How to kill procrastination

How to kill procrastination! Starting this year I had to admit to myself I am the reason deadlines have gone unmet. That was not an encouraging way to start the year. I had hoped to finish writing book 2 last year but alas I did not! Living in Kenya, I have picked up one or two of their interesting habits and/or traits. On this occasion at the start of the year I decided to tackle my tendency to procrastinate by calling myself to a ‘small meeting‘. I have not yet determined whether a small meeting refers to the number of people attending the meeting or to the length of time of the meeting. Or it is the reflection of the status of the people attending the meeting or the nature of the thing to be discussed? But I use the phrase just as confidently.

Goals setting vs strategy

So I had the meeting with myself and the agenda was set, how to kill my tendency to procrastinate. I decided to adopt a strategy as will power alone is failing miserably. Towards the end of last year I joined the Ladies Breakfast club and the book I chose to read is Good Strategy Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt. I had not heard of the book before joining this reading club. We have read up to and including Chapter 6. This book has helped me see clearly the difference between goal setting and having an action plan. I have also learnt that having no strategy is the same as having a bad strategy. I also learnt that a strategy does not have to be cast in stone. It can change from time to time.

So I concluded from my small meeting that setting goals was not the end of the exercise but a good starting point. Since I work from home I now had to establish working hours that I will adhere to from next week. I will be my own supervisor and make a note of when I clock in and when I clock out. So I have decided to start work at 9:00 AM every week day and finish at 4 PM. I have a break at 1 PM that lasts an hour. The goal is to write two books concurrently. My plan is to finish book 1 in 5 weeks. By writing 3000 words per week the deadline is 14th February 2026, Valentine’s day. For book 2 the plan is to write 2000 words per week and finish in 10 weeks, the deadline is 21st March 2026. Wish me luck!