Monthly Archive for August, 2010

One of the things I get told as a coach more than anything else is “I don’t have time”. I’ve  spent a lot of time on the concept of time, and time after time I find it’s the procrastination about a task that steals more time than the activity itself.. So for today I want to spend a little of that valuable commodity on one of the great time stealers we know …Procrastination…

It’s a weird concept when you really think about it – I mean Procrastination by definition is putting off something you are going to do anyway and yet instead of rolling up your sleeves and getting on with the business, you punish yourself for a while first and then get the job done after you feel suitably punished or you suddenly have a big enough WHY…

And really it’s the WHY that will help you with Procrastination – students will put off an assignment for weeks, but the night before it’s due work through the night sipping coke and downing NoDoz wondering all along why they waited so long, because once they got started the task was easy.. The important words in that sentence are highlighted by the way – because procrastination meekly surrenders when we fight it with starting something!

Some simple tips for overcoming the “P” word..

1. Be aware of when you are Procrastinating and ask yourself why.. The task is never really that hard, so what internal dialogue is going on that’s painting a negative picture in your mind? What are you really afraid of? Is it failure? Disapproval? Perhaps it’s of being a super success?
2. Work out what your strategy for procrastination is and “scratch the record” a little by not allowing yourself to run the old patterns. If you procrastinate by answering the phone then don’t. If you procrastinate by looking at your email instead then turn your email off and keep the pattern distracter at bay. Working out your strategy for procrastinating will take you a long way toward defeating it.
3. Make a list of the things you like to do and the things you seem to put off and do the ones you put off first thing in the morning when you’re at your best.. The later part of your day is much better suited to tasks that require little energy from you.
4. Realise what your big “WHY” is.. – It may feel boring to write an email reply to someone in a timely fashion – but why are you really writing the email? Is it so you can make a sale or fill a seminar room that will allow you that overseas holiday or more time with your family? Sure makes the email an easy task right? A big enough why will make any task a breeze.
5. Remember that you can only eat an elephant one bite at a time…If you have a big task just break it down into small chunks and get started working systematically through the chunks remembering your big WHY..
6. At the end of each day write your tasks for the next day down and work through only those tasks. If a new task appears put it on the list for the next day or whenever is appropriate – avoid the “shiny thing” syndrome..