Hello and welcome back to another episode of Tea with the Queen.

As you may have guessed, I am not Emma McQueen.

I am Brianna, the head of Bamby Media.

We look after the production of Emma's show and she's decided to

take a break for a week, and we are going to run a recast as a result.

This week you're going to be hearing a popular episode from this year.

This one is

Three simple steps to beat procrastination, particularly good

one for you to be hearing right now at this time of year and may give you

the kick up the butt that you need to get things ready for the year.

So hope you enjoy it.

Emma will be back with fresh new content next week.

We all procrastinate at some point, but have you ever stopped to ask yourself why?

I'm going to let you in on a

little secret.

I procrastinate a lot.

I am indeed a procrastinator, especially if it's something I

know is going to take a long time.

I work with one of my corporate clients and I create leadership

development programs for them.

They are 12 months long with different touch points, different coaching

sessions, different, facilitated groups, a whole stack of different things.

And it's wonderful and I love it.

What I don't love is getting

analysis paralysis

around those big programs.

One of the ways I get around this is I start at the kitchen table and I

work through the 12 months just on butcher's paper to get a very rough.

Starting point because you can't edit a blank page, right?

So I get a very rough draft happening and this takes the pressure off

immediately because I'm like, great, I've got a rough draft.

Now I can just tweak as I go.

And so I can edit it and I can polish it.

And so as soon as I land a piece of work like that, I work on it immediately

because it's fresh in my head.

I've had a lot of conversation to get to that point and I'm ready to go.

And so if I can get something down on paper, then I can come back to it.

And then I can feel like I'm close to done.

I don't know.

I just hack myself.

But I think procrastination is a bit of a mixed bag.

It's not always.

about being lazy or disorganised sometimes it's actually a sign

that something deeper is going on.

And for me, when I find myself procrastinating, I ask myself,

why am I avoiding this?

Is it because the task feels misaligned with my goals?

Am I over complicating things?

Chances are for me, yes.

Or am I just nervous because it's pushing me out of my comfort zone?

So I ask myself a couple of questions that seem to help.

What about you?

Do you find procrastination creeping in?

And if so, what's usually behind it?

And here's the twist.

Sometimes procrastination can actually be really useful.

If I'm putting off something repeatedly, it's often a, sign.

that I need to reassess.

Maybe I don't really need to do it, or perhaps there's a

better way to approach it.

Mainly, there's probably someone I could outsource it to

who has the ability to do it.

So instead of beating myself up for procrastinating, I try to

use it as a clue to check in with myself and adjust accordingly.

I have also noticed that certain personality types struggle

procrastination more than others.

I've got some clients who absolutely thrive on that last minute pressure.

I've got other clients who love a backlog because it pushes them.

And I've got other clients who completely shut down.

When things feel too big or too overwhelming.

I have a client who goes to ground and I have to actually

text her and say, are you okay?

Because I know that things feel too big and too overwhelming

for her right in that moment.

Personally, I find that breaking things.

It's those smaller manageable steps helps me push past the resistance.

And also for me, setting mini deadlines and having an accountability

buddy makes a huge difference.

So if this is you today, I'd love to give you a bit of a framework,

three steps on some really practical ways that you can structure.

Your, time, your space, to think about, okay, if I sit in

procrastination, what do I need to do?

So

step one

take it one step at a time

This is normally the first thing that I do.

Big tasks can feel so overwhelming, so I break them into bite sized pieces.

I set a timer.

for 10, 15, 20 minutes and I just get started.

Once you're in motion, it's quite hard to stop.

So you get to keep going.

I also do this if I don't feel motivated in that moment, I'm like, okay, I'll

just do something really easy, something small, and then I'll see how I go.

Number two give yourself very clear deadlines

Very clear deadlines.

We have to set realistic timeframes.

I am as guilty as the next person about not setting realistic timeframes.

And you've got to set those timeframes and for the tasks and

then you need to stick to them.

So for me, I will pop it in the diary.

I make sure that I allocate enough time.

And like I said, when I have a big thing, I do the first draft and

then I keep checking to make sure that we're polishing it as we go.

And so that keeps me accountable.

If accountability is the issue, find a biz buddy or a mentor

to help you keep on track.

It could just be that you send them an email once a week and go, this is what

I'm doing, or this is what I need to do.

Sometimes we just need a little nudge.

That's all.

Step three

ditch distractions and celebrate the wins

so when I'm feeling a little bit procrastinate-y I will

put my phone in another room.

I've got an app called Coffertivity, which is the sounds of a cafe.

So I like to feel like I'm in the middle of the cafe, even

though I'm getting stuff done.

And so that is just white noise for me.

So I ditch distractions You need to notice on what's pulling your focus.

you scroll on social media for a minute.

You'll be there for half an hour.

and you've got to set some boundaries.

Yeah.

And don't forget to reward yourself when you've made some progress.

Now progress isn't.

starting and finishing.

Progress might be milestones in between.

It might be big chunks of work.

Every single step is worth celebrating as far as I think.

So to recap on the three steps very briefly.

Step one, take it one step at a time.

This always comes first.

Step two, give yourself clear deadlines for your tasks and your bits and pieces.

And number three, ditch the distractions and celebrate the wins.

Which of these three do you need to work on the most?

Is it about just getting started and taking that one step?

Or is it about giving yourself some clear deadlines?

Or is it about ditching distractions?

a lot of the women that I work with, it's about ditching the

distractions and just getting started.

They don't need to worry about the deadlines, but they need to

get started, and they need to move their phone out of the room.

Otherwise, the distractions are Just take one step today.

Why don't you try putting the timer on, getting the thing done that you've been

putting off, because you'll feel so much more accomplished at the end of that.

And once you've tried one of these, let me know how you go.

DM me on Instagram, send me a text message, tell me you've tried it, tell

me you're listening, tell me you're here.

I always love to hear from you guys and gals.

Thanks so much.

See you next week.