Overcome Procrastination

Overcome procrastination and live to your potential!

The boss is breathing down your neck for yesterday's report and you have another deadline later today...you are in familiar territory again. "If only I had started earlier!"

Do you find procrastination is causing stress and stopping you from achieving your goals?

Procrastination is a thief of time - and it can be a hard habit to break.

Here we identify the causes of procrastination and provide procrastination strategies so that you can overcome procrastination.

Do you procrastinate because you dislike the task? Are you afraid of change? Do you have unclear goals or shifting priorities?

Psychologists have identified a number of causes of procrastination, some that we are aware of and others that reside in the subconscious.

As with most human foibles and habits, often the first step in overcoming procrastination is to identify your causes of procrastination.

Why do people procrastinate?

Procrastination arises for a number of reasons.

Whether it is the unpleasant task or shifting priorities, procrastination is a time-waster.

Unclear goals or shifting priorities can cause procrastination. If this is the case, then you can overcome procrastination by using these procrastination busters.

Similarly, a cause of procrastination that we may be less aware of is a fear of failure or change.

Nobody likes to fail, and so we tend to procrastinate on these tasks!

I remember I had a fear of public speaking. This was a problem because I used to lecture and give talks at university and some of the elite sporting institutions.

As a result of my fear, I procrastinated in accepting speaking engagements or returning invitations to such engagements. Some of my excuses for why I couldn't talk were really quite creative!

Even the most confident of people can have a fear a failure and put things off. Unfortunately, by continuing to procrastinate, your failure is often more likely and can harm your career.

Overcome procrastination for the committed worker

Overcome procrastination for the committed worker sounds like an oxymoron.

However, over-commitment is another common cause of procrastination.

Are you a hard worker?

Do you always put your hand up for the things that have to get done for you or your team to complete their goals?

Does this sound like you?

Often these dedicated people make great employees who take on added responsibilities and commitments.

They overload their schedules before knowing how they are going to get the work done.

Because they are over-committed, they often are pushing to get things done on time.

Are you dedicated and enthusiastic? Do you have trouble saying No?

Do you take on far more commitments at home and work - than you really need to?

While desire and motivation are fantastic qualities, it is not possible to do everything at once.

Often being over-committed can lead to poorer quality of work and family life.

If you have trouble saying no and as a result have a crazily overloaded schedule, then a couple of things could help:

1. Resist the urge. Before putting your hand up again to take on a new responsibility, pause for a moment to consider your schedule.

   Ask yourself how this new responsibility fits into your time management schedule.

Time management activity Draw up a list of 10 actions on your to do list. Identify the top 2 items on that list. Pursue those two items until you have completed them and moved onto the remainder of your list. This ensures that you stay on the right side of the Pareto principle, the 80/20 rule that ensures you focus on the 20 percent of tasks that contribute to 80% of your output. I talk more about avoiding procrastination by setting priorities.

2. Learn to Say No. Often in the short term it is easier to say yes rather than no.

   Saying "no" has the long-term advantage of allowing you to concentrate on things that are important to you.

   In the example above, Michael looks good to his boss in the short-term, but this is likely to be short-lived when he is unable to get the report in on time and lets his team down.

   Saying no can be a very difficult thing to say when you are dedicated and enthusiastic about what you are doing.

   However, a well-formed response as to ‘why’ you are unable to do the task and that you cannot focus on your priorities can help.

   If it is your boss that you are saying ‘no’ to, then take time out and think about the things you are currently doing, and then meet with your boss to prioritize your projects and their anticipated time lines.

3. Prioritize your work. Time management skills revolve around prioritizing. One prioritizing strategy that you can harness is the 80/20 rule.

   This is the rule that 20 percent of your actions contribute to 80 percent of your output. So focus your effort on the 20 percent that are important and matter.

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