Procrastination: The Later Syndrome
Because success is heavy and it
carries a responsibility with it, it is much easier to procrastinate and live
on the philosophy of ‘I will do it tomorrow’. How many tasks were you supposed
to complete last week that you left till this week hoping you still had enough
time before the deadline? When you procrastinate, you limit the opportunity to
move ahead to reach your goal immediately. Hard work often pays off after time
but laziness always pays off immediately. A duty delayed is like a debt unpaid;
it is only deferred and we must definitely come back and settle the account at
last. I have always believed that the most successful strategy for ensuring
failure is to procrastinate.
How we can
deal with procrastination?
1. Focus On The Most Important Task
Last week while discussing how to create a weekly planning
process, we mentioned that this helps you focus on the most important things.
On a daily basis learn to focus on the most important task first particularly
if it’s those that put money in the bank for the company and helps you to reach
your set targets, and let the least important slumber in the file until you’re
ready for them.
2. Don’t Think About It, Just Do It!
I love the catch-word for NIKE, the sports resource company- Just Do it! Success in career as with all other issues of life is
about taking action. To think too long
about doing a thing often becomes its undoing. A major cause of
procrastination is the time we waste thinking about a task or project rather than
just doing it. Thinking about a project or task is good, but remember you
will not be scored on how long you sat thinking but on the realization of the
task or project at hand. As the Chinese says: “a journey of a thousand miles
begins with a step”, but we need to take that first step first.
3. Set a Personal Target Ahead Of the Completion Of Any Task
or Project
Fear of not meeting a deadline can be very disturbing. Nobody
goes to the Olympics to win a medal by competing with others. To win at an Olympic,
you must compete against yourself. I learnt this truth long ago while in school
and I set a personal academic standard for myself that a “B” rating in any
course for me was failure and this helped me finish top of my faculty. While
others are busy celebrating their ‘Bs’ I am busy mourning same. Set a time for
the completion of any task or project ahead of what the company standard says and
stick to it because if you don’t you’ll forever be leaving it for later. If you
set a time for completion, it gets into your consciousness and never gets off
your back until you do it. Then your credibility at work grows!
4. Do One Thing At A Time
While I agree that the ability to multi-task is very
important in our day and age; you still cannot do two things at a time and do
both well. And if you consider the task or project too large, break them into
manageable bits, and take the bits one at a time. I believe in one-point agenda
to fix the “power sector” that is achievable than a mediocre seven-point transformation
agenda!
5. Start With The Hardest Task Of The Day
Dale Carnegie said: “Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs
will take care of themselves.” If you start your day this way you will feel
relieved, relaxed and good about yourself. And the rest of the day – and your
to-do list – tends to feel a lot lighter and easier to move through. It’s
amazing what difference this one action makes. However, for some others, they
may need to start with the easiest tasks to help build their confidence on the
job but I have not always seen this producing the most important results.
6. Be An Unrepentant Optimist
Nelson Mandela said: “It always seems impossible, until it’s
done”. Many a time, we’re burdened by self-doubt as to whether we can or
cannot undertake a task or project, and what do we do? We keep it for later. To
conquer procrastination, you must be an unrepentant optimist. A bank once
advertised on Nigerian TV screens “impossibility is not in our dictionary”. See
yourself as an achiever and know that mistakes are stepping stones to greatness
because they make you experts in your field.
7. Carefully Choose Your Friends
Friendship is a matter of choice. Show me your friend and
I’ll tell you how far you can go. The people you flock with may help you
accomplish a task or project quicker or turn you into a chronic procrastinator.
If you flock with those who are forever at the bar or joint every evening when
you have a job to do, you’re likely to become a procrastinator. And if you
flock with those who manage their time well, they’re likely to rob off on you.
So make your choice.
Success comes to the person who does today what others were
thinking of doing tomorrow. If you wait for too long, the future will be gone
before you get there. Tomorrow is the only day in the year that appeals to a
lazy man. Never allow an idle moment.
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