One of the most common topics I find when working with entrepreneurs is this concept of procrastination. Not that entrepreneurs are lazy. In fact, most entrepreneurs are quite active. However, what I’ve noticed is that there is a gross sense of procrastination in some of the absolutely necessary aspects of business; the ones that actually grow businesses, but no one pays you to do. The prospecting, the networking, the blogging, the investment of time to make processes better, the strategic thinking, the goal setting. It’s in these things, that many entrepreneurs knowingly admit “Yeah, that’s important. Yep. I know it needs to get done. Uh huh. It’s on my schedule. No. I didn’t get to it last week. I’ll try this week.” And then… it never gets done.

But why!?

It’s usually because other things in the business become more important because there’s a client emergency, an email that pops up, a family thing to go to, or any number of other very important things come up. But, that’s just it. There’s always going to be things that come up. That’s life!

Follow these steps to overcome that procrastination with emotional intelligence:

Stay aware of your emotions (use the RULE Technique)

The first part of leveraging your emotional intelligence is to stay aware of your emotions. Might seem like a “no brainer,” but it’s hard to get to the rest of the steps without acknowledging that you need to be very aware of your emotions. Having emotions, emotional triggers, or emotional tendencies aren’t a bad thing. You just have to know what to do with them. That’s step 1. I’ve used the RULE Technique to literally rule emotions. Here it is:

Recognize – Recognize your physical, mental, or emotional responses to the procrastinated activity. It could sound something like, “I have to get to those prospect calls. But, I really want to get more work done.” Thinking or saying a thought like this activates certain parts of your brain and literally brings awareness to the pull of your mind.

Understand – Understand the reality of the situation. Maybe it goes like this, “There is ALWAYS more work to get done. That’s a good thing. I can make time for that later today or tomorrow.” This thought tells your mind that it’s not crazy, but it reiterates the priority of your procrastinated task. There’s a lot of power in the subconscious.

Label – Labeling the feeling is a way for your brain to (correctly) put it in a box. Something like, “I think I’m avoiding this task.” Simple. Accurate. And labeled. This allows your mind to “let it go” and move on.

Express – Expressing your emotions, actions, and activities, helps you move on and battle the procrastination. This could be a phone call to a friend that says, “Hey! I’m struggling to make these sales calls. I know I have to do it, but I just don’t feel like it.” When you verbalize it, and include a trusted accountability partner (one who won’t tell you that you don’t need to do the procrastinated task) you have almost completed RULEing your emotions.

Find yourself dealing with complicated emotions often? Maybe you have a lot of heavy emotions all the time. It’s possible you aren’t regulated. It’s a classic sign. Regulation is key to emotional intelligence. Regulation of time, emotions, motivators, outside influencers, etc. Think about all the things you can regulate. That’s where you need to focus your energy.

A New York Times article calls procrastination the misregulation of emotions. That means it’s up to you to regulate the things you can control. Take hold of your emotions. Stop procrastinating!