Procrastination in the thief of time.

Have a quick look in your diary or your PDA, and see what tasks you have set yourself this week. Now – being completely honest, is there a task in there that you just keep putting off, or dreading? Will you find every excuse not to do it? (E.g – it is not THAT important, he will be difficult, it may take me too long, I am not sure how to do it etc.) You are also aware that leaving it later and later will make it more difficult and/or traumatic in achieving. Or are you hoping that by ignoring it, it will simply go away?! Ask yourself if using your energy in worrying and procrastinating over this task is better than spending that energy elsewhere! As a leader, you will, quite likely, be pushed to the limits in terms of time, and should ensure your energy is effective and efficiently spent – lingering issues are not helpful!

So – take 5 minutes and sit quietly, with a cuppa or a coffee and ask yourselves these questions, to try to get to the bottom of your procrastination:

• What is stopping you?
• Who or what would it impact if I did not do this?
• What is my biggest fear in relation to the task?
• What is the worst thing that could happen if I did this task?

Write the answers down and look at them. Is there a pattern emerging?
Firstly, it may be the Fear Factor. It has been proven that over 80% of the worries people have, never actually happen. How much of the above is exactly that? If it is, ask yourself

• if you knew that you could not fail, what would you do now?
• How will I feel when I have achieved it?

Clearly we are not encouraging you to take inconsiderate risks, but often is just getting started that makes the worries disappear (or get easier to deal with!).

The thought of failure may also encourage you to look for things that always go wrong. Let’s turn that on its head. Consider a task that you can do that is always successful. How do you achieve that task? What pattern of behaviour or action that you do makes it successful? Could this pattern of success be used to help you achieve other tasks? Right now, I would like to you consider a specific task that you do well everyday. It could be getting to the bottom of issues, inspiring people at work, or even getting up in the morning! Think carefully of what you do, say and think to achieve this. It is important to consider your thinking patterns as you do it, and not just the output. Can you map any part of this thinking onto the task that you are struggling with? These thoughts, sayings or actions are the very patterns that have made you successful so far, so be very aware of them and use them in every opportunity.

Learning from others is also a useful strategy. Consider someone else tackling your task who you think would be good at it. How would they do it? What is different about their pattern? What could you learn from them? Try and see the task through their eyes and have a go.

Lastly, is it your mind-set? You may have already put in your mind that this is going to be difficult, boring, long, expensive, or unpopular. Do you really know that? You can change how you feel about that picture right now, as it is in your head at this stage and not yet reality. So - practise thinking the opposite to that negativity. For example, it is going to be interesting, challenging, or a good experience to learn. You can practise this ‘change of mind-set’ on more simple things. For example, if you are really tired in the morning, try thinking ‘WOW – another day already!’ rather than ‘I am really tired’ – You will be amazed at how your day is that much more agreeable, as well as helping you to practise mind-set changes.

In summary, these questions and exercises above are all designed to help you increase the options that you have to help tackle procrastination and to save your energy for positive and valuable tasks.

Go and make yourself have a great day!


Kate Tojeiro is an Executive Performance Coach at www.the-x-fusion.co.uk.