Overcoming Procrastination

Today, I have come to realize how much of a procrastinator I have become. I thought I would take a minute to understand why I am procrastinating at everything so that I can improve my work ethic. Everything I have started was something I was really excited about at one time, and now it has lost its path. This is not the first time I have tried something then slowly stopped doing it after a while. However, everything I am working on I want to see through and keep working on it. Here is a list of what I am working on, why I’ve been procrastinating, and how I’ll change. Hopefully this will help you out too.

Blog

Yes, I am still blogging, but it’s not as often as when I began. I already knew I had unrealistic expectations when I was writing every day, but at that point I had a lot of ideas to write about. I was also very consistent… I started writing at 10:00am every day, then I started writing 3-5 times per week at the same time. Then I lost track of days and times so I started writing when I remembered at whatever time during the week, and this is where I started to really procrastinate.

When I started blogging, I wanted to share my self-improvement experience since it’s something I’ve always been interested in. It’s satisfying to potentially help someone else who is struggling with something, and create a supportive environment. However, I’ve always thought in the back of my mind how cool it would be to make some side cash from a hobby I am passionate about.

Of course, after doing research about how to monetize a blog, it started to feel a bit daunting. A huge factor in becoming a successful blogger is having a niche to be able to easily find sponsors, but I didn’t feel like I had a specific niche. There are people who write about recipes, nutrition, fitness, gardening, starting an online business – all very specific categories. Some people even begin selling consultations or online courses for their expertise. The more I looked into it, the more fearful I became about my blog not being successful.

I forgot why I started blogging in the first place. It slows down my thoughts to make sense of them, it allows me to be creative, and I can give my ideas to the world as well as read other blogs to learn something new. I have realized I fear that I am doing it wrong. I am learning along the way, but not knowing if I’m doing it correctly in order to monetize it sooner rather than later is driving me crazy. I never knew how much there still is to learn about the internet. It’s not as simple as I thought it was.

The reason I am procrastinating at writing blogs is because I am fearing failure and the reward seems very far away if it will be rewarded at all. I will have to change my mindset about it to stop procrastinating. Here are a few solutions: I will aim to learn something new about blogging every time I write; I will make a new goal to only write 3-4 times per week; and I will make sure I read and follow other blogs that will inspire me.

YouTube

One day, I asked my boyfriend to do a beer review with me and make a video. I’ve always wanted to learn how to make videos, and it was a different way to be creative. After I began, I needed to make it my own channel rather than rely on my boyfriend for help. I figured I couldn’t just make my channel about reviewing beer by myself, so I channeled my inner actress and wanted to make people laugh by doing skits.

I came up with a long list of video ideas, and I was creating a video once a week. It would be finished a few days before it went public on YouTube, so it was a stress-free hobby. Now, I am procrastinating and creating the video the same day that it needs to be posted, which isn’t a very relaxing feeling. I somehow have still posted every Tuesday at 5pm, but I can tell my creative juices are lacking.

I think there are a few factors here that are causing me to procrastinate. I have posted several videos of my comedy skits, but now the opinions of others are starting to flow. Not only the number of views and likes, but just what other people find funny or not. Some people will tell me their favourite videos, or favourite part of a video, so then I find myself over-analyzing everything. I have truly come to appreciate big YouTubers who have managed to work towards a huge following and come out with videos every single week.

Of course, the thought of this hobby also being monetized has crossed my mind, because who wouldn’t want to be paid for doing what they love? At least YouTube gives you a goal to reach in order to be able to monetize (1000 subscribers and 4000 watched hours), so I just need to keep improving my videos and learning about how to make them entertaining the entire time (people have short attention spans these days). I am even starting to second-guess my genre of videos (skits) so that causes procrastination as well. Maybe I should be making videos on ice coffee? Or hair? Or horoscopes??? I am just trying to stick to what my authentic self enjoys doing, and leave it at that.

To change my mindset for this, I first need to take other people’s opinions and number of views lightly. Art will always be subjective, and it can be surprising sometimes what does well and what doesn’t. I am also learning more about the power of social media, as I have been ignoring it for so long. I never enjoyed being super involved in social media, but it turns out it’s a huge factor in being successful at doing work online.

Rather than second guessing my video ideas, I’m just going to film and edit it without waiting an entire week of doubting myself.

Podcast

I started my podcast in order to have a platform to speak with other people and learn from them. I enjoy learning from other people and talking things through. Unfortunately, the pandemic has made it a bit difficult to get it started since I have to record podcasts through low quality sound through zoom. Also, I have found out a lot of people are scared to be recorded and to talk about themselves.

This is another area where I am unsure of the niche I want to have. I wanted to talk about the journey of breaking free from societal norms because it’s something I struggle with, but it’s hard to find people who feel the same why I do. This hobby might not be as consistent, but it’s something I am still interested in pursuing eventually.

Further Solutions to Overcome Procrastination

It’s important to recognize the reason why you enjoy whatever it is that you are procrastinating on, and to stop yourself from overthinking everything. Sticking to a routine is definitely a huge part of being productive, so planning out your days will help overcome procrastination. Also, remembering that all of these hobbies are more productive than other hobbies such as playing video games or watching TV.

I think it’s important for all of us to stop and find the reasons why we are procrastinating at something, because I truly think it frees us to be more creative and more productive. It’s never a good feeling to feel like something is weighing you down, so by finding solutions to motivate us again, it will lift the weight right off of our shoulders.

Healthy Eating: The Everyday Decision

We need to eat to survive, but sometimes the choices of food we eat are detrimental to our health. It seems obvious to say we need to make a decision every day for what we eat, but sometimes our own rationale isn’t helpful to us.

This concept of making a choice every single day for what we eat clicked with me when I was making the breakfast above. It’s not an ordinary breakfast that I would make, but I had the time so I went for it. While I was making this, I already was faced with multiple decisions. I could’ve cooked with butter, used white bread, and processed peanut butter. I could’ve sprinkled brown sugar on my apples and cheese on my eggs, but that day, I didn’t do any of that. Each of these choices seem very small and insignificant when you’re talking about one meal, but it can add up if you’re letting it happen for every meal.

Another thing that opened up my eyes was late night eating. This is a choice to make every day, and it’s up to you to decide whether you’re eating out of boredom, if you’re genuinely hungry and if so, which snack you will choose whether it’s healthy or not. It’s incredible how easy our will power can disappear when we try to justify our choices even though deep down inside, we know it’s the wrong choice.

As I started thinking deeply about this, it kind of reminded me of the KonMari method of tidying up. Where Marie Kondo says to keep things in our environment that “spark joy,” why don’t we eat things that spark joy? I know that eating junk food tastes wonderful while you’re eating it, but I’ve started to pay very close attention to how it actually affects me. Most of the time, I very much regret eating junk food. When I look at the picture above, that was something that sparked joy for me. I took the time to cook a meal for myself with several different food groups and even used my home grown fresh herbs. I felt good about all the decisions I made, and strangely enough, this doesn’t happen every meal.

Of course, this is all subjective. Some people could care less about eating healthy and just do what makes them happy in the moment. For myself, I started to imagine what it would feel like if I thought about all the food decisions I made before caving in to eat whatever is convenient. I think this applies to treating myself to junk food sometimes too. For example, if I feel like I’ve been eating really well and it’s a hot summer day, I couldn’t say no to having ice cream with my friends. Perhaps I could choose to get a small cup, or choose to go all in and accept the consequences.

I think this becomes a problem if we justify every junk food choice, because then we go down a slippery slope. “I had an apple this week, so therefore I can order pizza, eat ice cream, drink a bunch of beer and have hot dogs every day.”

With all of the choices we have to make every day in general, making appropriate food choices can seem like the last thing on our list. I can totally see how there are people who suffer from food disorders because there is just so much psychological effort to balancing what you eat, why you are eating it, what your body looks and feels like, and how it can control your emotions.

If we decide to make more choices that make us feel good despite the little devil inside trying to justify why we should choose differently, I think our psychological well-being would be just fine. I find the more I justify “bad” choices, the worse I feel about what I eat. So why don’t I just make healthy choices more often so I feel really good about what’s going in my body?

I’m going to pay more attention to what my thoughts are for the food choices I make and if I truly feel good about choosing them. I’m thinking that this will cause me to make more healthy food choices than if I stay in the habit of not thinking before I eat.

Every time we are hungry, there is a decision to make. If we take a second to think about eating things that truly make us feel good about ourselves, whether it’s healthy or not, I think it will help our psychological well-being in the long run.

The Need for Change

Change can be scary sometimes, especially if there is an unknown future. However, for some reason, I absolutely love change. Yes, I still get the anxious feeling when there’s uncertainty in how things will change, but in general, I am quite comfortable with it. I am writing this post for those of you who have a hard time with change and would like to know how some people manage it.

I learned to adapt at a young age.

I think my comfort with change comes from moving to a few different towns growing up. I would have to get used to a new room in a new house in a new neighbourhood and go to a new school with new people. Then once I was in university, I would have a new living space a few times a year – from dorms to my parent’s house to an apartment back to my parents house, to a basement suite to a upper level rental and back to my parent’s house.

I got used to moving around so much that I found it difficult to stay in one place, almost as if I needed more stimulation. I randomly decided to move to Kelowna so I would be forced to learn a whole new way of living. I’ve already lived in 4 different places in the 4 years that I’ve been here, and with each place I’ve managed to adapt to it and make a new routine.

I couldn’t imagine permanently settling down in a house… If I ever do that, I’m sure I would be doing some sort of renovation every couple of years as I would need a change of scenery.

I have a wild imagination.

I think that having a creative, imaginative mind has a hard time sticking to the same routine, schedule, and surroundings for long periods of time. I enjoy having variety in my life and can get bored easily if I’ve had the same routine for a while. This eventually causes me to try something new, after having a pity party that nothing is interesting anymore.

I’m still trying to understand myself, because sometimes it causes me to make impulsive decisions and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. I mean, the easiest way for something to change is to take a risk and see what happens, right?

I am open-minded.

Since I’ve seen many different ways of living and have learned to adapt to them, I have developed an open mind. I like to listen and understand others’ point of view and thoughts. For those that I don’t agree with, I still try to rationalize why they might think that way to avoid conflict and arguments. This can be both a blessing and a curse – yes, it makes it easier to get along with people and be likable, but it also causes me to be vulnerable to getting hurt by people who take advantage of my passive approach.

That being said, I believe being open-minded is the easiest way to adapt to change. If you have a hard time doing this, try to switch from judgement and assumptions to taking a moment to look at a situation with a different angle. You are not always right.

No matter what, change will cause personal growth.

I have to admit – the adult life has definitely made the feeling of change a lot more difficult. I have developed an absurd level of anxiety that I am learning how to manage. I never used to be this way, and was always open to new things. I can now understand how others who aren’t so used to change might feel. It’s a lot more comfortable having a certain level of security.

That being said, despite how I think about the world now, I still remain optimistic about change. It might be more of an emotional struggle than it used to be, but I always come out on the positive side of things and look forward to a new future. I think the only way we can be comfortable with change is to be grateful about the past, and to find the positive things about the future and be excited to learn something new about yourself.

I think it’s important to see who you are in different situations, because you may just surprise yourself. Maybe you find out what you’re not good at, what you don’t like, and who you can’t get along with, but that is still a move in the right direction. We focus so much on making the right move to see what we are good at, do something we like, and be around people that become our best friends – but we only learn to appreciate these things by experiencing the opposite.

Change is inevitable.

Life will constantly change and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. Whether it’s a slow, gradual change, a quick abrupt change, intentional or not, we will be forced to adapt and move forward. As long as you trust yourself that you will be okay, you will certainly be able to figure out a new way of survival and thrive.

Binging Netflix? Here’s How to Stop

We’ve all had a show on Netflix that has sucked us in without knowing it. Maybe you found a show that’s “only 20 minutes long” … 3 hours later you realize the power of the binging vortex. Well if you’re like me, I feel extra lazy after doing something like that and a wee bit of guilt. Not only is it a bad feeling that you’ve wasted time, but it’s likely that you aren’t going to eat well afterwards either, and thus, feel worse. Here’s what you can try to do to avoid binge watching Netflix.

1. Delete Netflix

What?! How could I?! Well I figured I would start out with the most obvious answer that you probably don’t want to hear. Now, let’s move on…

2. Choose Wisely

Try to find a show that has less binge-worthy potential. For example, maybe watch a movie one night or a short Netflix Original rather than something that has 12 seasons and 25 episodes per season. Also, maybe choose something positive and funny or educational rather than something that will add more negativity to your life like learning about a serial killer. You already feel bad about watching a ton of TV, no need to also feel bad about humanity afterwards too. Of course, this is subjective, I personally like watching happier shows.

3. Limit When You Watch

Perhaps choose a day of the week that you will watch your show to leave room for excitement. Just like the good ol’ days, when we didn’t have access to everything all at once. You could set a timer to limit how much you watch too.

Also, an option that always works well for me is to have someone that is watching the show with you. My boyfriend is wonderful at only wanting to watch TV occasionally as he usually finds better things to do. With my out-of-this-world loyalty, I would never watch the next episode of our show without him.

4. Find Something Better to Do

There must be a reason why you’d like to stop binge watching Netflix… otherwise you wouldn’t have read this post. Whatever it is that you wish you would do instead of get sucked into the couch, go ahead and do those things. Easier said than done I know… So maybe you need something that gives you what TV gives you. Relaxation, entertainment, whatever it is… find something else that will give you the satisfaction.

We spend so much time on screens that I think we all know it would be best for us to find hobbies that don’t involve a screen. Some examples are: cooking, exercising, colouring (seriously, pick up an adult colouring book asap), painting, journalling, talking to a friend, talking to your family, playing with your pet if you have one, gardening… the list goes on.

5. Decide When to Binge

Now this sounds easier right?! Make the choice that you are going to binge and commit to a number of shows or hours… All of a sudden you will feel liberated from all of the guilt! The problem is that we usually don’t plan to binge, it just happens. We accidentally let the “Next Episode” countdown go without stopping it. So instead of suffering about the bad choices you are making, just make one huge bad choice and let it happen! Yay!

Conclusion

All jokes aside, there will be times that you fall into a rut where you keep wasting your time binge watching Netflix. If you have any sort of will power, I believe trying a few of the tips above will help you get out of that rut.

However, if you truly cannot stop and you really want to, you might need to go cold turkey and delete it all together. There’s so much more to life than sitting on a couch and watching TV, and it can be hard to see that when that is all we are doing.

Getting Past the Discomfort of Exercise

No matter what fitness level you are, your mind will always try to resist exercising in one way or another. However, it’s much more difficult when you are getting started after a long period of not exercising. The excuses come flowing in, in all sorts of ways.

For me, it’s difficult to get the same feeling after a home workout as I do after a sports game. Whether I’m playing basketball or soccer, I don’t have time to think about how awful the cardio is feeling. When I go for a run, I am ONLY thinking about how awful the cardio is feeling. This is why I need to make exercise more fun and exciting especially during quarantine, rather than dragging myself into something and half-assing it. Here are some things I have come up with that might also help you distract yourself from the discomfort of exercise:

1. Wear your favourite exercise clothes

This might seem unimportant, but it makes a huge difference at least for home workouts. I’ve noticed that when I try to exercise in the morning wearing my pj’s and in bare feet, I just don’t try as hard because it feels like I should still be lounging around. If you have a hard time making the move to find exercise clothes, try taking them out the night before so you don’t even have to think about what you’re going to wear. Go as far as wearing your favourite socks and sports bra… Whatever will make you feel 10/10.

2. Create an awesome playlist

If you tell me that you don’t have any songs that give you an abundance of energy, I absolutely wouldn’t believe you. Take the extra 5-10 minutes to create a playlist for yourself with songs that you know will get you in a good mood. When you hear a good beat or start to sing along, I guarantee your energy will change instantly.

3. Choose your environment wisely

Doing a home workout can be hard when you are used to relaxing or cleaning the area that you are in. That’s why I think it’s worth taking a minute to set up your exercise space as best as you can. If you own an exercise mat, put it down on the floor even if you might not use it. Put away all distractions and give yourself the space to be able to move around freely. Alternatively, exercising outdoors is a great way to get fresh air and some nice scenery to look at.

4. Start simple

Being fit and healthy doesn’t happen over night, but any small steps you take will contribute to your health. Sometimes, I overwhelm myself with everything I should be doing when really I should just focus on something that will get me moving. Some days I will just put music on and dance… by myself… whether I’m cleaning or just feeling down. Other days I will just choose 3 exercises and only do them one time through. Even going for a walk has benefits – although it might be low-intensity, it still helps lift my mood and clear my head.

5. Pay more attention to how you feel afterwards

It’s easy to finish exercising and immediately go and get something to eat, or start doing tasks you want to accomplish for the day, or sit down to watch TV. I often forget how good I feel after exercising because I am focusing so much on what I should be doing for my workouts, or feeling guilty if I haven’t exercised in a while or my workouts haven’t been as hardcore as I thought they should be. I think it’s important to take a moment after you exercise to notice how your thoughts have changed, how good your joints and muscles feel, what food you want to eat (I am usually more likely to eat healthy after exercising), and how proud you feel about what you just accomplished.

All in all, I believe it’s possible to minimize the initial discomfort of exercising by using these strategies. Once you get past this discomfort and become more fit, the discomfort won’t seem so bad.