Seven Tips for Dealing with Procrastination

Procrastination has been described as the thief of time and even of life progress. The tendency to procrastinate affects almost everyone and causes delay in the actualization of business tasks, goals and vision. It is a constant battle to deal with procrastination and it is critically important to continue this battle so you can achieve faster and better results as a business person. Here are some tips for doing this.

Decide & Prioritize:

You need to decide and settle quickly in your mind how important the task or goal is to your business or vision. This is because if for any reason you feel it is not that important then you will likely not be motivated to take the necessary action when required. Furthermore, you also need to prioritize because if you take too much on board it might be overwhelming and nothing gets done eventually.

Estimate:

Properly estimate the amount of time or resources you will need to carry out your tasks or goals. In this process do not over analyze which can lead to action paralysis and eventual delay. At the same time do not underestimate as this can lead to being improperly prepared and which can result in delay right from the start.

Don’t Doubt:

Once you have decided that the task or goal that requires action is important enough, then do not doubt your abilities to act effectively. Doubt can cause indecision which eventually leads to inaction and then delay. Have confidence therefore in your capacity to handle the task or at least be confident that you can quickly find someone else with the abilities to successfully do the task on your behalf.

Schedule:

If you leave goals or tasks hanging in the air without a definite plan or time to do them then it is likely you will delay in doing them or not even do them at all. So it is important to fix a particular time for carrying out your goal or task and have a system like a calendar or mobile phone assistant which reminds you of when that time is due.

Don’t Wait:

Oftentimes, procrastination slips in when you are supposed to do a task and you decide to wait for the perfect time or resources to do it. There is often no perfect time, so once you have some time scheduled to do the task then use that time slot.

Initiate:

Start off carrying out your task or goal for the particular time you have schedule it. At the very least, initiate the preliminary processes and procedure for doing the task. This should then stimulate you to further carry out other activities which will eventually lead to a conclusion. Even if your initial result is not perfect at least you have set the ball rolling towards acting on your tasks or goals.

Be accountable:

Share your time schedule, tasks, goals, and vision with someone or a team of people who can periodically support, encourage and hold you accountable for your own progress. This will often prevent you from either slacking off or pushing important things forward since there are others who will take you up on it later.

It cannot be repeated enough that dealing with procrastination is a constant battle so even if you miss your goal targets a few times don’t give up but keep trying out these tips and keep your focus on eventually accomplishing those tasks and goals.