Why is getting to the root of procrastination so challenging? Why don’t we do those important things that need to get done? You know you have to do something but somehow it still doesn’t get done – like developing a strategy for marketing art. There are many reasons why we don’t do what really needs to get done. One of the key reasons that prevents us from taking action is that we don’t really know our ‘why.’

Why “Why?”

Why is this task so important to us? Mel Robbins, a prominent coach in the personal development world, has established that the reason that we don’t do things is because we don’t really know why we’re doing them to begin with. We might know of many ‘why’s’ handed down to us by parents, bosses, and society (such as money, status, and the fancy car), but we don’t know our own truest ‘why’.

Another key factor that influences getting to the root of procrastination is what creates our why – our core desired feeling. What is the core desired feeling that you want to feel on a daily basis? How does this core desired feeling affect your why? I spoke to a client this morning whose core desired feeling is ‘transcendental.’ In this instance, her why was about working on herself so that she can transcend and make a bigger difference to society through her writing.

When writing every day, getting into the flow and finishing a novel wasn’t enough. She had to write in her personal journal in order to understand herself so that she had something to transcend from. Her core desired feeling helped her create her why, which was vital for her to move forward with her goals.

Struggling with procrastination?

Next time you’re avoiding something, write down your main intention for the day. What do you want to accomplish or work on? Then write down three reasons why this task or project is important to you. You’ll move forward on this project or task because you’re connected to the ‘why.’

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Carlee Myers is the Founder of the Stress Less Company. She is an expert at helping people use art and creativity in order to find their passion again. As a firm believer in creativity, Carlee helps people find their purpose in life through a combination of coaching, creative expression, and experiential activities.

The number 1 activity to get to the next phase of your career is networking. This ultimately boils down to connections and relationships. I am sure you’ve heard people say, ‘It’s all in who you know.’ Whether you want to get into an exclusive event or party, get that next job, or get that discount at a store, it’s all in who you know. This is why networking is important for  joint venture partners, clients, and marketing art.

About Networking

Networking is usually an activity of going to an event, repeatedly giving your elevator pitch, and giving out your business cards. There is more to networking than just this! It is really about creating deep and meaningful connections with people we wouldn’t have necessarily met in an everyday context. The point of networking is to get us to that next phase of our career, which might be a promotion or to further build our business.

Networking is this vital tool that we often use incorrectly. A lot of the time, I’ve noticed that people go to events hoping to share what they do and see what they can get from as many people as possible. Unfortunately, this is not how deep and meaningful connections work. Establishing deep and meaningful connections will likely get you recommendations. Whereas with brief encounters, you’ll be lucky if anyone will remember or recommend you. Nobody likes receiving a sales pitch out of context. It reeks of a desperation mind set.

Recommendations

To get you into the next phase of your career, practice active listening. When you get to a networking event, enable the next person to have a platform to share more about themselves. Everyone is eager to speak about what they offer. You will stand out if you offer yourself as an active listener in networking spaces. Gather key information that will tell you if there is some synergy between the other person and yourself. Do they have a connection somewhere you’ve applied? Are they desperately in need of your services? Remember, you can guide the conversation based on the questions you ask!

To the next phase of your career:

1. Get into different spaces with different people.
2. Listen actively. You can do this by asking questions and seeing how you can help someone else. At the end of the day, the people you genuinely connect with will be more than willing to help you make the next move in your career.

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Carlee Myers is the Founder of the Stress Less Company. She is an expert at helping people use art and creativity in order to find their passion again. As a firm believer in creativity, Carlee helps people find their purpose in life through a combination of coaching, creative expression, and experiential activities.

More and more people are joining the gig economy. That means developing a creative practice, marketing art, and working a regular job. 70% of the US population feel disengaged at work or they hate their jobs. If you’re part of this 70%, try this exercise. Reconnect to your job. Learn why you started working where you work in the first place. This exercise will completely change the way you view your job and the career path that you’re on. Give it a go!

Write A Letter To Your Employer

Tell them why you love them and why you’re grateful for having them in your life. This exercise might sound like a combination of cringe-worthy craziness, but it is highly effective in reminding you why you took the job in the first place. You don’t have to give the letter to your employer, unless you want to. Ultimately this exercise is for you! Here’s a suggestion on how to start your letter:

‘Dear [insert organization], I am so so grateful that day in and day out you pay for my bills…

At the end of the day this job, that you might currently loathe, is part of your journey. By writing this letter you are partaking in a gesture of acknowledging this in a way other than complaining about how much you hate your job.

When you first start a job, you may feel a sense of excitement, like you’re falling in love. It’s easy to see why you’re destined for this job in the bigger scheme of things. It might be a stepping stone for you to save more money or go back to school. It might be an entry level position for you to work your way up the ladder. Yet, as time goes by, it’s easy to see less and less of the bigger picture that you had envisioned for yourself.

Shift Your Perspective

What this exercise does is shift your perspective of where you’re at right now in your job. It can be written as a farewell letter. It can be written as a way to renew your commitment with your employer and/or the company you work for. It’s an effective way to gain resilience and get perspective on what your next move is.

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Carlee Myers is the Founder of the Stress Less Company. She is an expert at helping people use art and creativity in order to find their passion again. As a firm believer in creativity, Carlee helps people find their purpose in life through a combination of coaching, creative expression, and experiential activities.

Productivity is activity that positively influences the trajectory of your life whether at home, work, or with personal projects like marketing art. I decided it was time to give you two tools you can use to be more productive, especially considering the many conversations surrounding the age old, “Why don’t I ever get anything done?” or “How the hell did I even get here (without achieving what I set out to achieve)?” 

5 Second Rule

The first tool was developed by Mel Robbins: The ‘5 Second Rule.’ This rule helps you launch into whatever task you need to get done and prevent procrastination. The idea is to count backwards from 5 and move yourself physically towards achieving the task. For example, if you’re struggling to get out of bed, count down from 5 to 1 and physically get yourself out of bed. Or, if you remember something that needs to be done, count down from 5 to 1 and write that task down on your to-do list. The ‘5 Second Rule’ is about helping you make that first move towards being more productive. It creates that forward momentum for yourself.

The Tomato Timer

‘The Tomato Timer’ is another great tool to help you be your most productive self. Traditionally, this tool is about setting a 20 minute timer where zero distractions are allowed. Yep, this means no phone, no Facebook, no cat videos. This means no distractions until you’ve completed the task at hand or the timer has hit 20 minutes. At the end of the 20 minutes, you get a 5 minute break to do whatever you want or need to do and then you go back to 20 minutes of focused work.

I suggest that you get a little more creative with your tomato timer. For example, I had a really long spreadsheet to update – something like 300 rows! So I made an internal agreement with myself. Do 20 lines at a time and take a short break to look at my phone, 20 lines, short break, 20 lines, SHORT break … you get the idea.

For those of you who have lunch breaks, the tomato timer is perfect for you. One day I dedicated 40 minutes of my lunch break to my own personal tasks. The agreement that I created with myself was that if I completed these 40 minutes, I get to take a 20 minute walk.

The tomato timer helps you manage your time because you know you need to complete something within the time allocated. The breaks give you space to fill your time with a sense of reward for your focus. There are even Tomato Timer Apps out there that you can use to assist you! This tool is really helpful during afternoon sluggishness where you end up mindlessly scrolling through Facebook (or mindlessly clicking through windows).

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Carlee Myers is the Founder of the Stress Less Company. She is an expert at helping people use art and creativity in order to find their passion again. As a firm believer in creativity, Carlee helps people find their purpose in life through a combination of coaching, creative expression, and experiential activities.