Defeating Procrastination
04/21/2021
Defeating Procrastination
For some unknown reason it seems that many of the clients I’ve worked with for the last two months have brought up the subject of procrastination. Often it was mentioned in the context of “asking for a friend…” and occasionally it was to address the issue with a family member or employee.
We all have an area (or more) where we procrastinate. Those areas tend to have one thing in common—they are something we really dislike having to do. Specific activities can be wide-ranging and might include:
The unfortunate issue with procrastination is that it creates other issues. Here’s an example:
We have to make a phone call to a person who is very difficult to deal with, but due to our responsibilities we must occasionally interact with each other. We decide that we’re going to get that call done first thing in the morning. Morning comes and we consider making the call, but then justify to ourselves that “right now probably isn’t a good time for them…” or “I really need to get these other things done first.” Before we know it, late morning has arrived and we know we need to make that call, but we convince ourselves that it would be better to catch them right after lunch when they might be in a better mood. Then 1:00 rolls around, and we wonder if they are actually back from lunch yet, so think it best to call a little later. Now it’s 3:00, but we look at that long list of things that really need to be done before the end of our day and determine that “we will call them first thing in the morning tomorrow!”
This process is repeated for several days until it is essential that the call be made, so we are under a deadline and just do it so it’s done. What this process does is that it creates very negative thoughts and attitudes in us that affect us for an entire day. Sometimes day after day for several days.
We need to prioritize getting these tasks done as soon as possible and stick to our agreement with ourselves that we will just do it. When we develop this habit, we find that we get to enjoy a tremendous sense of accomplishment first thing in the day, we don’t have that unbearable task hanging over our heads for hours and hours, and we are much more productive because we aren’t constantly distracted by it.
Steps to Defeating Procrastination:
What are some ways that you or others have overcome personal habits like procrastination that helped improve your attitude, behaviors and efficiency?
Don Tyler
Tyler & Associates
Defeating Procrastination
For some unknown reason it seems that many of the clients I’ve worked with for the last two months have brought up the subject of procrastination. Often it was mentioned in the context of “asking for a friend…” and occasionally it was to address the issue with a family member or employee.
We all have an area (or more) where we procrastinate. Those areas tend to have one thing in common—they are something we really dislike having to do. Specific activities can be wide-ranging and might include:
- Making a phone call to a person that is difficult to deal with, rude, negative or a particular type of person we dislike.
- Activities we feel we aren’t very good at such as math, creative writing, documentation, detailed work, etc.
- Tasks that we feel are unimportant or low priority like completing reports, filling out lengthy forms, cleaning up after a task that we do often (“It’s just going to get dirty again tomorrow…”), etc.
- Dealing with conflict, having to give people bad news, or needing to have a difficult conversation with someone.
- Anything that is far outside our comfort zone.
The unfortunate issue with procrastination is that it creates other issues. Here’s an example:
We have to make a phone call to a person who is very difficult to deal with, but due to our responsibilities we must occasionally interact with each other. We decide that we’re going to get that call done first thing in the morning. Morning comes and we consider making the call, but then justify to ourselves that “right now probably isn’t a good time for them…” or “I really need to get these other things done first.” Before we know it, late morning has arrived and we know we need to make that call, but we convince ourselves that it would be better to catch them right after lunch when they might be in a better mood. Then 1:00 rolls around, and we wonder if they are actually back from lunch yet, so think it best to call a little later. Now it’s 3:00, but we look at that long list of things that really need to be done before the end of our day and determine that “we will call them first thing in the morning tomorrow!”
This process is repeated for several days until it is essential that the call be made, so we are under a deadline and just do it so it’s done. What this process does is that it creates very negative thoughts and attitudes in us that affect us for an entire day. Sometimes day after day for several days.
We need to prioritize getting these tasks done as soon as possible and stick to our agreement with ourselves that we will just do it. When we develop this habit, we find that we get to enjoy a tremendous sense of accomplishment first thing in the day, we don’t have that unbearable task hanging over our heads for hours and hours, and we are much more productive because we aren’t constantly distracted by it.
Steps to Defeating Procrastination:
- Identify what you tend to procrastinate on, or have someone else help you identify them.
- Be brutally honest with yourself and determine what it is about that activity you dislike.
- Accept this as a behavior you must address and develop a strategy that helps you face that activity with a sense of purpose and a desire to get it completed quickly whenever that situation arises.
- Continue to focus on the personal satisfaction of completing that task, rather than the drudgery of having to do it.
What are some ways that you or others have overcome personal habits like procrastination that helped improve your attitude, behaviors and efficiency?
Don Tyler
Tyler & Associates
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