Why You Procrastinate and How to Actually Get Sh*t Done

Tackle That Important Task or Scroll on Social Media?

No shade - we’ve all been there. 

The truth about procrastination is that it goes much deeper than laziness or a lack of willpower - it’s a complex mix of fear, perfectionism, and decision fatigue that keeps us stuck. 

But the good news? You can break the cycle.

In this episode, I'm sharing my thoughts on why you procrastinate, what it costs you and, more importantly, how to stop. 

Here’s what we cover:

✔ The surprising ways perfectionism fuels procrastination
✔ How fear of failure—or even fear of success—keeps us stuck
✔ The role of decision fatigue and how to make choices easier
✔ Simple, effective strategies to beat procrastination and boost productivity

If you’re tired of putting things off and ready to finally make progress, this episode is for you. 

Don't wait!  Tune in now!  (see what I did there??)

Links & References:

• Join us at our next PWR Virtual Speed Networking Event!
• For even deeper connections, check out the Powerful Women Rising Community

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Transcript

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Intro and Welcome

Speaker 1 0:04

Welcome to Powerful Women Rising , a podcast for female entrepreneurs ready to do business their way . Grab your coffee and join host Melissa Snow , business relationship strategist and founder of the Powerful Women Rising community , as she interviews industry experts and shares insights on strategy , marketing , mindset and more . Here you'll find the tools , strategies and inspiration you need to feel empowered , take bold action in your business and keep rising .

Speaker 2 0:35

Hey everybody , welcome back to another episode of the Powerful Women Rising Podcast . I'm your host , melissa Snow . If you have a podcast , I highly recommend having a friend of yours record your intro and your outro , because if you listen to the podcast , last week I was interviewing my friend and an amazing copywriter , emily Aborn , and that is her voice doing my intro and it's so fun every time I go to record a podcast episode because I'm like oh , hey , hi , and then I realize she's not actually talking to me , but it's just a recording . But it's really fun and highly recommend 10 out of 10 . How is everyone today ? Are you having a great day ? I am having a great day . The sun is shining . It has actually warmed up a little bit here in Colorado , so that is very nice .

Speaker 2 1:26

I got an amazing new review on the podcast this morning from a wonderful human , alex Sanfilippo . If you're in the podcasting world , you definitely should know who he is . I just interviewed him a couple weeks ago for my podcast . I can't wait for that episode to air . But he left me a review this morning and he said Melissa is an amazing podcast host . She's a brilliant conversationalist who brings the right amount of humor to interviews with her guests , so it stays interesting . It is rare to meet a podcaster who can do that . What a great show . I just love that so much . I thought it was so sweet . So if you love this podcast and you would like to leave a review , I would love to read it . I love to hear from you guys . It's so fun . Anytime I get a message from somebody that's like , hey , I just found your podcast , or hey , I just listened to this episode and it really helped me with this it's . I don't know if you guys think that us podcasters over here are like oh , that's weird . We are not like , oh , that's weird . We're like , oh , my gosh , that was the best thing that happened to me all day . So whether it's this podcast or another one that you love , please do not hesitate to leave a review or just reach out to the host and tell them how much you love their podcast .

Speaker 2 2:33

Podcasting is not for the faint of heart . It is a lot of work and not a lot of instant gratification Sometimes not a lot of gratification a year later . So you know we'll take what we can get , all right . I am talking today about a very important topic procrastination and it's funny slash not funny , because I was on the Powerful Women Rising co-working call this morning . Our community has a co-working call every Monday morning and often I say that I'm going to work on my podcast episodes or I'm going to record a podcast episode . And sometimes I say that I'm going to work on my podcast episodes or I'm going to record a podcast episode , and sometimes I do and sometimes I don't .

Speaker 2 3:09

Today was one of the days that I kept saying I was going

Understanding Procrastination

Speaker 2 3:12

to and then I kept not actually doing it . And they like to do this really obnoxious thing where they like turn things around on me and I'm like listen , I'm the leader here , people , but they're like well , let's talk about your blocks , and I'm like let's not talk about my blocks . So we talked a little bit about procrastination and what was holding me back from recording a podcast episode and , in full transparency , the biggest issue that I have is when it is time for me to record one of these solo episodes , because my brain always comes in with like you don't even have anything to say and what are you going to talk about ? And there's not even anything going on in your brain and whatever you say is going to be dumb and people are going to be like , why did I even listen to this ? Because you don't know anything that I don't know . And I get so caught up in that and it's so hard sometimes to move forward and like argue with yourself or argue yourself out of it . And the other thing is sometimes I will tell myself like , okay , you just have to record a five minute episode , like it doesn't have to be a big long thing . And usually when I do that , I end up recording like a 27 minute episode and then I'm like what was I so worried about that ? I didn't have anything to say .

Speaker 2 4:19

The other thing that inevitably happens is I put the episode out there and I'm like , eh , it wasn't that great , I didn't say anything that interesting , but here it is , it's done , done is better than perfect . Here we go , and then I will get a note from somebody that's like , oh my gosh , I just listened to that episode . It was so helpful , it was so good . And you know , this is what we do as humans , right ? I don't know if this is a woman thing or this is just a human thing , but we will spend so much time and energy focusing on the things that didn't work out the things that went wrong , the people who had something negative to say , and then , when something does work out or does go right or someone has something fabulous to say , we'll spend like a half a second acknowledging that , acknowledging that .

Speaker 2 5:07

So I decided to talk about procrastination today because I know that if I'm struggling with it , I can't possibly be the only one . So we are going to talk about why we do it and what it's costing us and , most importantly , how to stop . And I want to start out by just saying , like , this is not going to be the same the same . Just do it . Make a to-do list , count down to five and then just do it advice that we hear quite often . I want to go a little deeper than that , because the truth is that procrastination is a lot more than laziness or lack of self-discipline , and what works for one person won't necessarily work for another . So I want to try to break this down in a way that helps you , but also acknowledge I can't possibly cover every single reason that we procrastinate or every single solution in this podcast , but hopefully we're going to give you some things to think about as you move forward , to make it a little bit simpler , all right .

Speaker 2 6:06

So first thing we want to talk about is why we procrastinate . Procrastination is not about being lazy . It's not about not wanting to do the thing . It's not about not having enough passion or not having enough self-discipline . You are not lazy If you are an entrepreneur . If you started a business , you are not lazy . If you are an entrepreneur . If you started a business , you are not lazy . So why do we find ourselves scrolling social media instead of sending an email , recording a podcast , working on our workshop , whatever it is that we need to do ? Why do we say today is the day that I'm going to get that client proposal done and then the next thing you know , you are reorganizing your whole kitchen ? There are a couple of reasons that this happens , most commonly with women entrepreneurs , and some of them I already talked about , but the first one is perfectionism . We don't want to start something unless we know we're going to do it perfectly and we know that we're going to get the results that we want from it . I see this happen all the time on the Powerful Women Rising community co-working calls . It can take someone the entire three hours to create three social media posts , and the reason it takes so long is because they're so caught up in making sure that they're using the right words that they're talking about it correctly .

Speaker 2 7:20

Should I use this emoji or should I use this emoji ? Should I say it this way or should I say it this way ? What picture should I use ? Should I use this picture ? Should I make an AI picture ? Should I use a picture of me ? Maybe I'll make something in Canva . No , that doesn't look right . That's a little bit off center . I don't know if I like these colors .

Speaker 2 7:46

This is what holds us back , people , not just from getting started but from finishing , and what's really ironic is that we think we don't want to put it out into the world unless it's perfect , because it has to be perfect to get the results that we want . So instead , what do we do ? We don't start it , we don't finish it , we finish it and we don't actually put it out in the world . And does that get us the results that we want ? Absolutely not . So even putting something out there that is imperfect has a better chance of getting you results than not putting something out there at all .

Speaker 2 8:12

The second reason that kind of goes along with this that we procrastinate is fear of failure or also sometimes fear of success , which I used to think was such a ridiculous thing , like who's actually afraid of success ? Isn't that what we all want ? Until it happened to me and then I was like , oh , I get what that means . Sometimes we're scared to fail , but other times we're actually scared of what happens if we succeed . Sometimes it gets so comfortable putting things out into the world and having no one buy them that when we start putting things out into the world and people start buying them , we're like what is happening ? I didn't know people were going to really buy this . I didn't know I was really going to have to deliver on this . It's a whole new mind F that is different than the one is happening when we're scared to fail . When we become more visible , when we get more responsibility , when the expectations become bigger , it can feel very overwhelming and there can be a lot of thoughts and feelings that sometimes we don't know what to deal with , and so we hold ourselves back from that increased visibility so that we don't have to face those thoughts and feelings .

Speaker 2 9:19

A third reason that procrastination happens is decision fatigue . Running a business means making a lot of decisions and sometimes our brain just taps out and we avoid making any decisions , whether it is what font to use or what topic to record a podcast episode on . We're just so tired of making decisions and trying to think through what the best , right next decision is going to be that we become somewhat paralyzed by it . Another reason that procrastination happens is task aversion Right . Sometimes , if we're being honest with ourselves , there are tasks that just suck . We just don't want to do them .

Speaker 2 10:03

I don't know any business owner who went into entrepreneurship because they wanted to do all of the things . I think I'll become an entrepreneur because I want to be a bookkeeper and do marketing and do sales and also do product delivery , and if I could also do education and client development and workshops and host a podcast . We did not go into entrepreneurship because we wanted to do all the things . We went into entrepreneurship because we wanted to do our thing . We wanted to coach people on their relationships , we wanted to build websites , we wanted to be a financial advisor and there are inevitably going to be parts of entrepreneurship things that we have to do as business owners that we don't want to do .

Speaker 2 10:46

If you hate tech , setting up a funnel sounds like torture . If you hate numbers , dealing with your bookkeeping feels like it's going to be the absolute worst thing you've ever done , and so a lot of times that is why we will procrastinate those tasks . And then the last , most common reason is executive dysfunction . If you , like me , have ADHD or any other neurodivergence , sometimes your brain just doesn't cooperate , no matter how much you want to do the thing , and sometimes there are solutions for that , and sometimes there is no way to talk yourself out of it , and creating that shame spiral is completely unnecessary . We're going to talk about that a little bit later .

Speaker 2 11:27

So let's talk first about what procrastination costs us before we get into how to stop procrastinating , because one of the ways that you can stop procrastinating is to increase your awareness of what it is costing you . Because procrastination ? We like to make jokes about it . It's funny . My dad used to always say if it wasn't for the last minute , you'd never get anything done . It's not untrue , but it's more than just a minor inconvenience . It has actual consequences and even if you are self-employed , even if you don't have someone to answer to in terms of deadlines or delivery or things like that , it still can cost you . It can cost you income , it can cost you increased stress and anxiety . It can hurt your confidence . It can hurt your relationships . So let's talk about some of those things real quick .

Speaker 2 12:19

When we put off sales activities , follow-ups , networking , launching something new , things like that , we're literally leaving money on the table . One of the ways that I got myself to start networking in person more because I am an introvert and I would sign up for these things and then I would go and I would get there and I would be in the parking lot and I would be like , why am I here ? And one of the ways that I got myself to start walking into the room was by asking myself what if you knew your next client was in that room ? What if you knew your next sale was gonna come from that room ? Would you go in ? Of course you would , and these tasks that you're putting off when you're procrastinating often work the same way . They're a part of the business process . They're a part of what you have to do in order to make money , and so when you are procrastinating these things , when you're not doing them , you are essentially robbing people of the opportunity to give you money . That is the opposite of what we want to be doing as business owners Now , when it comes to increased stress and anxiety , the thing that you're avoiding doesn't leave your brain .

Speaker 2 13:25

It actually just keeps taking up space and making you feel worse every day , or sometimes every hour , that you don't do it and that increased stress and anxiety has a negative impact on you , your business , your life , your relationships . It also has a negative impact on your confidence . Every time you procrastinate and then end up having to rush at the last minute or missing an opportunity because you put it off . It reinforces the belief that you're not disciplined or that you're not good at business or that you're never going to be successful which , by the way , is total bullshit . Okay , so now you've thought a little bit about some of the reasons that procrastination happens . We've talked a little bit about what procrastination is costing you . How do we solve the problem ? How do we stop procrastinating , or at least start procrastinating a little bit less ? I want to reiterate that not everything we talk about is going to work for you , and that's okay . The key here is to experiment with different things and find what absolutely helps you get stuff done . So here are some of the approaches based on different types of procrastination .

Speaker 2 14:33

If you are someone who is being held back by perfectionism . We talked a little bit about setting goals that are good enough instead of perfect ones . If you have read Mel Robbins' book , the Five Second Rule essentially , let me break it down for you in five seconds . If something is hard to do or you don't want to do it , you count down from five and then you make yourself do it . So you're welcome Now . You don't have to read the book . No , I'm just kidding , but this is helpful when you know that you're welcome Now . You don't have to read the book . No , I'm just kidding , but this is helpful when you know that you're in that space of perfectionism holding you back . When you have created the social media post , you've written the email , you have recorded the reel and it's all ready to go . All you have to do is push the button , but your brain is getting in the way of actually doing it . It can actually be really helpful to just be like

The High Cost of Procrastination

Speaker 2 15:24

okay on the count of three . I'm doing it because done is better than perfect . One , two , three post . Sometimes it is that simple Not always , but sometimes it is .

Speaker 2 15:34

If you think that fear is your problem , if fear is one of the things that is causing you to procrastinate something that's really helpful to ask yourself is what is the worst thing that could happen ? And could I handle it ? Spoiler alert you probably could . What is the worst thing that's going to happen ? And actually , now that I'm saying it , this is really helpful . If perfectionism is a problem for you too , what is the worst thing that's going to happen ? If you put this thing out there and it's not perfect , you are gonna get zero engagement on social media . No one is going to buy it , right ? That's maybe the worst thing that's going to happen . And guess what's going to happen if you don't put it out in the world ? That exact same thing . So you're really not saving yourself . The other thing that helps if fear is part of the problem is breaking it down into smaller steps and then just doing the small steps .

Speaker 2 16:29

A lot of times it can be overwhelming to feel like you have to do all of the things at once , and I often have to be reminded by my coaches and the people in my life that I don't have to do everything at once , right , like ? Part of the reason I procrastinate these podcast episodes is because in my brain , I think I need to sit down and churn out at least four of them . Well , four of them is probably going to take me between six and eight hours , and so in my mind I'm like , well , I don't have six or eight hours to sit there and do podcasts . But the reality is , if I break it down into a smaller piece and I just say , okay , I'm just going to sit down and write out my script , I'm just going to sit down and write out my outline for this one , I'm just going to sit down and record one episode . I'll do the editing , the uploading , all the other stuff later . It's a lot more likely that I'm going to get those four episodes done in the next week or so than if I tried to make myself sit down and do it all at once . This is also really helpful if you are stuck in decision fatigue , because it helps you limit your options , simplify your choices and avoid overthinking every single detail , because you just have one step to complete right now . Another thing that helps with decision fatigue is setting a timer and deciding in advance that you are going to make a decision within that timeframe .

Speaker 2 17:48

So what I see happen a lot on our coworking calls , or even something that we talk about often in the Powerful Women Rising Community Mastermind calls is someone gets an idea that they are going to host a webinar about whatever thing . Let's say it's about getting your dogs to stop barking , for example . So they go , they do all the things . They decide the time they outline the webinar . They figure out who it's for , they figure out how they're gonna market it , they start creating content to market it and then they start overthinking . Then they start thinking like is this really what I wanna talk about ? Is this really what people's main concern is when it comes to training their dog ? Are people gonna wanna learn this online ? Is anyone gonna sign up for this webinar ? Should it be free ? Am I charging too much ? Am I not charging enough ?

Speaker 2 18:40

And when you get into that overthinking space , it makes it really hard for you to keep moving forward . I had a coach once who told me decisions only get made once , and actually we were talking about that in the context of me trying to decide whether or not to put my cat down , because I would decide and then I would overthink and then I would make a different decision and then I would overthink and then I would decide again . And it really helps me to remember . Decisions only need to be made once , so set a timer and know that at the end of that timeframe you're going to make a decision and that is going to be the decision . There's no reason to continue questioning it , overthinking it , trying to decide , because you've already made a decision . And then , of course , something that is very helpful too is if you can delegate or automate things that don't actually need your brainpower . Let other people make decisions as much as you can , so that you can save yourself for the decisions that only you can make .

Speaker 2 19:34

Now , if you are procrastinating because you just hate the task , it's just something that you don't want to do . There's a couple different things that you can try . One of them is co-working or body doubling or having an accountability partner . Doing something like that can make it a little bit more fun and less tedious , and it can also that external accountability helps ensure that you're actually going to do the thing . You can also find something that you actually do enjoy to pair it with . So maybe you can listen to music that you like , maybe you have a fun drink while you're doing it , maybe you decide on some way that you're going to reward yourself when it's done , or you do it while you're taking a walk or something like that , right ? So you compare something that you don't really want to do with something that you do want to do and that makes it a lot less miserable . It is possible sometimes to outsource the task if it's not really in your zone of genius and you don't want to force yourself to do it .

Speaker 2 20:36

And coming back to the timer idea , sometimes you can just set a five minute timer and say I'm going to work on this for five minutes . At the end of five minutes , if I want to stop , I can stop . And often what happens at the end of that five minutes ? You don't want to stop , you want to keep going and get it done , and that five minute thing helps a lot because a lot of times just getting started is the hard part . I started doing this five minute thing a long time ago with working out , because I just absolutely hate working out and I don't care how many of you say you can find a way to work out that you actually like . I don't like , I just don't like . So one of the things and I can't remember where I learned this was I would just tell myself like okay , all you have to do is put on the workout clothes . That's it . You don't have to actually work out , just put on the clothes , right ? Because after I put on the clothes , what am I going to do ? Sit back down on the couch ? No , nine out of 10 times I'm going to go work out . Or I would say you don't have to do the whole hour , just do five minutes At the end of five minutes . If you want to stop , then stop At the end of five minutes . Nine out of 10 times I didn't want to stop . It was just that getting started part that was the hardest .

Speaker 2 21:45

And then , finally , if executive dysfunction is part of your issue , that external accountability can be very helpful . That co-working body doubling External accountability can be very helpful . The co-working body doubling outside accountability partners . It also really helps to start becoming more aware of your energy levels and when they come and go , when you are able to focus better than other times and figure out how to go with your brain rather than trying to fight against it . Go with your brain rather than trying to fight against it . So stop trying to force productivity when your brain isn't in a space where it's ready to cooperate with that .

Speaker 2 22:21

Maybe those are the times that , like I , will get up and go clean the house or walk the dogs or , you know , meal prep or do something that involves like it's something that still needs to be done . But it doesn't require me to sit at this computer and concentrate . Right , if I just keep sitting at this computer and trying to force myself to concentrate , there are times that is just not gonna happen and I'm wasting my time . So get up and go do something else . Come back when your brain is in a different space and ready to be more cooperative , and then again breaking tasks into small steps , sometimes even just ridiculously small steps like step one open your laptop . Or step one go in your office . Step two sit down . Step three turn on the computer . It sounds silly , but sometimes just breaking things down into those really tiny steps can help you move forward one step at a time , if that is something that you struggle with in that executive dysfunction space .

Speaker 2 23:24

A couple podcasts I want to recommend to you that I listen to and I absolutely love . The first is the I have ADHD podcast with Kristen Carter . She's been a guest on this podcast and she is amazing . The other one that I really love is Organizing an ADHD Brain with Megs Crawford . She also has been a podcast guest and just recently I was a guest on her podcast . That episode has not come out yet , but I will share it with you when it does . But her podcast is really , really great . She's an organizer for people with ADHD and both of these podcasts , but particularly Meg's , is really helpful for people , even if ADHD isn't something that you struggle with , even if you just want to be more organized and more productive . A lot of the things that she talks about and the tools and strategies and mindsets that she poses are really , really helpful . So highly recommend both those podcasts . I will link them in the show notes and hopefully they are helpful for you . Final thoughts Procrastination is not something that you can magically fix overnight , and if you are somebody who struggles with procrastination , you are not broken .

Speaker 2 24:34

There is nothing wrong with you . These are total , normal responses to things that are going on in your brain and in your life . Your brain works the way that it works . The key is to find strategies that work for you rather than trying to force yourself into a system that doesn't . So try some of these techniques . Think about some of the things that we've talked about . Experiment with what works . But the most important thing is to be kind to yourself in the process , to give yourself grace , to remember that you don't have to be productive every second of every day in order to be successful . But if procrastination is keeping you stuck , it's worth finding ways to work with your brain and not against it .

Speaker 2 25:15

All right , friends , that's it for today's episode . If this resonated with you again , I would love to hear what strategies you're trying , how this made you think about procrastination , maybe a different way , who you shared this episode with . Maybe you have a friend like me who would never get anything done if it weren't for the last minute . So come find me on Instagram at Powerful Women Rising , also on threads loving me , some threads right now , and let's talk about it .

Why Perfectionism Holds Us Back

Speaker 2 25:45

Also , if you love this episode , don't forget to leave a review . And until next time , keep showing up , keep experimenting , keep being kind to yourself and keep rising yourself and keep rising .

Speaker 1 25:59

That's a wrap on this week's episode of Powerful Women Rising . Thanks for hanging out with us . If you love the podcast , make sure to subscribe , share it with a friend , write a review or buy us a coffee . Your support helps more women like you step into their power and grow their businesses in a way that feels real and true to them . Want to keep the party going . Check out the show notes for details on our next virtual speed networking event or join us in the powerful Women Rising community . Until next time , remember that building a business your way is the best way .