How to overcome the dreaded procrastination…

Productivity,

This has been a busy but positive week, as we’ve been out of the office for a large part of it. Today we had three appointments booked in, that all needed to shuffle at short notice too. That all worked out, but it’s left the day feeling broken and disorganised, and as a result the dreaded procrastination has set in!

Don’t get me wrong, I have plenty to get through by the end of today, as we’re also out of the office for some of tomorrow. It’s just that as the afternoon has gone on, I know that I’m slowing. I know that I could be working more efficiently, and just ticking those things off, yet I’m just not doing it.

Instead I’ve shuffled paper, and faffed (a technical term for simply wasting time) for the last hour, without making any real headway. Despite the image attached, I haven’t actually been sitting with my feet up, but the activities I’ve been doing won’t set the World alight.

I know the theory too!

  • I know that procrastination is the most common reason for businesses to fail.
  • I know that too many people wait for the right time to implement, and yet that never comes.

I know too that procrastination isn’t a common problem for me, so it’s not going to cause us to fail, or even to be more than a mid afternoon blip. It’s actually very rare for me to suffer but today it’s frustrating half of me at the same time as the other half is procrastinating!

How can you overcome procrastination?

  1. Set a firm deadline, that really means something.
  2. Be really clear on the big goal, and from there have set milestones that need to be achieved along the way.
  3. Book or arrange a reward for achieving the task that you’re really putting off.
  4. Break the task into smaller steps, so that it feels less of a challenge.
  5. Just start, telling yourself you’ll just do ten minutes, and often once you have, you’re away and running happily again.
  6. Switch on Focus@Will, set it for 90 minutes and keep your subconscious occupied while you work, and get into ‘the zone’.

You see, I know the drill, I just need to choose one of the above and get on!

I’m going to go for numbers 5 and 6, with a cuppa by my side, and I’m going to finish this blog and the next two things on my list before I go for my walk this evening, which will be my ‘reward’ from number 3.

What works for you when Procrastination kicks in? Do you have a trick that isn’t on my list? If so, I’d love to know for next time….

 

 

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