According to a 2007 study by Canadian industrial psychologist Piers Steel, procrastination is on the upswing, and this is bad news for not just small-business owners, but the entire country. Steel’s 10-year study concluded that “increased procrastination makes us poorer, fatter, and unhappier on the whole.” While only 5% of Americans in 1978 identified themselves as chronic procrastinators, today the figure is a whopping 26%.
Don’t want to be part of this growing trend? Follow the suggestions below to nip procrastination in the bud.
1. Admit that you have a problem. Denial doesn’t make it go away.
2. Try to discover the cause of your procrastination. What are you afraid of? What is difficult about the task you face? What are you trying to avoid by avoiding the work?
3. Keep an avoidance-strategy diary for a week. Whenever you find yourself doing anything other than the task before you, make a note of it and what emotion prompted it. After a week, analyze the diary and see what your biggest distractors and strategies are. Once you know what they are, you can set up systems to help counteract them.
4. Make a list of the benefits of completing large tasks and keep them posted over your desk. Set realistic goals based on the benefits.
5. Get an accountability buddy-maybe someone who’s interested in counteracting procrastination like you. Check in with each other once a day to keep each other on track. Just don’t use this as another work-avoidance strategy.
6. At the beginning of each day, prioritize your tasks and block the time out on your calendar for the hardest tasks first. Saving the easiest or most fun for last will give you something to look forward to and give you a sense of accomplishment all at the same time.
7. Make sure you have everything you need to complete your tasks in front of you before you begin. That way you won’t be popping up out of your chair every few minutes when you remember something you need.
8. Rather than looking at the big picture, break a large complicated task down into manageable tasks that ideally take 30 minutes or less. You can stand almost anything for a short period of time.
9. Beware of self-sabotage. Repeating to yourself phrases like “I’ll never get this done” tends to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. When you catch yourself falling into that destructive pattern of self-talk, correct it immediately with phrases like “I can do this.”
10. Use positive reinforcement. Set rewards for the completion of projects-a nice restaurant meal, an evening at the movies or even a trip to Starbucks.
Eradicate Procrastination
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