When you’re choosing what to invest our time, money, and energy into, one of the things you evaluate—consciously or not—is how much effort and sacrifice it requires of you.

If you perceive that something takes more effort and sacrifice than it gives you in reward, you don’t do it.

In the context of your half-finished projects, this sounds like: “Even if I show up to work on my projects, it won’t matter anyway.”

You might not think this consciously, but it’s likely somewhere in your mind when you’re not taking action on your projects.

Another place that this belief system shows up is deciding whether to enroll in my program, Half-Finished to Done, LIVE.

If you have been believing that the program will take more out of you than it gives back, it makes sense that you haven’t enrolled yet.

So, I want to make it clear what you’ll give vs what you’ll get back.

Here’s what I’ll ask you to give:

• One full day for the kickoff event
• One hour per week for 8 weeks of live coaching calls
• Two hours per week to review the concepts and actively apply them, digging into supplementary materials as needed
• Trust, vulnerability, and openness
• A willingness to stay in the arena when it gets tough

That’s 32 hours invested over 8 weeks, plus an investment of energy and money.

Here’s what you’ll get in return: An end-to-end project planning and execution process to use for any personal or professional project you take on—ever.

Here are a few of the specific methods that help guarantee you get back way more than you put in:

• A simple 6-step project planning process that condenses months-long projects into 8 weeks. First, you’ll learn and apply the process with my help in real time, then you’ll repeat the process indefinitely on your own, using your lifetime access to the materials.
• A deep work process that helps you do in one hour what it used to take you 3-4 hours to do
• A calendar audit framework that helps you eliminate up to 12+ hours per month of obligations off your calendar—immediately
• A Feeling Now process that reduces your emotional spin outs from days or weeks down to hours or even minutes
• On-demand documentation of the most common roadblocks you are likely to hit, so you get through them exponentially more quickly than normal

You’ll put in 32 hours; and I will help you reclaim hundreds of hours.

The result: Way more projects completed, in way less time. (Plus way more time for living a full, rewarding life outside of your projects.) 

It’s all inside the next round of Half-Finished to Done, LIVE, the program for those who want to master a sustainable, fun, repeatable project process and start enjoying life as a project finisher. 

Click here to get started.

P.S. Most of my clients will tell you that they had to acknowledge and work through the fear that they were going to put in more than they’d get out before joining the program.

Here are some of their wins on the other side of saying yes:

“I’ve become more able to feel a sense of accomplishment and completion at the end of the workday, and more able to feel free and relaxed after work is done, since I have more of a sense that whatever remains to be done will actually get accomplished in the near future. Huge win.”

“In the past, I had a difficult time starting a task and most tasks would not be completed. Now I am able to create a schedule for myself that frees me from mental anguish and I am able to start tasks as they up on my calendar.”

“I used to be hyper-focused on needing a certain schedule because I thought that would fix it all. But the ‘realer’ a schedule I create, the more I get done, while also feeling better about myself.”

“I made a lot of headway on my project and I know that I will finish. The fact that I didn’t fully overcome the tech glitches was a big deal for me. I like things to be perfect. But by letting go of perfection, I know the project will get done and I can schedule time to fix the glitches later. This is uncomfortable for me. But I’d rather sit with the discomfort and get the project done, than stall because I can’t figure something out.”

“I think I’ve always known I am a finisher, but I just didn’t know my own capacity and what it looks and feels like. I now know what it’s like when I show up consistently—the pride, the feeling of accomplishment. At the end of the day, I feel so satisfied and I’m not asking myself, ‘What did I actually get done today?’”

If you’ve been wanting to join my program, Half-Finished to Done, LIVE, but you have some lingering hesitations, that’s more than okay.

It takes some of my clients two years to work up the nerve to reach out to me…and then they kick ass in the program.

You might be experiencing similar feelings to them, like:

Nervousness, about being vulnerable in a group setting.

Anxiety, about not knowing exactly how it will turn out.

Fear, that you’ll get behind or won’t have the success you want.

Doubt, about whether you’ll actually do the work.

Shame, about how past programs have gone for you.

Concern, about whether this program is really for you.

It’s all welcome here, and it’s all part of the process.

These feelings can feel like reasons not to move forward, but what if they’re the exact reason to do it?

Negative emotions may have stopped you in the past—but they don’t have to anymore.

Moving through procrastination and into project finishing is all about noticing your negative emotions, honoring them, and deciding to take action anyway, in a way that works for you.

(This is not to be confused with ignoring your emotions and white-knuckling through them in order to stay productive at all costs.)

You can’t and won’t ever get to a magical place where you don’t have any negative emotions—so the work is about allowing these emotions to be there as part of your experience.

When you join Half-Finished to Done, LIVE, I will teach you simple techniques for how to understand and manage your emotions even more deeply.

And it won’t just be negative emotions—you’ll also be doubling your feelings like joy, pride, satisfaction, accomplishment, delight, self-assurance, confidence, and so many more.

In the meantime: Come as you are, nerves and all.

It all starts with the next round of Half-Finished to Done, LIVE, the program for those who want to master a sustainable, fun, repeatable project process and start enjoying life as a project finisher. 

Click here to get started.

P.S. Almost single one of my clients will tell you that they had to work through fears and doubts in order to say yes to the program.

Here are some of their wins:

“I’ve become more able to feel a sense of accomplishment and completion at the end of the workday, and more able to feel free and relaxed after work is done, since I have more of a sense that whatever remains to be done will actually get accomplished in the near future. Huge win.”

“In the past, I had a difficult time starting a task and most tasks would not be completed. Now I am able to create a schedule for myself that frees me from mental anguish and I am able to start tasks as they up on my calendar.”

“I used to be hyper-focused on needing a certain schedule because I thought that would fix it all. But the ‘realer’ a schedule I create, the more I get done, while also feeling better about myself.”

“I made a lot of headway on my project and I know that I will finish. The fact that I didn’t fully overcome the tech glitches was a big deal for me. I like things to be perfect. But by letting go of perfection, I know the project will get done and I can schedule time to fix the glitches later. This is uncomfortable for me. But I’d rather sit with the discomfort and get the project done, than stall because I can’t figure something out.”

“I think I’ve always known I am a finisher, but I just didn’t know my own capacity and what it looks and feels like. I now know what it’s like when I show up consistently—the pride, the feeling of accomplishment. At the end of the day, I feel so satisfied and I’m not asking myself, ‘What did I actually get done today?’”

There’s a phenomenon that happens in almost every single project.

It’s called the Valley of Despair.*

It’s the part of every project where it gets super tough.

You lose your excitement. Someone else isn’t pulling their weight anymore. People aren’t responding to the project with as much enthusiasm as you’d like. You’re starting to see just how much work the project really requires. The chaos of everyday life sneaks in, and takes precedence over your project. Your feelings of inadequacy, unworthiness, and fear creep in. You realize that your original reasons for taking on the project aren’t as pure and clear as you first thought.

If it’s a project that’s particularly important to you, you might be able to push through this discomfort and finish it anyway.

But so often, we don’t keep going.

This is why our half-finished projects stack up: Because we don’t anticipate and plan for the Valley of Despair, so we’re blindsided when it comes.

And when we’re blindsided, we quit.

This is why when you join my program, Half-Finished to Done, LIVE, I’ll teach you in depth about the Valley of Despair during the one-day kickoff event.

Ironically, knowing about the Valley of Despair makes it infinitely less painful to be there.

And during our 8 weeks together, I’ll remind you about this messy middle part. I’ll show you when you’re there, and we’ll work together to get you to the other side, in a loving, healthy way.

(Not by pushing through or white-knuckling.)

You’ll come out of the Valley of Despair stronger, more resilient, more proud…and with a finished project.

It all starts with the next round of Half-Finished to Done, LIVE, the program for those who want to master a sustainable, fun, repeatable project process and start enjoying life as a project finisher. 

Click here to get started with Half-Finished to Done, LIVE.

*This name comes from the Emotional Cycle of Change model, from Don Kelley and Daryl Connor.

Let’s talk about a lack of belief in yourself.

Over the years, you may have eroded your own self-trust because:

You’ve said yes to things that you don’t actually want to do, then tried to trick yourself into believing you wanted to do them. You’ve taken on other people’s “shoulds,” even when they don’t fit for you. You’ve ove-scheduled yourself in a way that couldn’t possibly get done. You’ve made plans, broken them, and then felt too guilty to really investigate what happened and why. You’ve accepted your negative emotions without question, and used them as reasons to quit. You’ve told yourself, “This will be easy” and “I should know how to do this,” when neither was true. You’ve justified your decision to work on low-value, low-impact things.

You’ve set yourself up to fail, and then gotten mad at yourself for failing. Wild, eh?

So it makes sense that you would be experiencing an erosion of self-trust. But it’s repairable.

In my 8-week program, Half-Finished to Done, LIVE, I will help you rebuild your self-trust.

Self-trust is eroded one decision at a time…and it’s rebuilt one decision at a time.

By creating a realistic, doable schedule. By being willing to evaluate when you don’t follow through as intended. By setting goals that challenge you—then showing up to achieve them, while also allowing room for failure. By both accepting your negative emotions and being willing to question them. By owning your strengths, desires, and preferences, and acting on them. By lovingly calling yourself out on doing low-value things, and redirecting your attention. By deciding that every obstacle is solvable, as long as you stay in the arena.

Here’s the critical first decision: Decide that you are capable of rebuilding trust with yourself, starting right now.

Ready to explore Half-Finished to Done, LIVE, the program for those who want to master a sustainable, fun, repeatable project process and start enjoying life as a project finisher? 

Click here to get started with Half-Finished to Done, LIVE.

Projects are made up of two things: Data, and your opinion.

Data = Neutral, measurable facts that we can look at and adjust.

Data doesn’t say:

 You’re not good enough

 You’re never going to finish

 See? You always do this

 You might as well not try

Your opinion = Your thoughts and feelings about your progress with your project (which is often self-critical, if you’ve historically identified as a procrastinator.)

My job as a coach is to help you separate your project data from your project opinion, so that you don’t struggle or even self-sabotage unnecessarily.

We don’t ignore what you’re feeling though; we dig into it and help you understand it…while knowing that it doesn’t always represent the full truth.

I do this throughout my 8-week program, Half-Finished to Done, LIVE, as a constant reality check. If you’d like help with this—in order to make your projects less painful and more fun—I’d love to work with you. 

Ready to explore Half-Finished to Done, LIVE, the program for those who want to master a sustainable, fun, repeatable project process and start enjoying life as a project finisher? 

Click here to get started with Half-Finished to Done, LIVE.

Do you understand the real opportunity cost of waiting to take action?

(As a refresher, opportunity cost = the foregone time, money, and energy that you lose out on by waiting.)

Science says there’s no reason that you would—according to the research in the book Decisive, consumers do not naturally take into account the opportunity cost of their inactions.

Because you genuinely don’t realize how much you’re losing out on due to your procrastination habit, you have no clear, compelling reason to take immediate action.

Luckily for you, you’ve got me 😉

It’s my job to show you what you’re leaving on the table every day, week, month, and year that you don’t master 3 essential project-finishing skills.

Let’s say that you use one hour per day inefficiently—distracted, not knowing your priorities or not actively working on them, perfecting and tweaking things endlessly, trying to find things you’ve misplaced, falling down rabbit holes, or responding to “fires.”

At a rate of $100 per hour, that’s $25,000 of lost opportunity cost in a year.

That’s $125,000 of lost opportunity cost in the next 5 years.

For most people I work with, one hour of wasted time per day is a gross underestimation.

But at just two hours per day of misused time, your unclaimed opportunity cost jumps to $250,000 in 5 years.

And that doesn’t include what you would generate if you built your confidence and productivity in order to up your rates and output—without working more hours—like many of my clients have.

Or the skill development and certification that you would take on—if you felt capable—that would further increase your hourly rate.

So let’s say that you don’t raise your rate for the next two years, but you raise it in your third year by just $50 per hour, to $150—that brings your total opportunity cost over 5 years to $325,000.

For some people, it’s a lot more than this. (I have clients who have million-dollar opportunity costs.)

But it’s not just financial.

It’s the mental weight of constant chronic underestimation, renegotiating your workload, and carrying around more than you can possibly get done.

The classes not taken.

The certifications not completed.

The hobbies not pursued.

The vacations not taken.

It’s the strain on your relationships from not feeling present.

It’s the time spent recovering from feeling burnt out.

It’s the worry about how others see you.

It’s the loss of social capital when you’re late or have to push another deadline.

It’s your work not being out in the world, generating revenue for you and changing lives for other people.

This isn’t a scare tactic; it’s not meant to frighten you into action.

It’s meant to spark an aha moment, a moment of reflection for you.

It might seem like this about what you’re losing, but it’s really about what you stand to gain.

We already know that you want to change your relationship with procrastination; this is just a little kick in the booty that you might need in order to take action now.

Joining my program, Half-Finished to Done, LIVE, is your next step.

Can’t wait to work with you inside the 8-week program for business owners who are ready to become self-assured, repeat project finishers.

During the Anti-Procrastination Challenge, I listened to people share about what they value in their lives.

Feeling better. Doing work that lights them up and makes them feel proud. Connecting with others. Having way more unscheduled, rejuvenating downtime. Being seen as an expert. Making the money they know they’re capable of. Taking care of themselves. Traveling. Being generous.

Most of us have a tendency to think that these things will happen someday in the future, when we have time.

But they can happen today.

Here are guidelines for using this list:

Guidelines:

• First, think about what’s important to you these days. It will make it infinitely easier to then know which of the below options you want to experiment with.
• Some of these require more time, more energy, or more money. Which of these three things do you already have and which do you want? 
• If something piques your interest, consider it and investigate it fully before dismissing it. You might be surprised by how affordable many things are. If it is outside your budget: First, question whether you might be able to generate that money in your business and/or find a more affordable option. 

Business

• Join Half-Finished to Done, LIVE (I had to)
  
• Raise your prices
  
• Schedule one deep work session per day, to do your most important work
• Contact every former client and ask if they need your help again
• Contact every former client and ask if they have one person they could refer you to (considering adding a fun little incentive for them)
• Schedule a weekly in person or virtual coworking session with a friend
  
• Write a pitch to your email list
• Choose a different spot to work in each week
• Get away from your computer more by using the Otter app (voice transcription)
• Put together an FAQ page with the questions you’re always being asked 
• Put up an auto-responder with FAQs and common next steps that someone can take
  
• Only post repurposed content for a week+
  
• Choose one skill set to spend 8 weeks learning, bootcamp-style
  
• Host your own personal working retreat
  
• Fire a client that’s hard for you to work with

Life maintenance 

• Hire a college student to run errands for you 
• Hire a TaskRabbit to do a task you’ve been avoiding at home
• Simplify meal time: Buy pre-chopped ingredients ($), get a meal delivery service ($$), hire a college student to cook meals for you ($$$), hire a personal chef ($$$$)*
• Get Instacart delivery
  
• Schedule a fun cleaning day (with your favorite music or podcasts)

Self-care + well-being

• Turn off your phone for 1 hour at a time, several times per day
  
• Turn off most or all of the push notifications on your phone
  
• Sit in a park
  
• Book a spa day
• Get a monthly or weekly massage (at home) 
• Hire a personal stylist, enroll in a style course, or buy the book Style Statement
• Go in a flotation device
• Hire a personal trainer 
• Forgive someone—or choose to stay angry with them, if you need to
• Write a letter of forgiveness or anger to Past You 
• Call someone and have a hard conversation
• Ask your partner for more logistical and emotional support 
• Have a convo with your partner to discuss an unmade decision that’s weighing you down
  
• Take a week+ off of drinking
  
• Start writing for 5+ minutes per day
  
• Sit in silence for 5+ minutes per day
  
• Dance around your house (alone, with your partner, or with your kids)
  
• Try a new recipe 

Fun, leisure, + hobbies

• Put a dream vacation on your calendar now
  
• Take a boat ride
• Take a class (wine + design, macaron making, cooking, pole dancing, etc)
• Do a staycation (at home or at a hotel)
• Do a Zumba class
• Join a book club
• Hire a language tutor
• Plan a solo or couple date night
• Join an intramural sports league
• Find a Daybreaker event in your city

Community 

• Volunteer
• Donate monthly to a cause that matters to you 
• Mentor someone
• Meet people on Bumble BFF
• Join a Meetup
• Take a gift to your neighbor 

If you want to put yourself in an environment that prioritizes living in accordance with your values, I invite you to join my program, Half-Finished to Done, LIVE. 

We focus on your business projects, but you’ll see the ripple effects of this work show up in all areas of your life. 

Here is the 3-step Anti-Procrastination Cycle that you’ll learn at this week’s Anti-Procrastination Challenge:

1. Crafting a 3-year vision
2. Aligning your identity + emotions
3. Acting as if

And one of the easiest, best ways to start benefitting from this cycle is to see where you’re already living the 3 steps.

So yes, you’ll create a vision for the future. But you’ll also start paying more attention to where you’re already clear on your vision and working towards it.

Yes, you’ll brainstorm what you want your emotional life to look like. But you’ll also start paying more attention to how and when you’re already experiencing the emotions you want to feel.

Yes, you’ll make decisions on what to do differently that will lead you closer to your vision. But you’ll also start paying more attention to what inspired decisions you’re already making on a regular basis.

You’ll leave the challenge with a deeper appreciation for yourself and your current life.

This matters because I have never (ever, ever) met a self-proclaimed procrastinator who felt deep appreciation for themselves on a consistent basis.

(Want to test this out for yourself? Just ask yourself: Do I feel deeply appreciated by myself and of myself, to the full extent possible, on a regular basis?)

So come to the Anti-Procrastination Challenge not just to make changes (which we’ll definitely do!), but to experience more self-appreciation, more often.

Ready? Click here to register for the challenge. We’re live from August 8-12, 2022. 

(If you missed this one, click here to hop on the wait list for the next one.)

See you inside the challenge!

Cristina

Last week, I cried multiple times.

I was feeling physically exhausted.

Because I felt so drained, I didn’t want to do anything, which made me feel isolated.

After several conversations with supportive friends, family members, and coaches (and a lot of naps!), I started taking one small step forward at a time.

• I find speaking gigs energizing, so I said yes to an opportunity that presented itself
• I wanted to go on more fun, fancy dates, so I got back on the dating apps and proactively set up dates
• I wanted to make more friends in my city, so I got on Bumble BFF
• I wanted to deepen connections, so I shared more openly with some of my newer friends (wouldn’t you like to know the secrets I shared 😉)

I was living out the Anti-Procrastination Cycle that you’ll learn at the Anti-Procrastination Challenge:

1. Knowing my vision (connection + spontaneity)
2. Aligning my identity and emotions (vulnerable + open + trusting + fun)
3. Acting as if (taking proactive, creative steps)

The Anti-Procrastination Cycle isn’t magic. It won’t prevent you from feeling negative emotions or having mini-existential crises.

But it will make you realize: Whatever you want, is out there right now. And as they say, “What you’re seeking is seeking you.”

Your best fit clients have almost certainly already been born; they exist and they need help.

People have money that they want to spend in order to solve their problems.

People have time to give you, in ways that work for both of you.

Someone in the world is teaching the exact skill that you want to develop.

Someone, somewhere, is asking their friend for referrals for your exact kind of business.

Or, in my case, cool people in my city are looking for more fun, inspiring people to be friends with and date (Cristina Roman, reporting for duty).

All of this already exists on the planet.

Your job is to open up access to it for yourself, by working the Anti-Procrastination Cycle.

Ready? Click here to register for the Anti-Procrastination Challenge. We’re live from August 8-12, 2022. 

(If you missed this one, click here to hop on the wait list for the next one.)

See you inside the challenge!

Cristina

If you spend a fair amount of time in your business feeling bored, resigned, unmotivated, confused, or overwhelmed, the 5-day Anti-Procrastination Challenge is for you. 

These emotions signal that you’re making uninspired decisions—and then living out the reality of those decisions.

You’ll know this is you if each day kinda feels like a drag, you can’t wait for the workday to end, and you feel like most of your day is spent going through the motions of things that you “should” do.

If you’re not lit up about the decisions that you’re making, it’s because you’re making your decisions from your current self-identity:

❌ Your current level of confidence

❌ The obligations and limits that you currently see in your life

❌ The quality of your current ideas

❌ Your current skill sets

❌ Your current patterns (like people pleasing or perfectionism)

The antidote is making inspired decisions: Decisions that are made with your future in mind.

The 3-step Anti-Procrastination Cycle—which you’ll learn and apply at the Anti–Procrastination Challenge helps you break out of stifling decisions, by:

1. Crafting a 3-year vision
2. Aligning your identity and emotions
3. Acting as if

When you work the Anti-Procrastination Cycle, your decisions become inspired:

✅ Working with fun, focused “best fit” clients, vs settling for tough clients

✅ Working from different locations that energize you and light you up

✅ Getting your work done in creative, easy ways, by strategically doing the bare minimum

✅ Saying no, in ways that actually make you and everyone around you happier

✅ Pitching yourself (nerves and all) for more opportunities

✅ Starting that daunting project you’ve been putting on the back burner

✅ Bringing more collaborators, partners and contractors into your business

✅ Making yourself more visible, in scary but rewarding ways

Ready? Click here to register for the Anti-Procrastination Challenge. We’re live from August 8-12, 2022. 

(If you missed this one, click here to hop on the wait list for the next one.)

See you inside the challenge!

Cristina