. What about you? Do you need to get your taxes done, work on your website, refine your marketing plan, write a newsletter article, research a great idea or develop a new product? As long as you define your goal you’ll have something to wake up for.

What do you think?

Will You Rise to the Challenge?Will You Rise to the Occasion?

A common complaint for most, if not all Procrastepreneurs (myself included) is there’s not enough time in the day! Although I hate to admit it but our time issues are most likely because we’ve wasted some of it. That being said, we also have a lot to get done. Either way you slice it, we need more time! So, starting on Monday we are going to get some. I want you to…

Join The Procrastepreneur 30-Day Early to Rise Challenge!

It may be painful…at first. But suck it up! You will be rewarded for your effort. Just imagine what you can get done for your business with a few extra highly productive hours added to your day. And you’re not in this alone either.
I will be waking up every morning at 5am and posting a new inspiring picture of a sunrise to prove that I am awake. Feel free to be the first of the day to test me. I will always respond to the first comment of the day immediately so y’all know I am really awake.Are you ready to commit? Let’s do this! In order to be successful, here are the five simple requirements of The Procrastepreneur 30-Day Early to Rise Challenge:

ONE: Wake up at 5:00 am every morning for the next 30 days (ouch)
No hitting snooze either! You are going to have to force yourself to be more disciplined in order to make this work. That means no exceptions to the 5am rule. Get up, wash your face and start doing.

TWO: Go to bed by 10pm every night!
I can already hear the groaning but you need your rest in order to be productive at the crack of dawn! If you have a PVR, use it! Record the shows you can’t watch live. Don’t let a TV schedule plan your time and rob your productivity.

THREE: Plan your time, ahead of time.
The main reason why you are forcing yourself to wake up at 5am is because you want to get more done. But in order to do that, you need to have a plan. There’s no point in dragging yourself through this exercise if you don’t. Spend a few minutes figuring out what is the most productive way to use the extra hours. Then create a measurable action plan around it.

FOUR: Publically commit to the challenge
Tweet about it. Blog about it. Invite a friend to join you in it. Be intentional about it. The more people who know you’ve committed to a 5am wake-up call the better. Many of those who know will hold you accountable to it.

FIVE: Check In Daily
Let me know you’ve accepted the challenge by leaving a short “I accept”-like comment below. As I mentioned earlier, I will be posting a new sunrise every day. This is where you check-in each morning to let everyone know you’re awake. A super short hello or grumble comment is proof enough. Are you ready???

Start by leaving your comment to let everyone know you’re up for the challenge!

Good luck and keep me posted.
BTW … Have you tried something like this before? Did it work? Do you have any advice to make it work? Please share it.

Beware Of This Productivity Killer

Are you a break buddy? Have you become the “Go-To” Break Buddy?
If your friends and family are regularly calling you when they’re on their way to work, taking a break or eating lunch, I’ve got bad news. You’re a Go-to Break buddy. And unfortunately this could be disasterous for any “recovering” procrastinator, especially if you work out of a home office.

Your well-meaning friends are probably forgeting the “office” part of “home office”.
They subconsciously imagine you sitting at home with nothing to do while they are at work. Although their intentions are innocent; the ramifications of you becoming the regular break-time entertainment are anything but. Think about it…

If you have three people calling you during their breaktimes, you could burn at least 3 primetime working hours!
And let’s be honest, if you are tackling a project that you’ve been putting off, it doesn’t take much to pull you away, now does it? No matter what you are working on, you have to put a stop to it  or else these calls will continue to:

  • Break your concentration flow
  • Rob you of valuable productivity time
  • Force you to steal hours from other areas of your life
  • Stress you out
  • And even make you feel like a bad friend

That’s right a bad friend. Once you realize and accept the importance of ending these daily interruptions you may feel terrible but…

Here’s what you have to do about it:

To put a stop to it you have to be straight up with your friends. Clearly and honestly explain why you can’t talk during the day, despite how much you may enjoy the unscheduled breaks. They should and will understand. But be warned, you may have to remind them more than once if it’s been a long-standing habit.

When you address this problem you have to be direct.
Becoming the world’s worst conversationalist by giving short one word answers, being ultra quiet or trying to sound like you are busy hoping they’ll get the hint, is not the way to go. This passive aggressive approach will only frustrate your friends and possibly put a strain on your relationship. Don’t worry. Your friends want what’s best for you, even if that means losing a break buddy.

But, sometimes you actually need the break and if so take it and enjoy it.  
Just make sure you watch your time

So what do you think? Do you have this problem? Or have you dealt with it in the past? What’s worked for you? What didn’t? I’d love to hear your story.

Your Story Needs To Be Told!

Share Your Procrastepreneur to Entrepreneur Story!
Did you start that business you’ve been talking about for years? Did you finally get your website up? Did you make those cold calls you’ve been putting off? Or overcome your crippling self-doubt that was causing you to avoid building your company?

Whatever you did to claim your personal victory over procrastination I want to hear all about it. And if it’s the right fit, your Procrastepreneur to Entrepreneur Transformation will be featured on Procrastepreneur so others can learn from and be inspired by your success.

If you are interested…
Please send me a quick email with your contact info (phone number, website link etc) to mystory@procrastepreneur.com . I want from you is a few paragraphs telling me a bit about your company, describing what you’ve done to overcome your personal battle with procrastination and the affects your transformation has had on your business.

Remember your email doesn`t have to be perfect! I just need to get the general idea, if story is chosen I will be conduct a full interview anyway!

I look forward to hearing all about your trials and your triumph over procrastination.

Procrastination steals success!

How long have you been planning to start your business?

Personally, I spent the better part of 5 years of working in circles constantly writing repetitive and fruitless to-do lists before I finally said enough is enough. This is obviously not helping!

If you’re anything like I was, you probably talk about your amazing business idea, dream about it, imagine ways you could grow it and make big plans for it all the time. Unfortunately this wonderful dream can also cause overwhelming feelings of embarrassment and self doubt because all the talking you’ve been doing doesn’t equal what you have to show for it.Or perhaps you are well into your business but you’re not reaching your true potential because you procrastinate.

Procrastination is more than just a bad habit.
More often then not, you procrastinate because deep down you are afraid you are not good enough. You don’t know enough. You can’t handle success if comes. What’s worse, these fears drive our bad habits. We procrastinate because we are scared.

It’s a vicious cycle.
You’re full of great ideas, good intentions and most importantly the skills and passion needed to become the successful entrepreneur your heart and wallet desires, but you are allowing yourself to get in the way.

So what now?

You’ve got to stop procrastinating. It’s easier said than done but you can do it and this blog can help. Although I still have miles to go before I truly reach my goal to defeat my inner Procrastepreneur it is a battle that I am determined to win. And I know you are too!

My goal for Procrastepreneur is simple.
I want to create a  valuable resource that helps you transform into the successful entrepreneur you were born to be . This site will be updated regularly with:

  • proven strategies
  • new  ideas
  • inspiring stories
  • great examples
  • fantastic advice,
  • powerful tools

I pray that this blog will inspire, teach, help and heal you as you break the bonds of procrastination and become the successful entrepreneur you were designed to be.