Procrastination
Do you find yourself delaying (and delaying and delaying…) tasks that you should be concentrating on until your stress level skyrockets as they move from ‘need to do’ to ‘urgent’ to ‘emergency’? With such intense, last minute pressure it’s often difficult to do our best work.
Most of us experience procrastination in some form or another. It’s tempting to put off unpleasant tasks so we can focus on more enjoyable ones. When procrastination becomes your default it can interfere not only with the job at hand, also your job, relationships, finances and more.
Procrastination is about more than putting things off to a future date, it’s about spending time performing tasks that create nothing of value for you or others.
The Fix
Set a timer for 30 minutes for you to concentrate on the one task you know you need to get done. After that time, reward yourself with a 5-10 minute break. Have a snack, go for a walk, listen to some music or meditate. Then, when the break is over, set the timer for 30 minutes of work. Repeat.
If you do not trust yourself to stick to the timer method find an integrity buddy; someone who can offer some good old (positive) peer pressure by checking in with you for informal status updates.
Sometimes just getting started is the hardest part. Once begun, an initially unpleasant seeming task can take on a different light.
Share below: What do you do to set yourself up for success when you feel that nasty procrastination monster creeping in?
To your success and happiness
Corinne McElroy