Last week, I was at the gym. (That’s a brag. I’m really proud of myself.) My trainer handed me wrist straps for the exercise I needed to do.
I kept staring at them. My brain could not compute why they weren’t making any sense. She kept saying, that’s the right hand one. And I kept thinking, “So why isn’t it going the right way?”
It wasn’t going the right way because I was looking at my left hand (wedding ring and all), but my brain couldn’t put the pieces together. I’ve never been a natural at knowing right from left, but the processing time is usually a split second. This was way more than a split second.
Also last week, I thought it was so weird that the video I was trying to schedule gave me an option to schedule it on September 22nd. Why would it prompt me to schedule a video for last month??!? But September wasn’t last month.
I fully acknowledge some of y’all are going to respond to this email and tell me I should have called an ambulance in at least one of those situations. But I wasn’t having a stroke. Really.
This is what happens when I get overloaded with stress, and launching a book right after dropping your kids at college and spending days in the hospital with your dying friend and hosting 60 people for your friend’s memorial was a lot to happen all at once.
Some of you understand too well because you’ve experienced much more stress than I’m describing. Some of you understand that this overloaded-brain thing can happen on any random week when we can’t even name the stress.
Definitely call 911 if you’re having a stroke, but in non-stroke situations, if you find yourself not able to focus, or just not able to start (for any reason), you need my new book.
Today, I thought I’d talk about what I mean by “procrastination.” I never want you to spend money on something you don’t need, so I’m hoping this will help you decide if this book will help you.
I procrastinate for lots of reasons. The most common reason is that I get overwhelmed.
Sometimes, I’m procrastinating on a big thing. It could be something I have to do or something I desperately want to do. Its bigness overwhelms me.
Sometimes, it’s a small thing (or a series of so many small things). I’m procrastinating because the sheer number of small things (good and bad) causes me to feel overwhelmed by the unendingness of small things.
When I say I’m going to help you stop procrastinating, I’m saying I’ll teach you what to do when you feel so overwhelmed that you can’t get started. I’ll teach you what to do when you get stuck in the middle. I’ll teach you what to do when you’ve made it almost all the way but can’t get to the finish line.
Strategies. Not cheerleading.
When you’re overwhelmed, cheerleading can feel like pressure. I don’t want/need someone yelling that I can do it! I need to know what to do.
If you’ve read my books about decluttering, you know I don’t waste time trying to convince you to declutter. I assume that if you’re reading a book about decluttering, you already want to declutter. I get straight to teaching you how to declutter.
I make that same promise for this book. The purpose of this book isn’t to convince you that not procrastinating will make your life better. You already know that.
My goal in this book is to help you understand why you procrastinate, help you identify what you’re doing that’s backfiring, and give you a specific, followable process to break through procrastination. I teach you exactly how to get started, how to keep going, and how to finish the thing that has overwhelmed you into procrastination.
Stress causes overwhelm. Overwhelm makes you procrastinate. Procrastination causes stress. It’s a vicious cycle.
My Anti-Procrastination Process that you’ll learn in Procrastinators Get Stuff Done breaks the cycle. It’s a repeatable process, and it applies to any overwhelming or stressful situation. Big or small.
And it’s funny.
Preorder Procrastinators Get Stuff Done wherever you like to buy books. Then, go here to claim your preorder bonuses!
The two steps for getting the preorder bonuses:
Order the book wherever you like to buy books. (There are direct links to different retailers here.)
Immediately get an email with the book excerpt and instructions for accessing the four exclusive podcasts.
Watch your email for instructions on joining the book club after the book releases on October 6th.
If you’re worried this book that will make you feel stressed, I encourage you to watch or listen to this conversation with my editor about what makes this book different from a “productivity” book. I especially love how she describes the difference between my process (that relieves pressure) and checklists (which make her feel pressured).
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