How I Overcame Procrastination
In April 2020, I began working on CWNE, one of the most sought-after IT certifications in the industry. It was a prestigious expert-level cert that only a handful of people had in my region, and having one would be a massive boost to my business.
A part of the requirements was to write three 1,000-word essays to show my expertise in the field. I started writing in mid-April and I set a deadline to submit by June at the latest.
It turned out that I completed all 3 essays on the 24th of July; not too bad, right? Wrong! I submitted them in July 2021 — over a year late.
I personally don’t find writing difficult; in fact, I had been writing blogs regularly. So writing these essays should take me maybe a week or two to complete. But I had many ideas on what to write but kept changing my mind, so I never really got started.
As time passed, I continued to drag my feet to the point that I felt upset with myself. I knew I needed this cert, and I had to do something different.
So on July 13th, 2021, I publicly announced on my Facebook and Twitter that I would submit my essays by the end of the month, and asked everyone to hold me accountable. Ten days later, all essays were done and dusted. I received my certification in Sep 2021 and my business has been better since.
So I wasted a year for nothing.
In hindsight, I think having a specific deadline and writing without overthinking is helpful, but to me, the real turning point was when I asked for public accountability.
So in summary, to beat procrastination:
- Set a deadline
- Don’t be a perfectionist, just do it
- Ask for public accountability
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