"Break it down into steps!"
Oh boy, how insightful.
"Give yourself a reward for unpleasant tasks!" Blech! Also: totally won’t work.
"Stop worrying and just do it!"
You know what? Bite me.
Even if it weren‘t inane and useless, this kind of advice is still … kind of obnoxious.
Probably the most annoying part is the way that it assumes you’re a complete idiot.
See, if you just knew that not checking your email saves time (thanks,Tim Ferris), you’d change your habits, right? Since you’re still checking email a thousand times a day, clearly you’re the moron. What?
Or if you just had some discipline you’d write the damn book already. Or make that stupid phone call already. Or do the thing already. Or if you just knew the principles (thanks, Stephen Covey), you’d be doing everything right by now. Since you’re not, you’re a pathetic loser, apparently.
As if your own smart-ass self-recrimination system weren’t loud enough.
It’s also not a self-satisfied lecture on the importance of being disciplined. Or a bunch of rah-rah "you can do it" motivational fluff. Or a series of wacky mystical rituals. Okay, maybe one or two wacky mystical rituals. But the rest is very practical, very down to earth and — much more to the point — it actually works.
If you’re one of those bright (insert your self-deprecation here), frustrated creative people that I like to hang out with, you want something that actually works and that stops your self-doubt from getting in the way of the stuff you need and want to do.
Because no one deals with how to make yourself sit down and do the thing. They don’t tell you what to do about the scary, the anxiety, the distractions and all the what-ifs.
Or how to deal with the fact that sometimes you really, really don’t want to do the thing.
And really, why would you? I mean, it’s scary and overwhelming — and sometimes even thinking about doing it triggers hard-core emotional paralysis
So of course you default into panic mode or tantrum mode or distraction-avoidance-repression-mode.
It’s natural and it’s normal, and luckily, there is a better way to do things. Not discipline. Not common sense. No “Seven Steps” or “Eight Keys”. But a way of learning how to neutralize the chaos in any given moment so you can dissolve the procrastination patterns. My clients do it. I do it too.
(Beat procrastination without beating yourself up)From chaos to calm. From panic to results. From overwhelming to in control. From "It will never happen!" to "My favorite poet is John Donne! I’m done! Done! Done!"
Yes, it can make you a little goofy, but what the hell. That’s what happens when you have the right tools. In a format you can learn from. With a good teacher.
Since you probably aren’t going to make it to one of my seminars (hello, you’re a procrastinator), here’s the ebook/audio/training packet/kit thing that makes it all better.
You get wildly useful exercises and tricks to help you dissolve the stuck and do the thing.
Obviously you don’t want to learn from someone who doesn’t get it. Like some self-satisfied business guru who does everything right. Or some perky, hyper-enthusiastic "let’s get going" mile-a-minute motivational former-camp-counselor-from-hell. Nooooo!
On the other hand, there’s also no point in learning from someone who has your problem and hasn’t turned it around. I’ve turned it around. I’ve done the work and I’m doing the work.
So if you don’t know me yet, don’t give me any money (at least – not yet!). Because I’d kind of rather you spent some time hanging out on my blog first. But I’ll say hi. Hi!
My name is Havi and the destuckifier duck is Selma. And I seriously believe that there’s no point in dissolving procrastination unless we can do it in a compassionate, intelligent and conscious way.
No bulldozing through it, no dragging you out of your comfort zone and none of that annoying "you have to face your fears" stuff. Because that’s stupid. And because you really don’t.
 Smart, creative people with tremendous gifts to share with the world are often the MOST likely to get stuck in what Havi calls “debilitating inner criticism” and “depressing self-sabotage”. For this reason, I am so glad that she is sharing her no-fluff, inspiring, useful and revolutionary tactics for breaking out of a state of stuck. I can’t wait to share them with my blog readers, and to use them frequently myself! Pamela Slim |
Because sometimes you are going to be so deep in the godawful distress of it all that you’re just not going to have time or inclination to thumb through a book or learn a system. Happens to the best of us.
This is for when you need the quick fix and you need it right this second.
Magical Procrastination-Dissolving Fairy Wonder Dust.
One quick, do-able, completely genius technique.
How to do it. When to do it. This is your go-to whenever things gets rough.
All the stuff my coaching clients beg me to write down. The fun stuff we do in workshops and seminars. The most genius exercises and techniques.
Plus a ton of seriously useful information about how your habits and patterns work, as well as what to do about them and why.
I’m probably not supposed to say this, since I wrote it, but this book is the bomb. A big, crazy dose of helpful. I wish someone had given me this ten years ago.
Bonus mp3 recordings of me doing the emergency genius technique with real, live people who are in the throes of stuckness. This is a great way to experience how it’s done in a powerful, visceral, body-memory kind of way so you can get even better at doing it on your own.
It’s also a great way to not pay for expensive coaching. And you get to solve your own stuff vicariously through other people’s stuff. Fun! Also: Genius.
These audio clips are designed intentionally to be short enough that you can listen to them even when you’re in "Ohmygod, I have no time, deadline deadline deadline!" mode. This is so ridiculously helpful that it might become your favorite part of the package.
(sorry, the VIP version is no longer available) Grab the VIP version and enjoy a 60 minute private training with me where I will walk you through your own personalized Dissolve-o-Matic session. We’ll record it too (just for you — no one else will ever listen to it). That way you can work with it on your own as often as you like. Plus I’ll send you a written summary with notes to work on from our session together. This bonus is limited to ten people.
 Frankly, I will buy anything Havi Brooks sells, ever. She could write a guide to training ferrets and I’d eat it up, and feel bad because she’s not charging more. In fact, I may send her money right now just because. This will calm you and inspire you and excite you and zen you out and it will make you want to move into her guest room just to hang out with her. Seriously, you can’t afford not to buy this. Naomi Dunford |
 This little package is the perfect antidote to those mini-meltdowns we sensitive writer-type-people like to have from time to time. Not only do I now have a full arsenal of techniques to use whenever I need them — aaah! — but I also now understand why they work because Havi explains everything so well. Havi’s warmth, quirky sense of humor, and bulletproof B.S. detector make this process nothing at all like that horrible yoga class I took that one time. I’m almost looking forward to my next freakout moment. Kelly Parkinson |
I know how miserable it is to get something that isn’t right for you. Plus the whole "working on your issues" thing can be pretty intimidating. It’s important to my inner tree-hugger-from-Portland that you have the most anxiety-free experience possible working on your stuff.
So: if you give the material your best effort and aren’t satisfied that you now have way better tools and skills for dissolving procrastination than before you started, I will buy it back from you and I will ask you to gift the downloads to someone who could really use them. That way you get to be a connector and a giver of goodness, and someone else gets the best surprise ever.
I want this product to be in the hands of people who love it. If it’s not right for you, no worries.
Think about what an hour of time is worth.
Not just your hourly rate. I mean, a really good hour when you’re totally in the zone and doing your best stuff. And how many hours get lost to that familiar vicious cycle of avoidance and pain. Stupid cycle.You know how it goes. Not doing the thing. Getting mad at yourself for not doing the thing. Getting mad at yourself for getting mad at yourself for not doing the thing. Ugh.
All that not to trigger your stuff (god forbid) but just to reassure you that you’ll absolutely make back what you spend on this package in hardly any time at all.
Like this. I used one of my own techniques myself the other day, after catching myself avoiding making a phone call. Doing the technique took five minutes. The call, which I totally could (and would) have put off for weeks, ended up bringing my business a heck of a lot more money than this package costs.
The point is, when you know what to do and how to do it, you save yourself not only all the pain, angst, self-loathing and merciless beating-on-yourself, but also a pretty serious amount of time and money.
| Two options. Both good. |
The Dissolve-o-Matic Kit |
VIP: the Dissolve-o-Matic AND a 60 minute session with my duck. |
| $108 | sorry, no longer available |
Note: These are all digital downloads. If/when I make hard copies of these, there will be a free upgrade option. You’ll be the first to know and I’ll make sure you can upgrade at no extra cost (shipping aside).
Again, if you don’t love it, I’ll buy it back.
P. S. I hate writing postscripts. It’s ridiculous. And anyway, I really don’t know what else to tell you. It works. Plus I’m going to help in any way I can. And if it’s not the thing for you, it’s cool if you return it.
Also, I feel moved to add that no ducks have been harmed in any way in the creation or use of the Dissolve-o-Matic. Just saying.
Questions? I’m on email sabbatical but you can always get in touch with my assistant. She’s even nicer than I am (by a lot!) and will get back to you sooner too.