Procrastination Does Not Serve You Well: Simple Strategies to Kill Procrastination!

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Why are so many of us procrastinators? Are we lazy? Usually not. Are we bad people? No. So why do so many of us push off the tasks we know need to be completed in order to forge ahead?

These questions have been on my mind for quite some time. I recently wrote Habits Can Make or Break You: The Definitive Guide to Success which touched on the system I use to create the habits that will support achieving my goals. I feel it is a simple, effective way to finally move forward. But I fear there may be a problem…

Many will never take the first step to incorporate the system, and will continue to run on the hamster wheel of life spinning into oblivion. Others will jump in with both feet and completely change their routine because the “system” is the only way, only to lose steam after only a few days or weeks.

Whatever the scenerio, both end up in a crash and burn fashion, leaving people with a bad taste in their mouth. They blame the system rather than blaming their behaviors. Procrastination is a powerful HABIT that effects many people and robs a lifetime of dreams.

Why do so many possess this habit? Does procrastination really serve a purpose in our lives, or is it a bad habit like smoking?

I believe procrastination has resulted from a combination of simply not knowing the next step and either a fear of success or failure. Couple that with mis-prioritized poorly planned tasks and it is no wonder procrastination is rampant.

Even though I have developed the habit of working from a list every single day, I still find myself putting off some things on that list. After reflecting on the tasks that constantly get put off I have determined that every task falls into the following categories of why they get passed over.

They are too vague in description: For example, “Work on finances” is a task on my list today. Every time I glance at it, it creates a mild discomfort like something is missing. It’s painful, and it will probably not get completed.
They may be insignificant and unworthy: Sometimes a task may not be worth even doing at all. Many times we get caught up in insignificant “busy” work that does not bring us value, and does not move us forward . Often times these tasks are someone else’s emergency due to poor planning, and you are their solution. Their emergency becomes your emergency.
A prior mistake was made: Sometimes we procrastinate on certain tasks because we have made a mistake on a similar task before. Maybe we were disciplined harshly for it, or it cost us something of value and we have become gun shy.
Just plain overwhelmed by expecting to much: This is a big one, and is usually my main problem. “Biting off more than you can chew” is the best way to describe it. I tend to over-estimate how much I can finish in a day. If I have too many tasks, I revert to doing the minor “quick” tasks and push off the big tasks I really should be focusing on.

How do we “fix” the procrastination problem?

Unfortunately is involves work, practice, revision, more work, more practice, and more revision. I know, sounds “scary”, but I think it is actually easier than it appears.

I believe the first step after creating your list, look at each task and ask yourself if there are any other steps in the task. For example: My “work on finances” task might need me to break it down to “Get all of the month’s bills together”. Getting all my bills together sounds less ominous and more concrete than vaguely saying “work on finances”. I may also write down the task, “Get bank account balances”, under that as well.

The broken down tasks become concrete steps on what to do. I like concrete, because there is no issue with not understanding what needs to be done. A concrete task is basically a list of prioritized directions on how to complete something.

The second step is to prioritize the list. Once the concrete tasks have been identified, determine which tasks are going to move you forward and which steps are just busy work. This can be tricky because we have been conditioned to associate busy with productive. Couple that with the fact that many tasks can be someone else’s priority and not necessarily yours.

The best strategy I have come up with is to first ask yourself if this task is yours or does someone else own it? If it’s yours then great, you have complete control over its fate. If someone else owns it, do they have permission to hand off their tasks for you to complete? If it’s your boss, a parent, or an authority figure then you may be out of luck and have to suck it up, but if they aren’t, then you get to choose if they are allowed to burden you, (remember the guy who didn’t plan, now his tasks are HIS emergency and you are HIS solution to HIS problem?). Maybe this person needs to be reminded of the old saying, “Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part!”

Now that ownership has been established, ask yourself this question about each task, “If this task never gets completed what will be the end result?”. If the answer you get results in something insignificant and you really are indifferent to it, then that task is a pretty low priority task.

Procrastination Does Not Serve You Well: Simple Strategies to Kill Procrastination! Many (including myself) make the mistake of getting all the small stuff out of the way that way you can focus all your energy on the important stuff. The main problem with that is many times all the small, day to day stuff robs your most precious expendable resource, which is your mental energy. You only have so much mental energy each and every day before you need to put your mind to rest. The highly logical strategy would be to get your greatest, most difficult, most mentally demanding task out of the way first thing. Brian Tracy has called this strategy “Eating the Frog”, because if you can eat a frog first thing at the beginning of your day, the rest of your day with be smooth and productive.

I have also talked about it in previous posts using 1 weapon to solve a multitude of problems. By this, I mean being able to essentially kill two or more birds with one stone. Having the awareness to group similar tasks and complete them simultaneously, rather than one after another. By taking a few minutes noticing if any tasks can be completed in this manner could save you hours of inefficient efforts. For example, are any of your tasks errand type, or maybe they require the same resources or even the same work space to be completed? (Making a bunch of phone calls, or answering emails, or the such).

The final tip to help combat procrastination is to put time limits/estimates on each task, and focus on one task at a time. Many times a task can seem ominous because in the back of your mind it might not have and ending point. This creates uncertainty which is also painful to us. By setting a time limit on the task, you give yourself a stopping point to a possible never ending task. At the same time, keep away from “multitasking” as we are not wired for it. Many people say they are great at it, but in reality they are extremely inefficient while multitasking.

Need proof? I want you to picture let’s say an ice cream cone. Got a nice picture of one? Great!

Now I want you to picture a plain old brick. You see it? A boring old red brick. Great. Now I want you to try and think of both at the same time. Try and see both an ice cream cone and a red brick in your minds eye. You can’t, if you put them side by side, you will only be able to clearly see one at a time.

You focus on the ice cream, the brick becomes blurry or disappears. You focus on the brick and the POOF! the ice cream vanishes. You cannot multi-task so do not operate like you can!

In summary, to minimize procrastination, focus on the following guidelines:

Is the task too vague?
Are you afraid of the task because you screwed it up before and your afraid to screw it up again?
Do you even own the task or is it someone else’s emergency pawned off on you?
Are you biting off more than you can chew?

Once you have determined what the cause of your procrastination implement the following strategies to move past the procrastination and complete your tasks.

Break each task down into its next action level. If a task is broken down to where there is no next action, then it is at its simplest form.
If you own the task then determine if it is significant enough to be bothered with it.
If you don’t own it, does the person who does have the authority to inconvenience you with their emergency?
“Eat the frog” first, and this will set the tone for the rest of your day. Get your big task out of the way while your fresh.
Group tasks that are similar in nature together and do them simultaneously. (Errands, phone calls, desk work, etc.)
Put time limits on never ending tasks.
Focus on one thing at a time, forget multitasking.

I hope these strategies help you if you suffer from procrastination problems, and as usual let me know if you have any tips in the comments below, or go on over to the Greatness Inside Out Facebook fan page and put them there.

Thanks,

Gerry

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2 thoughts on “Procrastination Does Not Serve You Well: Simple Strategies to Kill Procrastination!”

Mark on August 13, 2011 at 10:59 pm said:

I can vouch for so many of the points that you’ve made here. As a teacher I focus a majority of my to-do list on Saturdays when I have the most uninterrupted time to take care of business. Definitely, the biggest and most complex items need to be tackled first when I’m fresh (e.g., lesson planning). Lesson planning often involves researching, organizing resources, and developing an implementation strategy for addressing my students’ whole and individual needs throughout the week. This part of my to-do list takes a tremendous amount of time and effort compared to the paper-grading, classroom newsletter, and classroom website updates that I routinely have to do each week. On the other hand, some of the specifics that you’ve pointed out here will serve me well as I head into my 12th year of teaching in order to help me be a little more efficient and effective than I have been up to this point. Another great post Gerry!

Reply ↓
- Gerry on August 15, 2011 at 3:23 pm said:
  
  I am glad you find value in my thoughts Mark. It was great to get to spend time with you over your vacation. Looking forward to running on your turf this fall! Anything I can do to help, don’t hesitate to get a hold of me! Be good bro!
  
  Reply ↓

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Procrastination Does Not Serve You Well: Simple Strategies to Kill Procrastination!

2 thoughts on “Procrastination Does Not Serve You Well: Simple Strategies to Kill Procrastination!”

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