Digital entrepreneurship is a breeding ground for procrastination and (how to manage it so you’re not stuck)
In 2016 I started an e-commerce venture but after a few months, my business partner and I decided to go our separate ways.
I’ve been a solopreneur ever since. People have come on board and helped in different ways but it’s mostly been me. I’ve been working from home for as long as I can remember. And when you don’t have a dedicated office outside of the place where you live, it can become a place where procrastination breeds and thrives. And if you don’t keep it in check, it can overpower you.
“Procrastination usually results in sorrowful regret. Today’s duties put off until tomorrow give us a double burden to bear; the best way is to do them in their proper time.” – Ida Scott Taylor
I’ve come to realize that we must accept and understand that procrastination is common.
It happens to everyone, not just to a select few. No matter how productive you are, it can happen to you as well. But it becomes a problem when you're doing it more and more. That you're not able to move forward and there's no progress in your life. Over the years, I’ve discovered that there are three spaces where it stems from.
These are personal, environmental and business.
When it comes to the personal space, a lot of things that we tell ourselves or carry with us has a direct influence on how we run our digital businesses. This is more to do with personal development. Often there are three main reasons procrastination shows up: fear of failing, fear of success and perfectionism. And all of these three things are rooted in your personal beliefs and patterns that show up in your behaviour.
So as we start working on ourselves, doing our inner work a lot of these things will start to have less power. You’ll stop procrastinating less.
The second space, environmental is self-explanatory.
You either have a laptop or a desktop. If you have desktop, that’s great because it’s tied to one area. However, most of us have laptops, especially if you’re a digital entrepreneur who prefers location freedom, laptop’s your weapon of choice. There’s a high chance for the personal and work spaces to blur and that can give rise to procrastination.
If you’re using laptop to unwind or explore your interests outside of business and working on the same laptop, it can have an effect.
The third space is the business.
We live in a world that’s bombarding us with shiny things to chase. In the realm of online business, shiny object syndrome can not only be a huge distraction but can also become a way to procrastinate. Online businesses like any business need time to take shape. Our brains love instant pleasure. Procrastination is a great way to satisfy our brains because we’re thinking of the short term. And guess what, it’s not happening at random. It happens due to a phenomenon called temporal discounting. It simply means, we have a tendency to prefer short term gains by discounting the rewards of future because they seem so distant.
So how can all of this be managed?
Let’s be clear, we’re not aiming to stop anything from happening. That’s just an unrealistic goal to aim for. But we can work around it and manage it.
To begin with,
Get some clarity
Understand what you want out of your digital entrepreneurship journey? What is the destination? Get some clarity. When your goals get clear enough and when they align with your version of doing business, you’ll be motivated to get things done. This doesn’t happen overnight, it’s a journey.
Separate your digital environments
It’s not just about dedicating a separate office desk or room. This is about separate spaces in your laptop or desktop as well. For many years, I’ve been using Safari for learning and random browsing. But when the time comes to get into action, I’ll open up my Chrome browser. Recently, I’ve been migrating stuff to the Arc browser by The Browser Company. I think it’s got the potential to help us navigate our personal and business lives better.
Become aware
Awareness is key and it’s the first step. It’s important to start becoming conscious of why you’re procrastinating. Only when you acknowledge, can you move towards the solution.
Here’s a reminder for you as I wrap this up, we’re all in this together.
Everyone procrastinates but then of course, everything has to be in balance. Understanding where it’s coming from is the first step. Procrastination can be taken care of and it can be managed.
It can also be received as long as you’re conscious about it but remember, don’t let it overstay it’s welcome.
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