Hi everyone! Welcome to another episode of Reviving Vet Med.
Today's episode is on the fun topic of procrastination, and as many of my episodes are due to inspiration from a particular holiday or a day of commemoration September 6th is Fighting Procrastination Day, so this led me to think about when and why I procrastinate.
I think this is something that we can agree that we all do, and certainly it seems to rear its ugly head when I'm low on energy. Maybe I'm dehydrated, I'm low on food, fuel, haven't gotten any movement in that day, haven't been out in nature. So that can often lend me to feel if I'm tackling something big that I just don't have the energy to do so, and it can also come up for me when I'm really struggling with perfectionism. So, in other words, when I want something to be done perfectly, I often put it off until I'm perfectly prepared or it's the perfect time to do it, which, let's be honest, doesn't exist. So, I often think about Bernie Brown when I think about perfectionism and procrastination and Bernie Brown talks about perfectionism being a shield for us in preventing us from feeling shame.
So, shame would be this idea that we are a bad veterinarian or a bad person and a big red flag for me in terms of whether my perfectionism is a result of shame is if I'm thinking, what will people think? You know, what will people think if this medical record isn't written?
Perfectly, or what will people think if I make a mistake with this case, or I miss a diagnosis?
Or even what will people think if I'm going to record a podcast episode about this topic and I don't have all the information or I don't quote all the statistics perfectly?
So, the concern being they'll think I'm bad at what I do or I'm a bad person somehow and inherently that is shame. And so all that to say, if you are someone who experiences procrastination on a routine basis, and you also know that you have this tendency towards perfectionism.
Could perfectionism be something worth looking at with a mental health professional or other trusted coach or support system? Though with that said, I'm excited to share with you a little bit more about procrastination and how we can prevent it. So, let's go ahead and get Into the episode.
This is the Reviving Vet Med podcast, and I'm your host, Doctor Marie Holloway Chuck and my mission is to improve the mental health and well-being of veterinary professionals around the world.
All right, So what Does procrastination look like? Well, I'm sure I don't have to tell you because you have no doubt experienced this, but this could be filling your day with really low priority tasks, so you've got a big thing that you know you need to be doing, but instead you're tidying up the kitchen or your cutting up the treatment room or, you know, tackling your emails when you know that you've got a really big item to do.
It could also be leaving items on your To Do List for a long time, even when they're important, so I don't know about you, but I write a get To Do List every week and it's broken up between personal things and work-related things, and I notice if I'm carrying something over from week to week to week to week. Either it's low priority or I'm just not getting to it.
Or if it's a high priority, I need to ask myself why I'm procrastinating on it. Also, procrastination can look like going over a task repeatedly without moving on, so this is a big thing for many of us with our medical records, we go over it and over it and over it rather than finalizing it and moving on to the next record of the next case. Procrastination can also be starting an important task and then immediately going off to do something. And let me tell you that work counts as this something else, so you might fool yourself into thinking when being productive, you know, I started this and at least it started. But now I'm gonna go check my e-mail and I'm going to keep, you know, keep the emails going and doing e-mail. Distracting yourself with e-mail is a way of procrastinating.
So you might feel like you're still getting stuff done, but you're not getting done what needs to be done and then another form of procrastination is to do things that you know that other people could be doing for you instead of getting to the things that only you can do. So again, this could be tidying up, you know, and in your house or at work or just, yeah, just.
I mean, I can think of so many different things that an individual could be doing when they know that they could have someone else doing it. So a big, big red flag for procrastination. So, what do we do then? If we are struggling with procrastination, what are some strategies for preventing it? Well, I have 7 strategies that I can share with you today, and I'm excited to dive in. And the first strategy is to do whatever it is that needs to be done. At the beginning of your day or your shift. So, think about what you need to get done, even starting the night before or during your commute to and then say to yourself, I'm going to do this before I do anything else, so this might be a big project. It might be a tough conversation. It might be something that you just whatever it is that you been putting it off, have everything ready that you need for it. So have the phone number of the person you need to call, have the patience.
File open if you need to do some documentation or call a client, something that will prompt you getting it done and have it all ready and know that starting tomorrow I'm going to do this first thing and I'm going to be able to check It off my list.
Strategy #2 is to protect yourself from interruptions and distractions. So I'm a big advocate. While it might appear rude to others to put your earbuds in, you know, even if they're not playing music or anything, just indicating to people that you are tuning out so that you can work on something closing your office door putting away your phone. Closing any distractions on your computer like social media, emails. If you are working in your computer so that you can get exactly what you need to get done and you're not going to be tempted to, oh, this notification went off and let's just check this quick. So again, whether the interruptions are physical or familial, whatever it might be, or whether they're you are distracting yourself, you want to try and limit those as much as you possibly can.
Then strategy #3 is to commit to doing the task for just 15 minutes. Anybody can do anything for 15 minutes and you would be surprised if you tackle a big task in 50-minute chunks every single day. It will be surprisingly fast for you to complete that task, so you know I think about. This if you know, let's say an individual has a whole bunch of old photographs they want to go through or some filing that they need to do to just set an alarm for 15 minutes. I'm just going to do for 15 minutes whatever I get done, I get done and then I'm moving on to something else. That's a really great way to be able to tackle a big task that feels overwhelming in smaller chunks regularly.
And speaking of smaller chunks, strategy #4 is to break the task down into smaller steps. So sometimes tasks just feel super overwhelming, and we don't know where to start, so breaking it down into manageable parts and focusing on one part at a time can be a super helpful way to get started. So, I think about this routinely when I'm thinking. About a big writing project, so right now I'm working on a book and breaking it down, certainly into chapters, but even before then breaking it down into chapter outlines, I also think about this in the context of writing manuscripts that I would submit to a journal, and I submitted a couple of manuscripts this summer.
And literally just put on my To Do List, you know, compile research for the article or write the introduction or compile the references or write the abstract, you know, making it into smaller steps that it's like, yeah, I could do that in an hour or two and then it doesn't feel like, oh, I'm writing the whole manuscript tomorrow. You know which can just feel very overwhelming and it makes sense that we don't start because we don't even know where to start. So that's another helpful tool.
Strategy #5 is to promise yourself a reward. So, this is where you tell yourself ahead of time that when you get the task done, you will be rewarded with something enjoyable. So, I of course prefer something enjoyable to also be something healthy. But you know, it could be calling a friend going outside. For a walk, treat yourself to a favorite beverage. And if this is like a huge undertaking. Then maybe you think of a bigger treat for yourself. I know very often for me, if I submit a manuscript or if I complete a presentation or do something big, I keep kind of an ongoing list of rewards that I'm or you know, things that I would like to reward myself with. And so, I might try, you know, a new dessert.
At A at a new cafe that I haven't been to, or if I was thinking of purchasing a new yoga mat, you know, maybe that's what I would do. Again, I really try to make it. Somewhat healthy and you know at the end of the day, if you're anything like me checking the task off your list.
Is enough of a reward so that can be something that you do as well. Now strategy number six is to change your environment. So, this is something really important to consider. It might be that you need a quiet place to sit and focus, or maybe you need a change of scenery. You want to move to a public place where there's lots of movement and noise, and that somehow that's going to be your inspiration.
And whatever you do, if you do change your environment or have a change of scenery commit to completing your task before you leave that space. So I know some people that will go to this coffee shop and then they'll go back home and then and it's sort of like the movement just prevents them from getting anything done. That's not what I'm suggesting. To me, that's just another distraction. But if you want to say to yourself, you know what I'm going to go sit in the library and finish this until it's done. Power to you. I think that that's a great option.
And then finally, strategy #7 is to create a playlist or to treat yourself in some other way. So Gretchen Rubin, one of my favorite authors, talks a lot about treats and how they help give us energy so that we can get through something difficult. So, I mean, this can be as simple as you light a fragrant.
Handle you blast your favorite songs, you play your favorite movie in the background again, as long as it isn't distracting, it might be just what you need to get the job done. So when I used to do a lot more writing when I was working on my Co editing my textbook a few years ago, I would very often play music, but it was very specific music. It was musical, like Phantom of the opera, Les Mis, Miss Saigon, chess, all the classics.
From most of which are from Andrew Lloyd Webber, but I would play those and they just really helped to get me in the mood and keep me focused. It was a treat and a bit of a prom.
For me to get that done, whereas if I'm, you know, sorting through tax paperwork or getting my expenses together for my accountant, I will often play one of my favorite movies that I've seen 100 times over so I can pick up and I'm not going to miss anything because I've already seen it. But it's an enjoyable comfort in the background.
That might be something that you do as well. So that's it for this episode of Reviving Vet Med. I hope that you found this information helpful. In summary, the seven strategies for preventing procrastination are to do it at the beginning of your day, or your shift to protect yourself from interruptions and distractions to commit to doing it for just 15 minutes.
To breakdown a big task into smaller steps to promise yourself a reward at the end to change your environment or to create a playlist or treat yourself in some other way.
I'm curious as to which tip that you found most helpful and are eager to try. You can find me on Facebook or LinkedIn where I've shared this episode and please feel welcome to post it in the comments section. I would love to know what you're doing.
Otherwise, if you have an idea for a future podcast topic, please e-mail me at info@marieholowaychuk.com. I would really appreciate it if you would subscribe to Reviving Vet Med or leave a rating and review or share this podcast episode with someone else who you think would benefit.
Before I go, I would like to thank my assistant Jamie for producing this episode and you for listening through to the end until next time. Take care. Bye.