And that fear of imperfection can be paralyzing.įor me, my personal biggest reason is distraction. And they want it to be perfect (whatever that looks like in their head). What’s the biggest reason people have a hard time starting an important task, and what 1 or 2 habits should they form to beat this?Īli: In my arena, design and storytelling and making art, I see lots of people procrastinating on projects because they want to get it right. Lots of good ideas tend to develop for me in the shower and I’m often ready to get back to work after that process.Ģ. When I find myself in the midst of procrastination I’ll often take a shower. Don’t get me wrong – there’s a ton of good stuff and visual inspiration online, but it can easily become a tool for procrastination vs. I’m working on being super conscious about the time I spend surfing vs. Getting real about my schedule (this relates to number 1) – which means being very specific about my “work time” helps remind me that there’s less time for procrastination if I want to be living the other pieces of my life (time with my kids, going to the pool, pursuing other interests).Ĥ. If not, I walk out of my office and do something totally different vs sitting there being unproductive (I find that leads to even more procrastination).ģ. I often tell myself to go in there for just fifteen minutes – usually within that time period I will have started the work that needs to be done and will be mentally engaged enough to keep going. Sometimes just starting is the biggest hurdle. Forcing myself into my office because once I’m in there I usually get going on something on my list. It’s transition time around here (especially the school to summer for my kids) and it’s fairly normal for that change to impact my work flow (both the way in which I work and the amount of work I can realistically do).Ģ. For me that means adjusting schedules and deadlines where possible. Sometimes it’s just what needs to happen. Giving in to it and embracing new routines. What have you been doing lately to beat procrastination?Īli: Looking back over the last few months here’s what I’ve been doing:ġ. How does she manage to accomplish so much, with the responsibilities of being a mom and multiple jobs? Ali shares what she does below.ġ. But most importantly to me, she’s someone I respect who has accomplished a lot. Expert Interview with Ali Edwards Post written by Leo Babauta.Īli Edwards is many things: an author, a blogger, a designer, a teacher, a mom, and one of the world’s foremost experts on scrapbooking.

Life Artist by Ali Edwards