What's the hesitation? Procrastination makes low-priority tasks and activities instead of priority those who so often contribute most to our success. Some hesitation is a bad habit that hinders personal and professional development.
So if the delay is harmful, why are we doing this? We tend to put off doing things for the following reasons: * They are unpleasant to do. * They are difficult or complex to do. * This includes making difficult decisions, which can be overwhelming.
When we do not want to do something that is unpleasant or difficult, we find less important things to do, which will keep us "bus
y", so we have an excuse for why we did not get around to it. But to put something off not make it go away, and postponing it often just makes it worse. As someone once said, "Killing time murders opportunities."
Warning Signs of hesitation
"You will never find time for anything. You must do it." -Charles Buxton
Finding tasks on your to-do list week after week is a clear sign you are procrastinating, but there are also some more subtle, overlooked signs of hesitation. Can you identify with any of these options?
* Feeling overwhelmed: No matter how hard you work, you can not seem to catch up. You have a backlog of work that seem insurmountable. This may affect your sleep as you lay in bed thinking about all the things you "must do". Maybe it's time to renegotiate some of your commitments and say no to more requests, so you can say yes to what is most important to you.
* Breaking obligations to others or to yourself: You are constantly having to make excuses about why you did something you said you would.
* Losing focus: Although you have many important tasks at hand (some are even urgent), you'll find yourself wasting time trying to do things that are not important. For example, you find yourself surfing the net instead of doing something much more important.
* Start something new before anything else: This is particularly common with entrepreneurs who often spend time developing new business leads instead of following up with prospects they already have. If you use more time to attend networking events, than you use up by telephone, in writing or face to face, it might be you.
SEVEN habits of highly effective Procrastinator
"The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule but to schedule your priorities." - Stephen Covey
Here are 7 tips to help you change from "I will do it when I get around to it." to "I will do it now!"
1. Recognize and admit that you are procrastinating. As long as you defend, deny or rationalize your hesitation, you are not able to overcome it. Stop rationalizing and you will be more inclined to intervene.
2. What motivates you to do better? What rewards - tangible and intangible - you get by doing it rather than sit down? Remind yourself that the payoff on a daily basis. Post a picture or note, these premiums to you at such places as your computer screen, bulletin board, or the dashboard.
One way to control motivation is to check your own talk. Do you often say, "I have ..."," I should ... " or "I have to ..."? Replace this self-talk with "I choose to ..." and recognize that you are at choice about what you do. If you do not choose to do it, do not do it!
3. Analyze what makes you put things off. Most of us have a tendency to avoid things that are unpleasant, complex or overwhelming.
In Linda Sapadin book, the About Time: The Six Styles of Procrastination and how to overcome, she tells us that chronic procrastinator is not lazy, they simply need to cultivate a more natural and fluid transition from mental activity to physical activity, while with an appropriate amount of time and energy to complete the task. Here is a brief description of each of the six styles hesitation: (1) perfectionist (2) dreams (3) worried, (4) defined, (5) crisis-maker, (6) over-doer. Read the book if you want to achieve some significant insights and solutions for each of these styles.
4. Divide each of the activities you have problems in small steps. Take a small step that will get you moving in the right direction. Pick what seems like the easiest place to start, and block time on your calendar to begin. You may find that when you take action, the rest is much easier.
If you are more motivated to do the hardest first, then start with. As they say, eat a live toad first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day. Tackle that "toad" - the task you have been putting out, the one that hangs over your head - because it will lift an enormous burden, and you will feel much more productive.
5. Delegate some tasks to others. If you do not like to do it, you can delegate it to another? Or if you like to do something, but find that you have too much on your plate, either delegate it to another or renegotiate your dedication.
(Articles are submitted by http://www.orgcoach.net/newsletter/freenews.html) 6. Do not be a perfectionist. Unless you are a rocket scientist at NASA, you paid to get results - not to be perfect.
7. Commit yourself to action with specific deadlines. Promise results to others. Fear of losing face is a highly motivating. Or build in accountability for yourself by telling a friend, colleague or your coach exactly what you plan to get done each week. Ask them not to accept any excuses from you, and to remind you why you said you were doing all this at first. Set up a weekly check-in with an accountability partner to each of you reports to the other.
One of the most powerful tools I know to get things done is the weekly planning process. Make a weekly contract with yourself to plan your upcoming week. During your planning session, schedule important activities and tasks so you have a concrete plan for following through with your intentions. So promise yourself a reward when you complete the task. It may take time to break the habit of hesitation, give yourself permission to fail a few times. Remember that even a small amount of progress can allow you to achieve more than you ever have before.
Gone fishing? Back and forth, searching for the right spot, you throw your line out again and again. "This is the place" you think as you wait for a bite. Another snag! You begin to roll when the voltage increases. Snap!
Tired of fishing for information? According to a survey that the average executive wastes up to an hour a day - it's almost two months a year - looking for lost and misplaced information. What a drag on your time and energy! It's time to throw your old habits and try some new techniques. Do not put this time or will you be on a permanent fishing expedition! Do it now!
People pile instead of file for two primary reasons: (1) a fear of never finding it again when it is filed away, (2) a fear of forgetting to follow up on something that requires action. I recommend two essential tools to help you - Kipling's Taming Paper Tiger, a program that guarantees you'll find something you file or saving for 5 seconds or less, and a customized tickler chains file system that gives you a place to store things until you have time to follow up and remind you of important follow-up at the right time. Used consistently, these tools are guaranteed to save you the lost time you have spent fishing for documents in the past.
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