The drain of procrastination on our productivity has been around for hundreds of years. The facts are it didn’t only arrive with the Smartphone and Facebook; though they don’t help either.
We debated which title to use for this post because the reality is procrastination will impact all of us at some point in time throughout our working life's in age where information overload is real for all of us.
The best we can do is manage our tendency to procrastinate with some time-tested strategies that work. Before we share a number for you let’s look at why procrastination happens in the first place.
Why Do We Procrastinate?
Scientists and psychologists have been struggling to work out why we procrastinate for hundreds of years. Professor Joseph Ferrari is a pioneer of modern research on the subject and reveals the alarming fact that as many as 20% of us may be chronic procrastinators!
The truth is there are many reasons why; from:
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Lack of self-regulation
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Lack of self-esteem
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The task or project is overwhelming.
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We expect something, or someone will come in and take it off our plate.
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The task is so important it becomes daunting.
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…. and for the creatives amongst the population, we like the last-minute buzz of getting the job completed in the nick of time.
Why Tackle It?
Where should I start!
True procrastinators don’t only finish their work later — the quality of it suffers as importantly does their health. Procrastinators end up suffering more and performing worse than their counterparts.
Wellbeing and mental health is a real threat in the workplace and the insidious impact of procrastination adds to this.
It’s not uncommon here at Lucy Walker Recruitment for us to meet candidates who have been putting off moving companies or developing their careers for years.
It’s sad to think of all the opportunities they have missed, not only personally, but also the impact this might have had on what they could have provided for their families.
So What are the Strategies to Overcome Procrastination?
Before we give you a number of ideas that work it’s worth sharing Prof Ferrari’s quote.
“As I tell people, to tell the chronic procrastinator just to do it would be like saying to a clinically depressed person, cheer up.”
Therefore it’s a good idea to start with a few practical strategies that work.
Here's 5 simple ones which you may find useful:
1. Manage Work And Personal Activities As One.
Though this might sound strange, it’s vital to work from a level playing field. If you have a tendency to procrastinate it’s likely to show up in all parts of your life.
If you procrastinate at work the last thing you want is an emergency to happen at home that is unplanned for, the stress this creates can be avoided with a few simple tweaks to what you do.
A number of years ago a friend of mine shared the concept of a master list with me. Though it might sound strange I list everything down that needs to happen; whether that’s getting the boiler serviced or looking at a new product for Lucy Walker recruitment.
No matter who you are if you have ‘things’ going on at home it will impact your decision making process, therefore give it attention and you will be surprised how it will free up your energy and focus.
Keeping things together like this makes a huge difference, which leads me onto something else…
2. Your Daily Review.
‘Start with the end in mind’ is a quote I have shared before. If I know I have to achieve certain things before a specific date. The daily practice of writing things down is a simple and useful tool. Doing it daily at the start and the end of the day develops an critical habit that will help to keep you on track.
3-Tasks V Projects
Often we can get overwhelmed by our ‘to-do’ list. Probably because we have a list of tasks that are actually projects!
For instance, create the sales plan for next year is not a 5 minute job; is it? It’s a project with a series of tasks beneath it. No wonder it keeps getting left till later.
It’s a better option to split this project down and sub set the tasks with the end goal of delivering the project by its due date.
4. Quick Tasks First.
If you want a buzz of energy, this always works to give me an energy boost. It’s do a quick task now rather than later.
The additional upside of this is often small tasks get bult up in our minds, you know it doesn’t take much effort to complete. Yet you keep putting it off because you’re too busy or you think you don’t have time to do it; sound familiar?
There is a well known book by David Allen called Getting things done. In it he shares many strategies including this one.
He calls it the two minute rule.
Basically if the task in question is a quick email or phone call do it now, don’t put it on your to-do list.
So that quick phone call or email gets completed now rather than later or even missed totally.
You’ll find that doing this consistently will remove much of the negativity that happens when you have a lengthy list of tasks to complete.
5-Eat That Frog ….Or The Banjof Method!
Couldn’t resist that title…
It means the same thing.
Have you ever had the experience of completing a challenging task and having a burst of energy afterwards; yes me too?
The Banjof method stands for: Bang, Off A Nasty Job First.
It’s a well recognised time management principle and it is in a similar vein to the Eat The Frog concept made famous by Brian Tracy the well known sales trainer.
His idea with this concept is that if you complete the task you dislike or find hardest first then you will start the day with a win that makes everything else pale into insignificance.
Have a go and let me know how you get on.
Have You Been Procrastinating Over Starting Your Recruiting Campaign?
If the answer is yes we can help. At Lucy Walker Recruitment, we can help with planning your recruitment campaign for hires at every level of your organisation. To get in contact call our Leeds office on 0113 367 2880 and speak to one of our team of experts or email us here or why not schedule a call.
