The Big, Bad Wolf in Business: Procrastination
What is procrastination? The definition is “moving or acting slowly as to fall behind” and implies blameworthy delay especially through apathy or laziness. It doesn’t sound particularly attractive, does it?
The truth is a procrastinator doesn’t have to be apathetic or lazy. There’re several other factors involved which will be discussed and some solutions explored.
There are three types of procrastinators: the avoider, the optimist, and the pleasure seeker.
According to Sigmund Freud’s pleasure principle, people tend to seek what feels good and avoid negative emotions. The avoider will delay a task that causes anxiety, boredom, or feeling overwhelmed. Their actions involve making excuses about why a job isn’t done or not making plans that can ensure the completion of a project.
The optimist will always think a job will take less time than it actually will take resulting in chronic lateness. Some signs of being the optimistic procrastinator are ignoring deadlines because they don’t think they will miss one or they lack follow-through.
The pleasure seeker avoids a job until they actually feel like doing it. That doesn’t always happen, so coworkers easily label the pleasure seeker procrastinator as a “slacker”. This behavior involves being impatient with tasks that aren’t enjoyable or failing to plan accomplishing such tasks.
Types of procrastinators have overlapping causes. Sometimes it involves fear; whether fear of failure, fear of success, being anxious about the outcome or the desire for perfectionism. Some are poor at time management, lack organizational skills or are ignorant when it comes to prioritizing. Also, distractions in a busy work environment can be a major cause of procrastination.
Procrastination can affect a business in a multitude of ways. An obvious one is the impact on productivity. There is a difference between being busy and being productive. The time spent avoiding a task is wasted time or results in rushing to finish something by a deadline which means lower quality work. A reputation for missing deadlines, incorrectly filling orders or supplying a sub-standard product will impact a company’s finances and severely damage its reputation.
Delayed decision making usually results in doing something regrettable or missing the opportunity entirely. Opportunities which benefit a business may never present themselves again.
Any of the above scenarios create increased stress. Procrastination can lead to low self-esteem, depression and anxiety. It can also affect our physical health.
It’s worth mentioning that there are positive forms of procrastination. Procrastination can be further broken down into active or passive. Active procrastination is when someone purposely delays action because they work well under pressure or passive when, for whatever reason, they are paralyzed into inaction of completing a task.
Active procrastinators are more like non-procrastinators in their ability to use time and achieve a goal. There are some bright spots to being an active procrastinator such as having time to plan, prioritizing time, working efficiently or increasing motivation.
But if you’re a passive procrastinator, there are steps you can take to overcome it. Improve your planning by:
Setting concrete goals with specific beginning and ending dates.
If it’s a big job, break it down into manageable steps. It doesn’t have to be outlined at once which can be overwhelming. Start with the first few, then add steps as you go.
Set deadlines for accomplishing each of these steps.
Are you more productive in the morning than in the afternoon? Tackle the biggest job when your productivity level is at the highest.
Make your workplace work for you.
If you’re working in a noisy environment, try to find somewhere quieter or wear noise-canceling headphones.
If you have an important job the following day, try and have everything prepared the day before so you’re ready to tackle it right away.
Reduce distractions. Put your phone away or consider a web site blocker if you’re tempted to browse the internet when you’re bored.
Change how you approach a job.
Start with a small task related to the bigger undertaking and do it. Frequently, once you start, you find the impetus to keep going.
Identify the easiest part of the job or the worst part of the job. Some people find doing the most enjoyable first gives them motivation to keep going while for others, doing the worst part first gives them relief and motivation.
If you’re tempted to procrastinate, give yourself a window of time before you allow yourself to do so.
Alternate your work and break times. Work for a period, break for a period of time and reward yourself with a longer break time after a longer work time. (Check out the Pomodoro technique.)
Increase your motivation.
Completed your to-do lists two days in a row? Reward yourself.
Find a way to make the work seem more enjoyable. Do you like music? Listen while you work.
Visualize the good and the bad. How will you feel after the job is done? Great, right? Or how will you feel after you miss the deadline? Not great at all.
Focus on the goal instead of the individual task. Think about the positive long-range effects of getting the job done; maybe that promotion you’ve been hoping for or time to take that badly needed vacation.
Lastly, work on your mindset.
Know mistakes are inevitable and correctible. Be realistic and know nothing is perfect the first time around. Be easy on yourself.
Address your fears. If you’ve been given a project, don’t let yourself procrastinate from fear of failure. Addressing your fears is often the first step in overcoming them.
Develop self-compassion which means taking care of yourself, realizing others also face challenges, and accepting your emotions without judgement.
Believe in your abilities. Identify the techniques you can successfully use to complete your goals and work on confidence in your abilities to use these techniques to become successful.
Procrastination can be the big, bad wolf in business. Don’t let it huff and puff and blow your house in. See it, address it and beat it!
Do you hate bookkeeping duties? Avoid procrastination! Delegate instead. We love what you hate. Call Certum Solutions today!