5 Surprising Ways Your Inner Critic Wastes Your Time
Hi. Did you know there’s five surprising ways that your inner critic will waste your time?
There is. I’m going to expose them to you today. I’m Ann Rusnak and I’m the creator of the 15 Minute Time Maximizing System. So let’s dive in and find out what these are.
A lot of times they’re just under that surface, but it’s draining your time and you’re not even where it happens.
First Time Waster
This one I think we’re all guilty of. I know I am. And it is the Research Rabbit Hole. Yep. You sit down to write something for your launch or. You want to redo something or reach out and you get this little whisper that says, oh, you know what?
You need to go look up one more thing. Maybe you should research one more thing real quick. And the next thing, you know, it’s three hours later and you’re lost in all these tabs and you still didn’t take action.
So what really happens: your inner critic is using research to delay.
Why? Because action sometimes feels risky, that if you are ready to do that launch, you’re gonna reach out to a potential new client.
Second Time Waster
But research feels safe and she’d rather you keep you preparing than take that chance. The Second, the Self-Doubt Spiral. You scroll past someone else’s big launch or shiny success. Out of nowhere, your ideal all of a sudden feels small. You’re in comparison mode.
What’s really happening: She uses comparison to undermine your confidence.
Why? Once again because she’s protecting you and if you doubt yourself, you will play small and often that feels safer than putting yourself out there and taking a big risk.
Third Time Waster
Number three is Overthinking. You will replay every scenario, map out 17 possible outcomes, and you try to predict everything so you don’t get it wrong.
What’s really happening: She traps you in this decision loop that delays action.
Why? So if you stay in your head, you don’t have to face what happens if something doesn’t go perfectly.
Fourth Time Waster
Number four, People Pleasing. You say yes when you want to say no. ’cause you want to avoid conflict and you put everyone else’s needs first.
So what’s really happening here? Your inner critic convinces you it’s easier to avoid tension than to set boundaries.
Try to remember if you can, back when you were two years old, you were a master at saying NO! Time to reclaim that skill.
Why does she do this? Because staying quiet feels safer than in allowing others to see you as difficult or fear their disapproval.
Fifth Time Waster
And the last one, number five, Perfection Chasing. You will keep polishing that project, that post or tweaking that offer. You wait for it to be just right. But that finish line keeps moving.
Oh my gosh, I’m a recovering perfectionist. I still relate to this one. This is just, wow.
So what’s really going on? Once again, your inner critic is using perfectionism to delay you from putting yourself out there… to put whatever you’re working on out there.
Why? Because if you never finish, you never have to face criticism or failure.
A Simple Solution
So what can you do? See, your inner critic. believes she’s protecting you, but her protection keeps you small, stalled and spinning.
So start here.
- Start small.
- Just hear her. Hear what she’s saying. She actually thinks she’s doing this for your good.
- Spot the pattern. Start spotting when these things start occurring.
- Then name it out loud…is it people pleasing? Is it the research rabbit hole? Whatever it is. You can put your own name to it too, but name it out loud and
- Thank her.Thank her for pointing this out to you. But now tell her to step aside because you got this,
- and then the next thing to do is just take one step forward.
Anyway, just take it. Trust me, you will survive.
So just look at these. Which one of these time wasters steals the most time from your day?
Hop into the convo on LinkedIn. Let’s call her out together.
Stay Unstopulous!
