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Procrastinators Get Stuff Done From Dana K White Get It Done On Your Time · Arroe Collins Like It's Live

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  Speaker 1: your exploration. What's going on, Arrow? Hey, I'm just procrastinating.
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  Speaker 1: I thought I'd be late today because, you know, she's
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  Speaker 1: making me, you know, think that procrastination is the hip, cool, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: Taylor Swift-y kind of thing. Yeah. Exactly. Oh, Dana, if
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  Speaker 1: you only knew what was going on inside my head
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  Speaker 1: when I was paging through this, because I'm so I
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  Speaker 1: don't know why I'm so afraid of procrastination. And is
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  Speaker 1: it fear or is it I think I can conquer it?
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  Speaker 2: Let's let's talk about it.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I can't be the only one that sits
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  Speaker 1: here and gets the shakes, the shivers, the cold sweats
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  Speaker 1: that can't sleep at night. Oh, my God's.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. It really comes down to the fact that we
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  Speaker 2: think that the thing that we're procrastinating on is going
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  Speaker 2: to be so, it's going to require so many decisions
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  Speaker 2: to be made. And the thought of making decisions is
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  Speaker 2: just like, I'm going to put that off until I'm
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  Speaker 2: in a different frame of mind, till I have more energy,
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  Speaker 2: till I know more, all of these different things that
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  Speaker 2: go into, I shouldn't do that now. I should wait
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  Speaker 2: until I really have it in me to make those decisions.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, you also put something up here that really
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  Speaker 1: was an eye opener and it will stunt somebody's growth.
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  Speaker 1: The roadblock versus the procrastination. They are not the same.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you're going to find roadblocks. And part of the
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  Speaker 2: issue for procrastinators is that we think we're doing something
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  Speaker 2: by making a big plan before we ever get started.
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  Speaker 2: We think we're doing something by imagining what all the
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  Speaker 2: roadblocks might be and going ahead and solving them, figuring
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  Speaker 2: out what I'm going to do in the future. But
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  Speaker 2: when we haven't actually gotten into the thing that we're
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  Speaker 2: procrastinating on doing... We don't know what the roadblocks are.
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  Speaker 2: And so we just keep imagining more and more and more.
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  Speaker 2: And instead, if I will go ahead and do the
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  Speaker 2: decision-free work before I actually make my plan, the first
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  Speaker 2: three steps of my anti-procrastination process are all decision-free. So
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  Speaker 2: if I will go ahead and do those, then I'm
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  Speaker 2: actually in the middle of it. And I have such
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  Speaker 2: a better understanding of what it is that I'm going
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  Speaker 2: to be dealing with. So that by the time I
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  Speaker 2: make a plan in step four, I... First of all,
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  Speaker 2: I've eliminated a lot of the roadblocks all along the way.
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  Speaker 2: And I know what it's going to look like and
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  Speaker 2: what I can do to deal with those things.
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  Speaker 1: How many people are like me? They write a story
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  Speaker 1: before it happens and we create those roadblocks so it
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  Speaker 1: doesn't happen until it's our time and we think it's
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  Speaker 1: the best time.
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  Speaker 2: That's the story of a procrastinator. Like that is what
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  Speaker 2: we do. We are not procrastinating because we're not creative.
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  Speaker 2: We're procrastinating because we are creative and we have thought
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  Speaker 2: of all of the things that could possibly happen. And
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  Speaker 2: so we don't want to waste our time. So we
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  Speaker 2: put off doing things until we know enough to be
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  Speaker 2: sure we're not going to waste our time, except that
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  Speaker 2: putting it off means we're wasting our time.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, but you know what I'm guilty of, though? And
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  Speaker 1: a lot of people don't agree with this, is that
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  Speaker 1: I made Google Calendar basically my Bible in life. And
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  Speaker 1: so therefore, when I go through there and I go,
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  Speaker 1: this is what I got to do, got to do,
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  Speaker 1: got to do. And people go, can you not change
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  Speaker 1: your rule? And I go, no. And they go, oh,
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  Speaker 1: so you're that cold. I mean, it's because I won't
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  Speaker 1: get off the Google Calendar because I'm so afraid of procrastination.
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  Speaker 2: It's whatever works for you is exactly what you need
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  Speaker 2: to be doing. And somehow, especially in this world that
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  Speaker 2: we live in, where there's advice coming at you from everywhere,
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  Speaker 2: we start to think, I'm going to... They say this
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  Speaker 2: is what I should be doing. But if you have
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  Speaker 2: something that works for you, that's what you need to
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  Speaker 2: be doing.
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  Speaker 1: So is a cluttered desk, is that procrastination? Because I
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  Speaker 1: kind of like... I call it controlled chaos.
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  Speaker 2: So I.
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  Speaker 2: The way that I came up with my anti-procrastination process
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  Speaker 2: was through teaching decluttering and having dug my own way
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  Speaker 2: out of my own clutter for 15 years. And now
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  Speaker 2: I've applied that to procrastination. But I have what I
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  Speaker 2: call your clutter threshold. OK, what I realized is that
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  Speaker 2: we all have a different level of stuff that we
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  Speaker 2: can handle. OK, so it doesn't mean what I prefer. Like,
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  Speaker 2: do I like my desk looking like this or not?
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  Speaker 2: It comes down to what can I handle? Where can
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  Speaker 2: I function? What is the level at which I can function?
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  Speaker 2: And if you are able to function, then you're good.
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  Speaker 2: But the problem was for me, I could function in
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  Speaker 2: the mess until all of a sudden I couldn't. And
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  Speaker 2: at that point I was completely overwhelmed. So I had
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  Speaker 2: to get to the point where I decluttered it down
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  Speaker 2: to a point where I could consistently continue to function well.
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  Speaker 1: The name of the book is Procrastinators Get Stuff Done.
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  Speaker 1: We'll be right back with Dana K. White. Oh, we're
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  Speaker 1: not procrastinating anymore. We got to get back to Dana K. White.
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  Speaker 1: The name of her book, Procrastinators Get Stuff Done. I'm
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  Speaker 1: so proud of you for putting this book out. And
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  Speaker 1: the reason why is because there are so many people
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  Speaker 1: that nowadays, it just seems to be the hot spot.
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  Speaker 1: And you'll ask them how they're doing. Well, I'm so
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  Speaker 1: burned out. And right away, I'm going, you're procrastinating. Don't
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  Speaker 1: tell me you're burned out because you don't have all
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  Speaker 1: the other elements of what burnout is. They're procrastinating, aren't they?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we feel completely stuck. A lot of procrastination comes
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  Speaker 2: from feeling overwhelmed. And we are, that's the main thing
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  Speaker 2: I'm addressing with my anti-procrastination process is I am overwhelmed
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  Speaker 2: by this. And I think that at different phases of
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  Speaker 2: life and just the, we all feel overwhelmed right now
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  Speaker 2: because we have stuff coming at us nonstop. All the
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  Speaker 2: things we could do, all the things we should do
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  Speaker 2: are coming at us constantly. So that causes us to
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  Speaker 2: feel overwhelmed. And so I had, I came up with
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  Speaker 2: this process as a way for me to break through
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  Speaker 2: that overwhelm because once I actually break through it, then
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  Speaker 2: I have that release of, okay, now I'm not procrastinating
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  Speaker 2: anymore and I feel a lot better and I'm able
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  Speaker 2: to build and continue doing things.
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  Speaker 1: So now let me ask you this question because I
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  Speaker 1: use pictures and I'm going to bring up a great
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  Speaker 1: example of this because it really did inspire me. Yesterday,
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  Speaker 1: Bill posted a picture of he and his son at
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  Speaker 1: a hockey game. In my mind, I went, he didn't
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  Speaker 1: procrastinate because that would have affected his son. So therefore,
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  Speaker 1: I use pictures like that to get me away from procrastination.
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  Speaker 1: If he's taking his boy to a hockey game, I
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  Speaker 1: can do something in my life as well. So I
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  Speaker 1: use other people's pictures and experiences to get me out
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  Speaker 1: of that procrastination rut. Yeah, I mean, whatever.
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  Speaker 2: Works for you. The one thing I would really caution
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  Speaker 2: you against, though, is trying to be a different person.
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  Speaker 2: It is much better for me to, because I can
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  Speaker 2: look at someone else doing the things I want to do.
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  Speaker 2: And I'm like, if I was them, then I would
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  Speaker 2: be able to do this thing, but we can't actually
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  Speaker 2: be the other person. So I can use that for inspiration.
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  Speaker 2: But then I go, I need to figure out what
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  Speaker 2: works for my actual brain. And for me personally, I'm
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  Speaker 2: going to not change who I am, but I'm going
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  Speaker 2: to change what I do and how I do it.
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  Speaker 2: And accepting how my brain works, that my natural tendency
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  Speaker 2: is to procrastinate was incredibly freeing for me because I said, OK,
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  Speaker 2: I don't have to be the other person. I just
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  Speaker 2: have to figure out what does work for me in
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  Speaker 2: with my unique brain so that I can move forward.
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  Speaker 1: Is chat GPT helping out in the procrastination game? Because
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  Speaker 1: it seems like that when we were procrastinating, we jump
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  Speaker 1: on a social media so we can do something else
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  Speaker 1: to activate that dopamine. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: You know, I am not a, I'm not an AI user.
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  Speaker 2: Here's what I will say. Here's what I will say though.
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  Speaker 2: It is, a lot of what that is, is this
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  Speaker 2: desire to research. It feels like we're doing something when
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  Speaker 2: we're researching, but if all we do is continue researching
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  Speaker 2: and looking up Well, that doesn't sound like exactly what
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  Speaker 2: I want to do. So I'm going to keep looking.
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  Speaker 2: It is better for me to face my actual situation.
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  Speaker 2: So the first step of my anti-procrastination process is to
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  Speaker 2: look with nothing else attached to it. I'm going to
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  Speaker 2: purposefully look, not research, but I'm going to look at
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  Speaker 2: my situation. So instead of how do I start a
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  Speaker 2: cupcake business, cupcake making business, instead I'm going to go
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  Speaker 2: into my own cabinet. I'm going to say, how many
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  Speaker 2: cupcake pans do I have? How many fit in my
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  Speaker 2: oven at one time?
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  Speaker 1: Ooh.
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  Speaker 2: What recipe do I already know is actually a recipe
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  Speaker 2: that everybody always raves about it when I make it, right?
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  Speaker 2: So I'm going to look at my situation and that
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  Speaker 2: is actually moving me forward as opposed to I could
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  Speaker 2: Google and chat GPT forever about all the different ways
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  Speaker 2: to start a cupcake business. That actually doesn't move me forward.
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  Speaker 1: Wow. So in a way, because right away I went
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  Speaker 1: to a thing called what I call stream thinking. If
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  Speaker 1: I'm stream thinking, why can't I be stream acting? In
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  Speaker 1: other words, live in the moment of now and figure
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  Speaker 1: it out now and move forward with it. Yes.
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  Speaker 2: So the question that I asked myself in step two,
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  Speaker 2: again and again and again, is what is the smallest
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  Speaker 2: thing I already know would have to be done if
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  Speaker 2: I was ever to actually accomplish this thing that's overwhelming me?
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  Speaker 2: What is the smallest piece of that? Because there are
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  Speaker 2: always things in front of us. When I teach decluttering,
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  Speaker 2: I call this procrastinate clutter. It's the stuff that I'm like,
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  Speaker 2: I'm not going to do that right now because right
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  Speaker 2: now I'm supposed to be working on the big goal.
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  Speaker 2: But as long as I leave it undone, as long
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  Speaker 2: as I leave the clean laundry and piled up on
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  Speaker 2: the love seat, then I can do all these other things.
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  Speaker 2: But my space never actually looks better because there's a
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  Speaker 2: big old pile of wrinkled, clean laundry on the left seat, right?
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  Speaker 2: So I'm going to go ahead and do the things
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  Speaker 2: I already know would have to be done if I
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  Speaker 2: ever accomplished the bigger goal. And that gives me something
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  Speaker 2: that I can do right now. And every little thing
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  Speaker 2: that gets done means that I am in the midst
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  Speaker 2: of this. And that overwhelming goal at the end is
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  Speaker 2: getting smaller because it's, And now it's less overwhelming to
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  Speaker 2: me and I'm moving toward it. And I know things
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  Speaker 2: now I'm learning things now because I am being successful.
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  Speaker 2: I am beating procrastination because I am taking action at
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  Speaker 2: this point.
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  Speaker 1: So then how many of us are like me in
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  Speaker 1: the way of we're going to sit there and we're
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  Speaker 1: going to think of every reason that we'll get in
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  Speaker 1: the way. In other words, I'll give you a good example.
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  Speaker 1: I've got to replace the GFI plug in the RV.
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  Speaker 1: That's the one that controls where every all the outlets go.
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  Speaker 1: It would only take three or four minutes. But in
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  Speaker 1: my mind, I'm going, but I'm going to have to
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  Speaker 1: undo the electricity. I'm going to have to take the
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  Speaker 1: battery off. I'm going to have to take the screws
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  Speaker 1: out of the wall. I'm going to have to sit
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  Speaker 1: there and try. You see what I'm doing? I'm giving
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  Speaker 1: myself permission to procrastinate here because I got to do this.
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  Speaker 1: I got to do this. I got to do this.
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  Speaker 2: So tell me what's the smallest thing that you could
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  Speaker 2: do right now that you already know would have to
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  Speaker 2: be done.
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  Speaker 1: Editing this conversation.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Okay, let's say other than that, but like looking
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  Speaker 2: at that actual project, what is the smallest thing? Because
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  Speaker 2: you named three things and there are so many things
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  Speaker 2: to do. And it's easy to think that putting those
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  Speaker 2: things on a plan first is what I need to do.
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  Speaker 2: But what's something you could do right now? Do you
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  Speaker 2: have to.
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  Speaker 1: I'll give you a good example.
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  Speaker 2: Park your RV in a place where you'd actually.
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  Speaker 1: Be able to work. No, it's there. It's there. It's
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  Speaker 1: ready to go. I've got the screwdrivers sitting right beside
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  Speaker 1: the right, right beside what I'm going to be doing.
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  Speaker 1: But then yesterday I got, yes, sir. I hate to procrastinate.
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  Speaker 1: I've been trying to, but you only have 10 minutes today.
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  Speaker 1: Oh my God. Just when Dana, see, that's what happens, Dana. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: I only get 10 minutes with you. So I guess
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  Speaker 1: we're going to have to go procrastinating. I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: go fix my GFI plug.
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  Speaker 2: No, don't fix your GFI plug. Go unscrew that screw.
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  Speaker 1: I standing ovation there. You come back to this show
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  Speaker 1: and you be brilliant. Okay, Dana.
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  Speaker 2: I would love to. Anytime.