Is ‘As Soon As’ holding you back?

6 things to do about it

Saying ‘As Soon As’ is something we all do ALL.THE.TIME. When you’re building your online business ‘As Soon As’ can cause your project to stall before it gathers any momentum.

(PS. To be totally honest, it’s an idea I got from an episode of Sex in the City. Carrie moves to Paris with the Russian, meets his ex for lunch… anyway…)

Do you find yourself saying…

• As soon as I have time, I’ll start promoting my services online.
• As soon as I finish my website, I’ll start building my mailing list.
• As soon as I get a hair cut, I’ll start doing Facebook Live (that’s my one).
• As soon as I check Facebook, I’ll make that follow up call.

What to do about it

Be aware

Get better at realising when you’re saying this to yourself. If you work alone, you’re probably not saying “As soon as…” out loud. So try to acknowledge when you’re putting a pin in important tasks. Figure out why you’re stalling and consider how you can get it done instead of letting it hold you back.

If it’s something you really don’t want to do…

Eat the frog

This is one of my favourite productivity concepts. It comes from a Mark Twain quote.

“If it’s your job to eat the frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. If it’s your job to eat 2 frogs, eat the biggest one first.”

— Mark Twain

If there’s something you are dreading, just get it done as your first job of the day and get it out of the way. I eat the frog every time I need to do my admin work. Bleurgh!

If the task seems massive and scary…

Break it down into smaller tasks

It seems like an obvious thing to suggest but it can take a bit of practice. There are many ways you can chop a project up to make it more manageable, but I use the ‘email method.’ Pretend that you’re outsourcing this job to an assistant. Write an email explaining what needs to be done and by when. What needs to be done first and what other information is needed (login details, contact information, etc.) Be thorough. This helps you get clarity and prioritise certain elements based on real deadlines.

The other advantage of this is that if you DO decide to outsource it, you’ve got the project brief ready already.

If you think you can’t afford to do it…

Start simple

What is the minimum version of this task? If you need a website, maybe you can start with 1 page and build from there?

If you don’t feel ready…

Go easy on yourself

In the words of the late Carrie Fisher…

“Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and the confidence will follow”.

— Carrie Fisher

You don’t know where to start…

Just start

Don’t worry if the starting point is rough. You can’t improve on something that doesn’t exist. You can’t learn from your mistakes if you’re too scared to make any.

If you’re not embarrassed by the first draft, you waited too long to publish.

So what is holding you back? What are you putting off and why?