Far too many people describe themselves as procrastinators who find it difficult to get stuck straight into difficult tasks, instead putting them off until “tomorrow” or “next week”.
Chronic procrastinators don’t perform nearly as well as they could in almost every area of their lives. This starts way back in school when the procrastinator would put off doing their homework or assignment until the day before it was due, and ended up doing a half rate job because of it. Procrastinators do more poorly in tests and exams because they leave it too long before they start studying.
Procrastination is especially bad in the workplace. Some tasks may seem too difficult or challenging, or maybe too tedious and time consuming, and so the procrastinator will think to themselves: “Well, my boss needs this report by next Wednesday, that gives me over a week to get it done. I’ll wait until tomorrow to get started!” Of course, by the time tomorrow has become today, the task still hasn’t been initiated and the chronic procrastinator will push it back a little further, justifying it to themselves in whatever way necessary.
So how do you go from being a chronic procrastinator into an effective worker who gets tasks done on time? One thing you can do (especially in the early stages) is to reward yourself for not procrastinating. This may be something as simple as treating yourself to a coffee and cake once the task is out of the way.
The next step is to make procrastination unnecessary. Ask yourself why you procrastinate over particular tasks. Usually people get the simple, easy tasks done but put off the more challenging tasks. If you find yourself putting off a large project because it seems overwhelming, then start by making a plan and breaking the project down into small chunks. Fit these small tasks into your schedule, and reward yourself once each task is completed.
Create a list of tasks that you tend to put off, and put them in order from most to least important. Start with the first task and when it’s completed, cross it off the list and start on the next one. If you need, take a break between each task, but work through them methodically.
When you find yourself with just a few minutes remaining before home time don’t use this as an excuse for not doing a task you’d rather put off. Instead, put the time to good use and get started on a task you’d ordinarily put off. Remind yourself that you only have to do it for ten minutes and then you can go home. You may surprise yourself with how much you can do in that short amount of time, and once the task’s started, it may be easier to get back into tomorrow.
