Procrastination is a problem that faces teenagers and adults, males and females, regardless of social group or background. Its affects range from a minor slowdown to major catastrophe, and it is probably the single most common time management problem.
Everyone in the world has felt the urge to put off assignments or jobs until later, and each person has a varying degree of procrastination. Regardless of the severity of your habit of procrastination, the following suggestions will help you to "put an end to putting it off." Use these specific, concrete steps to confront and shift your own tendencies to procrastinate. Choose several suggestions from among the five lists, put them into practice, and use a coach or friend for support:
Identify underlying issues or causes of procrastination.
Take a close look at your own procrastination—do you put off similar tasks every month (paying your bills late, even though you have the money to pay them) or do you postpone every task, no matter how small? Discover your pattern of procrastination, and note when and where you use procrastination as a crutch: Take a look at some possible sources of procrastination, along with hints and tips to resolve them:
- Crisis Maker
- Anxiety over the expectations of others
- Overextended, trying to do too much
To eliminate fear, become aware of it. Then acknowledge your strengths and skills. Recall previous successes, and write them down. Be aware of—and acknowledge—your weaknesses, and leverage them into strengths. (Yes, it can be done! A coach or therapist can help you identify weaknesses that are really hidden strengths.) Get an accurate perspective of what your success will mean for you, and focus on your own needs and expectations rather than those of others.
Perfectionism is probably one of the more common reasons for procrastinating. The perfectionist avoids starting a task because they worry that they might fall short of their own high standards. A perfectionist will become absorbed in the details, attempting to control every aspect of the task and ignore moving a project along until the very last minute. They don’t have to face their fear of imperfection if the task isn’t done.
Closely examine your standards and values. Are they really yours, or someone else’s? Are they set so high that they are causing you distress? If so, shift your thinking about standards and values, and set realistic goals.
If you have spent many years feeling thrilled (or rewarded) by being under the pressure of time deadlines, you’re probably a crisis maker, living on adrenaline.
Crisis makers truly believe that they cannot get motivated until the very last minute. As much as they complain about having no time, they get a charge out of running late for appointments, barely getting to the airport on time for a flight, and rushing from one unfinished project or task to another.
Crisis makers often make others mad because they manufacture a crisis and then solve it at the last minute, making themselves look good in the process—or worse, they totally blow it—infuriating their friends and colleagues—and look bad in the process.
If you are a crisis maker, work to bring balance to your life. Learn how to develop a rewarding life outside of work, don’t try to get love or personal needs met at work, learn how to increase your productivity and quality of work while eliminating the adrenaline rush. The result will be a more peaceful life, without crises.
This is a tough one. If you stop trying to become a "better person" for other people, you’ll realize that the person you are is just right. When you learn that your faults are rich and wonderful teachers, that mistakes are golden, and that your weaknesses are usually just hidden strengths, you begin to accept yourself. Once you accept yourself, you realize that you always do your best—and then the expectations of others become less important. Work with a coach or therapist to get past this one.
Overdoers have the most difficult time recognizing themselves as over-doers because everything is important to them. Prioritizing, delegating and saying "no" aren’t the overdoers’ strong points.
If you’re an overdoer, identify what’s necessary to accomplish a task in a given amount of time. Get a sense of the entire project and then do what’s required to complete it.
Set what and when goals are to be accomplished, and break those goals into smaller sub-goals (e.g., concentrate on one section of a report at a time). Most of all, underpromise and overdeliver.
Now that you have an idea of the source of your procrastination, make a plan to diminish and control it:
Schedule tasks for your project.
Use your friends or a coach.
Keep a journal.
- In your journal, identify rationalizations, confront yourself, and redirect yourself to your task.
- Recognize negative attitudes and write out positive, encouraging attitudes.
- If you get mad, write out all your frustrations and anger in your journal.
- If you make a mistake, write out the interesting, beneficial things you learned from it.
If these suggestions don’t work, try, try again.
SOURCE: Linda R. Dominguez is a performance coach and owner of Executive Coaching and Resource Network. She has over 25 years of corporate, consulting and coaching experience.