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Today, after work, I connected to Youtube for a moment and I saw a video about a girl who quit her job and in a few months managed to build her career as a freelance writer. A few years later she was earning over ten times what she was earning from the job she quit. And, although this is not about the money, it was a result of her being consistent in her actions. These 7 tips will help you to be more consistent and stop procrastination instantly.
Believe it or not, I’m a huge procrastinator. I’ve struggled with procrastination for a long time. But recently something changed for me and I’ve been able to become very consistent for an extended period. This has led me to become more satisfied with my life overall and has obviously increased my productivity tremendously.
7 Tips to be more consistent and stop procrastination instantly
These are the 7 tips that will help you to be more consistent and get more satisfaction out of your days.
- Remember how it feels to not be consistent
- Determine what you want your life to look like within 3 years from now
- Look at long-term goals instead of short-term results
- Create a daily schedule and stick to it
- Use mini targets to increase motivation and productivity
- Just start and do it
- Reward yourself once you’ve been consistent
Remember how it feels to not be consistent
Most of these tips might seem very obvious but still many people struggle to implement them for themselves. So, let’s have a closer look at each of them and see how to implement them and what you need to do to be more consistent successfully.
When you struggle to be consistent, you know how it feels when you procrastinate and end up not doing or completing what you set yourself to do. And it feels horrible. It’s demotivating, it’s discouraging, and it makes you feel like a failure. So, remembering how you will feel once you’ve not been consistent can serve as a motivation to get you going. In the end, it’s all about your mindset, and your determination. And remembering how bad you will feel if you don’t pull through can help you to put yourself in the right mindset. And it should be a way to make yourself see that postponing today will lead you to a continuous cycle of disappointment in yourself and dissatisfaction with your life.
Determine what you want your life to look like within 3 years from now
You wouldn’t want your life to look the same 3 years from now, right? With the same dreams, still waiting for you to take action, to be persistent. And to work every single day to reach your goals. Over the years I’ve learned it’s not so much about working hard but so much more about being consistent. Doing a little bit every single day will produce much better results than doing a whole lot in just one day.
So, what I like to do and suggest you do the same, is to think about what you want your life to look like within 3 years from now. Let me give you an example of my personal situation. Today, I work as a manager in a big e-commerce platform. It’s a stressful job, and I work countless unpaid extra hours. I’ve learned a lot, and I still have plenty of space to continue to grow.
However, my true passion is here, with the videos and blog, and connecting with people to grow with personally and spiritually. I love to write and I love to create content. So, within 3 years from now, I see myself being able to make a full-time income from this project. I see myself connecting with a lot of people through my videos and blog and eventually will create courses to help people like you to grow on their spiritual path.
Look at long-term goals instead of short-term results
This vision helps me on days I am extremely busy with my day job, or when I’m struggling to find the motivation to create content. I simply see it like this. Every video or article I create now is a seed that I plant today. And eventually, it will grow and I’ll be able to benefit from the results within a few months or even years from now.
Especially in this beginning phase of the project, this keeps me going. I don’t pay much attention to how many subscribers I have, or how many visits I get on my blog. I just create content and continue to plant seeds every single week, and I know somewhere in the future these seeds will grow into beautiful flowers, plants, and some even as strong and healthy trees.
Some days it is so tempting to skip the work, and think “oh, it’s okay to just publish one video this week.” But I know in the past I’ve given in to those temptations, and none of my previous projects have been successful, exactly because of that. So I know where those decisions based on short-term goals will lead me. And I opt to look further down the road, think about my long-term goals, and get myself to do at least something for the project every single day.
Create a daily schedule and stick to it
To make it easier for myself to be consistent I have created a very clear schedule. Twice a week I post a video with its accompanying blog post. The days in between I work on the content, I do research on new topics, I work on enhancements for the blog. For example, this week I added an option for people to donate any amount to support me to keep the blog running and to enable me to continue creating content. I’ve also added many other services, like coaching sessions and personalized messages I call “soulnotes”. So, if you’re curious you can definitely have a look at my blog. You’ll be able to find the link in the description below.
For me, having this fixed schedule makes it much easier to be consistent and not procrastinate. I committed to this project for the longer term. So the results I have today should not mess up my schedule. So far, I’ve managed to stick to my schedule and I’ve learned how it feels when, despite not feeling inspired or motivated to create content one day, I still do it. I know I’ll feel great once I’m done with it. And also how I’ll feel if I don’t do it. So, the choice really becomes so much easier.
Use mini targets to increase motivation and productivity
But I have to admit that there are still days I feel that writing a new piece of content is too much, or feels overwhelming. And I don’t know where to start. To overcome this I’m using mini targets. To continue using the example of this project, I divide my tasks into smaller tasks. So, instead of creating a video, I split it up into different sections. First I do the research. Then I prepare the content of the video. I come up with the title, and divide the content into at least 5 or 6 different pieces. So instead of having to write one article of anywhere between 1500 and 2000 words, I now only have to write much smaller pieces of content around 250 words. Which feels much more attainable and way less overwhelming.
What usually happens when I do this, is that I overachieve. And I even have to find ways to cut down the size of the smaller pieces of content to make sure the article doesn’t become too long.
Another amazing side effect of this approach is that whenever I complete one mini target, I get a boost in motivation and really feel inspired to move ahead to the next piece. Simply because I saw how easy it was to complete such a small goal.
Just start and do it
Still, all of these tips are worthless if you don’t start. It might seem so obvious, but the biggest reason you are not consistent and procrastinate so much is that you don’t start with whatever you proposed yourself to do. You prepare yourself thinking about all of the tips above, layout your long-term goals, prepare your mini targets, but you still need to take the step to start.
I often have days when I’m exhausted after work. And I really don’t feel like working on the project. So what I am doing lately is getting up earlier. I wrote this piece of content at 5 in the morning, before work, with my laptop, in bed. And I love it because it shows my commitment, it shows my passion, and that I’m willing to be consistent no matter what the circumstances are. I might feel lazy, uninspired, exhausted, or even demotivated. But all of that disappears when I think about how what I do today will change how I can live within a few years from now. Consistency is your investment in your future.
Reward yourself once you’ve been consistent
And then, once you’ve been consistent. Go and reward yourself. You could even use the reward as a mini target. For example, often I reward myself once I’ve completed some of the tasks I planned for the day by watching a few videos on Youtube purely for entertainment. And I know I’m enjoying those videos because I’ve been productive that day. And it feels so much more satisfying. Sometimes I think of how I felt in the past, when I was binge-watching entertaining videos on Youtube, while I was very conscious of the fact that I was wasting my time and I really should’ve been planting seeds for my own life.
The difference is huge now I can truly enjoy these videos without any remorse or feeling of guilt. And I know that my seeds are planted. Nothing is visible yet, but the seeds are sprouting, they are spreading their roots in the soil and sooner or later, the first branches will pop up and start to grow. And this will all be the result of my commitment, perseverance, and consistency. So, remember, be consistent, use these tips and do something every single day for your own growth. You will feel better, more satisfied, and accomplished. And the you within 3 years from now will thank you for it.
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