3 Causes of Procrastination and How to Stop Them

So, I get asked all the time. How do I do all the things that I do? I wish I had a magic solution or answer for you. But it is true. I am all over the place doing a lot of different things. But some kind of way I’ve always managed.

I have three businesses- my anesthesia services is the main one that I do. My 7:00 to 3:00 Monday through Friday, usually unless I just want to take off and that is Priority First Anesthesia.

And that is because I am a 1099 independent contractor, so that is something to look forward to when you become a CRNA. That’s a huge one because you will be a small business owner and can do things like tax write-offs. It’s really cool and you’ll make a lot more money so.

• Read: 8 Great Benefits of Being an Independent Contractor CRNA

And then I have The CRNA Chase where I get to help you guys become CRNAs which I absolutely love doing it. And then the new partnership that I just started up with my friend Andi. She is also a CRNA and lives in Kansas now. Although she used to live here in South Carolina.

And our company is HealthShield Credentialing, and it is a company where you can upload all your secure documents if you are a travel healthcare provider, like a travel nurse or CRNA, store all your information in one place, download it, retrieve it, or even e-mail it wherever you want it to go.

I don’t have the magic answer, but what I will tell you is that what works for me is that I go back to my why. And my why is and I know you hear this all the time, but my why is pretty simple to me. It comes from my crappy childhood. And so, when I was like 11 or 12 years old, I had this huge imagination of what I wanted my life to be like when I became an adult.

So, I had all these different visions and thoughts in my head, and I would constantly say so I’m not going to do this, or I’m not going to do that.

When I became a grownup, that is what I have done and that is what pushes me to do everything that I’m doing, especially with my businesses and then my kids being in different sports including Division 1 and 3 collegiate volleyball.

I encourage you maybe to just go back to your why and think about why you’re doing the things that you’re doing.

Negative effects of procrastination

I do know that if you don’t get a hold of your procrastination and figure it out, it can lead to high levels of frustration, depression, and guilt, and you just give up on your big dreams or big goals. You get nothing done and so that is not what I want for you.

What I want for you is to have peace, motivation, and momentum to go into any situation and just knock it out and kill it, right?

And so, procrastination is not the true problem. And I talked about this in the Facebook group Monday in a post, that procrastination is not really the true problem. It is only a symptom of another problem.

3 things causing you to procrastinate

And so, I want to leave you with three things it could be a symptom of:

1. It could be a symptom of fear or just being afraid of failing, and I’ve had that happen before. I mean honestly, that’s kind of how I felt with CRNA school, but I felt called to do it. Then I was like I’m just going to do it scared.
2. You have anxiety about doing something that is uncomfortable, so you’re stuck in the same routine every day. And that’s the thing. If you want to be a CRNA you have to get out of your comfort zone every day. So, I need you guys to get comfortable being uncomfortable starting right now. If you want to be a future CRNA, you have to be uncomfortable and be okay with that.
3. You often feel overwhelmed with your thoughts, tasks, or studying. You’re just all over the place and those thoughts are just kind of consuming you and you’re stuck.

Again, everything leads to you not getting nothing done or not even starting.

What to do instead 

So to recap. You’re procrastinating and then you don’t get nothing done and it just leads to more frustration and guilt. You just end up giving up altogether and what we want you to do is to have motivation and momentum, so we need to turn that around.

So again, instead of living in fear that you’re going to fail, how about just get started? And that may require you to do it scared.

Actually, that was my motto when I started CRNA school. I put all these quotes on my notebooks, and my binders. And one was- Feel the fear and do it anyway.

And that’s what I did every day for like three years. I was fearful, but I went ahead and did it anyway. And then it got better for me.

So the other thing, if you have a lot of anxiety about something or about doing things, being uncomfortable, then speak with somebody about that. Like, don’t just live in that. Actually, seek help.

I know for me I had performance anxiety. I’m not advocating people take medications or drugs or anything, but I actually took a beta blocker before clinical, and it was just as needed, and it lowered my heart rate and I felt like it gave me enough time to think because they love to ask you like 1000 questions every day. It gave me time to think.

I’m not advocating that you take medications. But I am advocating for you to see your primary care doctor and then y’all figure out a plan.

Also, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, you don’t have to be overwhelmed. If you’re overwhelmed with the thought of being a CRNA and you’re in this group, then you’re doing it all wrong because that’s the whole point of this group so you don’t have to walk alone and do this by yourself as I did.

It took me like 11 years, 11-12 years for me to get from being a Surgical Tech to actually starting in a CRNA program and I did it. All by myself. The problem I had was I didn’t have a mentor or guide.

Bottom line

You don’t want to live in any of those three places. I just want to remind you to stay the course and become a CRNA right and that you have help. You have guidance. You have us here in this group.

There are CRNAs in the group and some SRNAs, some of who are getting ready to start in a few weeks. I want you to know that you got support.

I would love you to join my one-on-one mentorship program, I have a case study going on this month, so it would be perfect timing. Leave a comment or message me at http://m.me/kikimattress for more details.

So again, do not live in these three points because there is help out there. I hope this was helpful and valuable to you.

And then you take it and run with it and actually get some things done that will lead you one step closer to CRNA School Acceptance.

If you’d like a copy of the Future CRNA Planner, then just send me a message at m.me/kikimattress and put “Future CRNA Planner”, and I’ll get that to you.

P.S. When you’re ready… here are 3 ways I can help you get into a CRNA program: 

1. Grab a FREE copy of the new Ultimate Guide to CRNA School Acceptance. Discover the 5 things you need to stand out from the crowd & increase your chances of getting accepted to CRNA school by 75%. — Click Here
2. Join The Future CRNA Inner Circle and connect with other like-minded ICU nurses. Live monthly online meetings to support you in your journey to becoming a CRNA.1:1 access to a CRNA mentor to keep you steadily moving forward. Learn from exclusive guest speakers who share their wisdom and insider knowledge about becoming a CRNA. — Click Here
3. Hop on a FREE gameplan call to get you where you need to be. Get on a game plan call if you’re ready to implement some tried and proven strategies for CRNA school acceptance. — Click Here