How to Knock Off Procrastination

Today I have another treat for you guys. I am very excited to announce that Mecyll from Bitchy Chicken kindly graced us with a guest post on the blog. She covered one of my favorite topics: Procrastination. A big word for a big problem that slumbers somewhere inside every one of us. I don’t know about you, but I need all the help I can get on it.

So without further ado: Mecyll Jamila everyone!

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by eliminating your two unhealthy mind monsters

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You don’t know what to do next. You are overthinking, stressing yourself with a lot of unnecessary things in mind, and suffering from the countless frustrations in the past few years.

You don’t know why you keep on failing. You don’t have any idea why you become the magnet of painful failures with almost anything you do.

You don’t know why you don’t have the energy to hustle, to grind, to work on your own dreams today, tomorrow, and in the next day.

You haven’t noticed that you are already procrastinating in the last few days, thinking that you don’t know what to do at this hour.

Why?

Apparently, there are two unhealthy objects that are stuck in your head that block you from productivity. And I know you don’t know they existed. If you do, you failed to notice them. You’re too busy anyway.

Meet Mr. Fear and Mrs. Pride

These two are the perfect couple who will help you build that sturdy wall between you and your productiveness.

Literally, you don’t like to do that Etsy item or your clients’ blog layout design in fear that you might not satisfy your customers. You don’t like to risk working on your business blog, thinking that this won’t work anyway.

You don’t like to level up the experience with your husband or wife in bed because you’re scared he or she might not be okay with it. I bet.

In the past few days, Mr. Fear consumed me that I failed to write two guest posts. I feared that the site owners would reject my posts. So, I kept thinking, thinking, thinking for several days, which then turned into weeks, instead of writing these posts on the day they were assigned. It took me a week to gather myself up and wrote the blog posts.

Another instance happened. I should have started making more handmade journal designs to sell in our online shop. But then, Mr. Fear came again. It took me a week to scan Etsy and the craft sellers’ Instagram accounts.

Instead of saying, “Oh, that’s a good idea! I should make that one,” I said, “Oh, they made more beautiful journals because they have materials and they’re already big craft shops” and “Oh, what if they won’t like my sewing skills?”

At the same time, Mrs. Pride kept on telling me, “Hey, why should I do that? Who are they? They’re just small businesses anyway. They’re in Manila anyway.” My list of alibis went on and on until I became absolutely unproductive.

Because of this mind monster, I failed to start writing and crafting my next handmade journal. Again with Mrs. Pride’s influence, I failed to see the mistakes of my behavior and the outcomes it brought to our business and our blog.

Apparently, it took me a lot of courage to evaluate myself why I keep on failing in the last two years since I left my job and graduated in college. With courage and guts, I assessed my behavioral patterns.

Unfortunately, they all originated to Mr. Fear and Mrs. Pride’s huge influence on me. These are the two mind monsters that succumbed me to successive painful failures since 2014.

Detrimental effects of listening to Mr. Fear and Mrs. Pride

If you keep on listening to what these two mind monsters have to say, you won’t achieve anything. You’ll embrace status quo and suck in a lot of things you usually love doing.

You love to be in a handmade journal business, but you fear nobody will like your products. You want to produce music, but you fear nobody will love listening to it.

Your pride prevents you from being seen as a hustler. I’ll tell you my story.

I graduated in a top university in 2013 in the Philippines with almost flying colors. Literally, I could fill an 8-page resume. Obviously, pride was with me. “Who wouldn’t hire me anyway? I have a lot of leadership experiences and my grades were almost straight As” I said.

But then, everything changed when I started applying for jobs. Nobody hired me. My sister told me I was overqualified. I don’t know if it was a compliment, however, I was devastated.

Instead of teaching in a top school, I ended up teaching in a small private school, earning $100 per month and working for almost 100 hours per week for a year.

It was crushing. So, I left the job and studied German for months in Manila. My cousin told me that I should start teaching German in a language institute, given that I achieved 93 percent result and try applying for huge companies because she really thought many of them will hire me.

She even complimented me that with I’m the type of applicant I am, I can really guarantee to land a great job with a great payment to receive every single month.

I chose the status quo. I didn’t do anything. Instead, I returned to my hometown and stayed at home for months.

I started searching jobs online. But, nobody wanted to employ me. So, I started as a contributor at Lifehack and eventually, my works were noticed and I got hired by a news site. Mrs. Pride influenced me again. My head kept on saying, “I’m too great to work for only $250 per month.”

So, I kept on changing online writing jobs several times in a year. After months of working as a freelancer, I met a blogger named Hannah. She said she’s earning some bucks through it.

On the following months, I asked my fiance for some bucks to start my own blog, which he did. When I started it, however, I kept on experiencing dissatisfaction with what I’m doing. For months, I kept on studying how other bloggers do it.

Procrastination is inevitable. Just don't let it consume you. Click To Tweet

I knew their tactics a hundred percent. But what prevented me from applying them? Guess what? It’s because of Mr. Fear.

I kept on changing blog names and niches in the past two years, wasted a lot of money buying domains and hosting, instead of focusing on that creative niche — journaling — that I started in early 2015.

With my indecisiveness, I decided to leave my job and started to run a small handmade business. I did for how long? Two months and I quit.

These mind monsters have made me suffer for a long time and prevented me from doing I really love. I usually quit when everything’s getting harder and sacrificial.

Because of this, I haven’t had an idea on what should be my focus and my business. I even forgot my real idea of my business. I was too blinded until my fiance told me recently, “I’m getting a shop in Waldshut (Germany) and registered the car to Bitchy Chicken’s initials.”

I was shocked. It triggered my desire to let go of these mind monsters Mr. Fear and Mrs. Pride.

Adhering to their principles certainly brought me to a lot of successive painful failures. In fact, it succumbed me to depression and suicidal attempts. They affected my work, my behavior, my attitude, and even my relationships.

With these experiences, I realized that I should let go of these two mind monsters and be productive. I should start moving forward.

I believe that procrastination is still inevitable. Yet, never allow these mind monsters consume you until such time you’re unable to move forward to your business goals.

Let me painful failures be your lesson. It wasn’t a joyful ride at all.

About the author:

Mecyll Jamila is a freelance online writer, a full-time blogger, and craftswoman at her business blog and shop Bitchy Chicken .

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Let’s hear it! Did you enjoy the post as much as I did? How do you like to deal with Mr. Fear and Mrs. Pride? Let me know in the comments and make sure to check out Bitchy Chicken for more of Mecyll and her creative work.

Nico