The SECOND Winner of The Ask Michel Fortin Your Question Contest is”…

I had intended to post this yesterday. But after learning the news of Gary Halbert’s passing, I decided to wait.

As I mentioned in my other “Winner Announcement” post, Michel Fortin generously offered to answer the top 3 questions asked by my blog readers.

Even if you’re NOT a musician, I hope you still got some great ideas from Michel’s first answer to Fred Black’s question.

If not… Go back and read Michel’s fantastic answer one more time. There are nuggets of gold in there for marketers of ANY product. Not just music CDs.

Anyway… The second winner of the Ask Michel Fortin Your Question Contest is”…

Mark Williams (No URL provided.)

Mark’s question was:

How have you been able to cope with procrastination?

Too many times, I have known what I needed to do, and I ALWAYS end up waiting weeks on end to do it (like get this letter written today, get this blog post out today, etc.), IF I get it done AT ALL.

I used to think that it was ADD, but I realize that it is just an excuse I mind came up with to stop me.

I would like to know your ideas and comments, because I am THIS close to just seeing a hypnotist to get it over with, because the willpower thing does not always work.

Mark Williams

Great question mark. This is an important question and I know that Michel’s answer to this will help many struggling with the same challenge.

This is a common problem for many people. And everyone of us who has broken through and achieved a high level of success, has at one time or another, had to overcome this challenge.

So… Let’s see what Michel has to say about this one.

Over to you Michel…

I believe in Parkinson’s Law, which is also known as the law of contraction. That is, activity will expand or contract to meet its deadline.

In other words, if you have three weeks to write a letter, you will take three weeks. If you have only four days, you will do what you can to get it done within four days.

The Law of Contraction basically says that you will either take your time or hurry up depending on the deadline you have. (Take, for instance, college students cramming just before exam time.)

For me, my best work always happens when I rush — that is, when I wait and force myself to complete the task before an impending deadline. The pressure caused by a rapidly advancing deadline pushes me into gear and forces me to not only work but work at my best.

I tune out distractions… focus on the work at hand… and with this heightened sense of awareness and focus, my best ideas, writing, strategies, etc come out.

Now, I don’t purposefully wait until the last minute — although, admittedly, I do sometimes. But what I do to overcome procrastination is create mini-deadlines.

I break down a project into bite-sized chunks. I literally cut up the project into easier to digest pieces, and create deadlines –more like milestones — to reach for each piece of the puzzle.

These mini-deadlines don’t necessarily force me into action for the larger project, but they do for the smaller stuff. They push me into gear knowing that, if I don’t meet the smaller deadline, I will have two to contend with, and more if I keep it up.

These “piling on” of deadlines is something I dread, so this helps me to kick myself into gear. That’s why I really try to break down larger projects into as many small pieces as possible. (I don’t go by hours but by days. So project pieces are needed to be accomplished on a specific day, for example.)

I use project management software, like BaseCamp.com, even for personal projects, like product creation, events, courses, and personal-life stuff. This really helps — I set milestones in Basecamp for smaller, easier-to-tackle tasks within a larger project and its final, non-negotiable deadline.

Let me give you an example:

Major project: write salesletter for client.

Major phases:

1) Research
2) Create rough draft
3) Finalize initial draft
4) Revisions per client
5) Final draft and delivery

This is the normal project, with perhaps a final deadline of, say, one month. So I put mini-deadlines on each phase:

1) Week #1
2) Week #2
3) First half of Week #3
4) Second half of Week #3
5) Week #4

Now I break down each phase into smaller, bite-sized chunks (plus, by sharing my project management interface to collaborate with a client, they see the milestones and they, too, are kicked into gear so we don’t waste our time):

1) Research, Week #1
a) Compile questionnaire, Week #1, Day #3
b) Review and clarify, Week #1, Day #4
c) Initial product run-through, Week #1, Day #5
d) Interview client, Week #1, Day #6
e) Competitive analyses, Week #1, Day #7

2) Create rough draft, Week #2
a) Write fascinations, Week #2, Day #1-3
b) Etc, etc, etc.

Hope this helps.

Michel Fortin
The Success Doctor, Inc.
http://www.conversiondoctor.com/rec/copydoctor.html
   

Now back to Eric:

Wow. Terrific answer Michel. I actually learned a few things from that answer that I plan on incorporating into my own copywriting process.

Stay tuned to my blog to read Michel’s answer to the final winning question and discover ANOTHER exciting bit of news on how to get an even deeper insight into Michel Fortin’s thought and copywriting process! You won’t want to miss this… (And it’s FREE!)

Happy Testing!

Eric

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