Procrastination is one of the biggest costs to your business today
Are you or members of your team prone to procrastination? Learn about one of the biggest costs - and how it may be going unnoticed!
Stephanie Moore
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Once you have watched this powerful film presented by Danny Gray, read the five-step guide to help you to identify and rectify the pitfalls of procrastination. Viewing time: 8 minutes; 19 seconds Reading time: 3 minutes; 7 seconds
Procrastination is one of the biggest costs to your business today
How to stop procrastination: a five-step guide
Step one: Be true to yourself
The first step, and often the hardest, is, to be honest with yourself about what you’re procrastinating over. Recognise what it is, call it out and put it on the table with a bright light shining over it. Brushing it under the carpet and hoping it’ll go away is not the answer. It won’t go away. Fact.
Say it, call it, own it. Step two: What's your motivation?
A catalyst for change or getting things done is never a matter of ability; it’s a matter of motivation. What motivates you to do what you do is based on one of two things; the avoidance of pain or the gaining of pleasure.
When you find yourself procrastinating, it’s either because the pleasure you’ll get from doing it isn’t strong enough to pull you towards it, or you haven’t experienced enough pain to give you the impetus to take action. You’re drifting in ‘no man’s land’ until one of these levers kicks in.
Identify which lever is absent, or not strong enough, and understand the driver behind it. For example, the closing date is ages away, I’ll put off completing those forms a little longer (lack of pain) or, I need to get back in the gym, but if I’m honest I don’t see any difference when I go (lack of pleasure).
Step three: Is your 'why 'strong enough?
Step three links with step two. Most people make decisions based first on the avoidance of pain. In the absence of pain, there will be no action. For example, I’ll put off the dentist appointment because my toothache has stopped. I won’t have that awkward conversation because the problem has ‘kind of’ gone away. I won’t quit my job because today was an OK day.
While pain is usually the catalyst for action, pleasure is the continuation of action. If your WHY? for doing something is big enough, you’ll stop looking over the fence and decide it’s time to look at the opportunity (or task or challenge) before you and find what is right in it. A compelling WHY? will give you the best reason of all to do just that. Find your compelling WHY? Step four: You'll achieve little
There’s a proverbial mid-18th-century saying procrastination is the thief of time, which means if you continually put things off, ultimately you’ll achieve very little. When procrastination gives way to crystal clarity and attention, work is devoured without hesitation, and giving up never occurs to you – it doesn’t even exist in your vocabulary or thoughts! Shifting your mindset away from putting it off to getting it done is a game-changer.
Step five: Take action today
Address one thing you’ve been procrastinating about and sort it out immediately. Make the appointment, have the conversation, draft your action plan, and complete the forms – whatever it is, do it today.
take action; achieve more
Recognising that you have problems with procrastination is the first step to overcoming it. Instead of giving yourself a hard time, try and understand the underlying reason
Start by training your mind to respond quickly with small tasks such as hanging up a coat that is left on a chair, or getting up to fill your glass with water. Simple measures train the brain to get things done
Time is precious; when you learn to appreciate it is finite, you make better use of your time
