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Let me preface this article by saying I’m only writing about this anti-procrastination trick because for some reason, I haven’t seen anybody talk about it yet. And yes, I’m fully aware there’re mountains of words about procrastination, by people as wide-ranging as “Wait But Why” to “Marc Andreessen” to even Stanford professors.
It’s strange because as a hardcore productivity guy, I’ve read all the anti-procrastination tricks over many years…and it was only as recent as 1 year ago (time of writing is August 2021) that I finally learned this one trick that has actually worked so well, it’s probably changed my life forever.
The weirdest thing is I read it in a sales book! The place where I’d least expect to find the most effective anti-procrastination trick I’ve ever used.
The key trick is this passage from “Zig Ziglar’s Selling 101: What Every Successful Sales Professional Needs to Know”
If you get nothing else out of this chapter (or maybe this book), please hear me on this key point. One of the most important ways to overcome call reluctance is this: Get on a regular schedule and make an appointment with yourself to contact a prospect at the same time every day!
Why does it work so phenomenally well? Zig Ziglar says the reason is this:
Logic will not change an emotion, but action will! Call reluctance is an emotion, and it will not be overcome consistently by logic. (ctlsites.uga.edu) Get into action, support the action with logic, and sales success is sure to be yours!
In my opinion, it’s because it uses a psychological force to counter the feeling of reluctance — the psychological force of…habit. The trigger is the time. And, at least personally for me, this trick was the key to finally beating procrastination on things I mentally wanted to do, yet for some reason just could not get myself to actually “do it”. In other words…”reluctance”.
How would you actually practice this anti-procrastination trick? Here’s how I did it: I would always “arrive” at the destination about 3-5 minutes before the scheduled time. If it was computer work, I would go to https://time.is/ and literally watch the clock for the next 2-3 minutes until the scheduled time. And then go do the scheduled task.
ProTip: this anti-procrastination trick might work even better if you paired it with affirmations.
Why do a lot of remote workers suffer from procrastination caused by the “reluctance” emotion? Because remote work means you no longer have a daily schedule, making it easy to lose discipline and procrastinate on that thing you know you need to do, but just can’t for some reason.
Examples from my own life? Sure, here are several where it’s worked out well. By the way, every time I’ve used the trick, it’s worked out.
- Software engineering work. Again feeling reluctant because I’d rather build my own company. My solution: at 1:55-57pm every day, stop whatever you’re doing, go to https://time.is/, watch the clock for 2 minutes until it strikes 2pm, then start your software engineering work.
- Cleaning the apartment. Solution: at 11:55pm, go to https://time.is/ , literally watch the clock until it strikes midnight, then get up from the couch to do some cleaning, any cleaning. Start with 5-10 minutes of cleaning for the first week, which gradually turns into 15-30 minutes over time.
- Exercising, working out (specifically, bicep curls). For some reason I was feeling reluctant to do my workout even though I know it’s really important to me to get in shape. My routine: at 5pm every day, stop whatever I’m doing on the computer and walk over to the dumbbells.
Do I still use the procrastination trick today? Actually, no I don’t, but only because I don’t need to anymore. If you read carefully, the main problem was the “reluctance” feeling. Today? I no longer feel reluctant to do the work I need to do! I just do it every day now (which is awesome 😀). But whenever there is a feeling of reluctance, this is really the #1 trick to change the emotion.
Final Thoughts
Let me end this write-up with the full passage from Zig Ziglar spanning a whole page instead of just 1 excerpted paragraph. Do yourself a favor and read the whole thing. It’s gold.
Excerpted from “Zig Ziglar’s Selling 101: What Every Successful Sales Professional Needs to Know”:
THE KEY TO OVERCOMING CALL RELUCTANCE
I have saved the most essential tip in overcoming call reluctance for last. What follows comes as close to being a “sure thing” as most salespeople will ever experience.
Before I began my formal sales career, staying on a specific time schedule had not been a problem. But when I began my full-time sales career, I moved fifty miles from anyone else in the company. My only contact with my manager was the Monday morning sales meeting and an infrequent phone call. In essence, everything was up to me! I really enjoyed my freedom. No set time to go to work, no set time to finish, no direction in between. The only problem with that was—no sales and no money! My major problems were those of organization and discipline.
In those initial years I also suffered from a serious self-image problem and took it quite personally when anyone would refuse to allow me to make my presentation. A personal rejection, which is what I interpreted the prospect’s resistance to be, meant that I would then have to spend time rethinking my situation and alternating between pouting, meditating, having a “pity party,” and planning what to do next. Put all these misperceptions together and you get a terrible combination of procrastination and call reluctance.
How I wish someone had explained to me that when people refused to let me make my presentation or turned down my marvelous offer, they were not rejecting me. In their minds it was a simple business refusal. The prospects either had no interest in my offer or did not possess the financial resources to make the purchase. They would have said no to anyone.
At that time I also needed someone to explain the importance of a schedule. After I had been in the world of professional selling for two and a half years, Mr. P. C. Merrell entered my life. Mr. Merrell had developed our sales training programs and had set many of the sales records. He was a marvelous role model. In a nutshell, Mr. Merrell convinced me that I really did have ability and worth. He persuaded me that I could, in fact, be the national champion. He also persuaded me that to realize my potential and stabilize my production, I needed to believe in myself and get on an organized program followed in a disciplined manner.
He specifically suggested that regardless of what time I finished my work in the evening, I should make an appointment with myself to call on my first prospect at precisely the same time the next day. He emphasized that it really did not make that much difference (within reasonable limitations) what that time was, but I should follow through on that commitment, despite any other little “obstacles” or “interruptions” that came my way. I recognize that this sounds very simple, but that’s exactly what success in life and success in selling is all about—doing the little things that make the big difference. For salespeople who are away from the direct supervision of management, failing to go to work at a regular time on a regular basis is one of the biggest reasons for failure. Organization, discipline, and commitment make for consistent high- volume production.
If you get nothing else out of this chapter (or maybe this book), please hear me on this key point. One of the most important ways to overcome call reluctance is this: Get on a regular schedule and make an appointment with yourself to contact a prospect at the same time every day!
Make the appointment with yourself, and when the time comes head for that telephone or that prospect. When I made that adjustment, the sales results were dramatic! There is a simple yet profound psychological reason: Logic will not change an emotion, but action will! Call reluctance is an emotion, and it will not be overcome consistently by logic. Get into action, support the action with logic, and sales success is sure to be yours!