HOW TO OVERCOME PROCRASTINATION
I’ve Procrastinated on This Project for (At Least) 623 Days — Here’s What I Learned
3 Lessons To Start Taking Action
Today’s story is a little embarrassing.
Because yes, I’ve procrastinated for (at least) 623 freakin’ days to start my podcast.
Here are the lessons I’ve learned to help you procrastinate less, eradicate fear, and finally start creating.
Why I Wanted to Start a Podcast
Even though I’ve been creating content for a decade in my native language — I was looking for a new challenge.
I had the feeling that I’ve explored more or less everything interesting that needed to be explored and wanted to start something new.
But this time, in English.
This idea germinated for almost a year — until I finally started to take action.
May 20th, 2020: I purchased my domain in the middle of the pandemic.
I had in the back of my mind that podcasting was one of the best ways to get in touch with other content creators, PLUS it would help me build a stronger relationship with my audience.
To show you how awesome I was at procrastinating, look at this:
I’ve -in fact- had my first guest already by June 12th, 2020.
I’d done the hardest part: convinced a stranger who was an authority in his niche to come talking on a brand-new podcast.
The best part that on an interview I was only to ask questions… and didn’t need to talk but yet… I was not ready.
Lesson 1: Manage Your Insecurities
At first, I was insecure about starting a podcast in English — which is not my native language.
I thought that I was going to be ridiculous and not legit.
I was afraid of hesitating and searching for my words.
All these imperfections would not stronger my relationship as intended — but weaken it.
So the safest bet was to procrastinate by telling myself that I just needed a little bit more time to become better.
I started writing daily emails. (So, at least I was taking some action.)
I persuaded myself that it would be easier for me to talk in front of a mic by creating more content in English, but here’s what I forgot:
I started a podcast in my native language almost eight years ago.
And do you know what?
The fact that I was fluent didn’t make the process pretty easier.
Because I was still mumbling, I was still searching for my words, and I was still making mistakes!
The only way I got better? By practicing.
I became better, episode after episode.
Embrace the fact that you need to practice to become better.
If you start with your insecurities or by talking yourself out of them and procrastinating, you’re doing nothing.
And by doing nothing, you’re not practicing in any way.
Lesson 2: Identify the 80/20
The second lesson that I’ve learned is that we often procrastinate on irrelevant stuff: A name, a logo, or a color palette.
Sure, it’s nice to look perfect — but is this the most relevant thing?
Absolutely not.
I’ve started creating my first episode 4 months ago… and I didn’t publish it!
Why?
Because I was waiting for the right moment.
I procrastinated on futilities.
I was waiting because I was unsure about my podcast name and artwork.
Lesson learned: Start with something as long as it seems to be good enough.
Lesson 3: Perfectionism is an illusion
I didn’t want to start because I wanted to be perfect.
I wanted to get my positioning right.
I wanted my messaging right.
I wanted to get everything right.
Why?
Because it seems so important.
And it definitely is.
But what most people don’t say is that most of this happens through iteration.
What does that mean?
It means that the more you’re doing something, the more feedback you will get. This feedback allows you to adjust.
But here’s the thing: You can’t adjust by doing nothing.
You can only adjust if you start doing something.
These are the 3 lessons I wanted to share with you.
And yeah, what about my podcast?
It’s called Build Your Thing — A Podcast For Content Creators.
And it’s… LIVE (not only in my head but also on all major podcast platforms :)
You can tune by clicking the image below 👇 (safe link to my website):
If you appreciate this post, here are 3 things you can do to support my work:
1- Give this story CLAP 👏
2- SUBSCRIBE to my upcoming stories.
3- TUNE IN and check out the podcast: https://buildyourthing.co
