Manage Procrastination With Better Time Management

If you thought that was a management tip, this article is definitely for you!

What is Procrastination?

Procrastination is deferring a task to a later time – or avoiding it altogether in the hopes that it will magically “go away”.

Why We Procrastinate

We procrastinate to “put off the evil day”, to delay an unpleasant experience even though, as adults most of us appreciate that the hang-over of a past deadline is going to be far worse than the discomfort of completing the task.

Some of the underlying reasons we procrastinate could be:

• Lack of purpose – no clear goals or purpose
• Absence of priorities – no system or structures for ordering tasks
• No motivation – no perceived reward or pay-off for effort
• Low confidence – lack of knowledge about how to do the thing; self doubt
• Lack of time – poor time management skills
• Poor health – low energy, laziness
• Emotional issues – fear of the task or its consequences; overwhelm; hopelessness
• Perfectionism – fear of judgement; you won’t do the thing until you know you can do it perfectly
• Adrenalin addiction – leaving things until the last minute for the charge it brings!
• Habit – feeling it’s a part of your character, an endearing flaw

While we all procrastinate, if we do so to a degree that seriously impacts our performance on the job and/or in our wider life, then it may sometimes indicate a deeper problem, with candidates including depression or attention deficit disorder (ADD).

Some Tips For Getting On With IT;

Set a Goal
Select one task that you have a history of putting off – make sure it’s a significant task, but it doesn’t have to be the biggest, baddest one in the box; just a medium size one would be good to start on.

With the task in mind, write out a goal.  Make sure that your goal statement has the following elements; that it is:

1. Dated (“tomorrow” won’t work; tomorrow’s date will)
2. Precise (numbers would be good)
3. A positive statement of what you want as an end result
4. In the first person (ie, it contains the word “I” followed by a verb)
5. Achievable (set yourself up for a success on which you will build)
Practice Affirmations
Write out your goal at least 3 times a day, then recite it (softly, in private is OK) three times a day for more than 27 days.  (Why “more than 27” – we could tell you, but we’d have to kill you, and that would defeat the purpose of this exercise, so just trust us!)

For more helpful tips you can email us for the Procrastinators Emergency Kit .