Procrastination causes you to miss deadlines and opportunities, gives you a bad reputation, creates stress, and can even cost you your business. Take control of your life and work life by implementing these cures for procrastination.  Learn more in this week’s blog.

When confronted about his procrastination, a young man responded jovially, “Hey, anything worth doing is worth putting off!” Perhaps you find some affinity with this young man’s mantra. If so, I have good news for you. Procrastination is NOT a permanent personality trait. If you tend toward procrastinating, you can change. But first, let’s look at some of the pitfalls of procrastination and why this is such a crucial problem for many people.

Pitfalls of Procrastination

Missed deadlines – Customers, clients, vendors, etc. are counting on you to complete a task or project. But when you put off completing that task or project, you fail to meet the deadline.

Hurried or sloppy work – When you postpone a project and then rush to try and complete it, your work tends to be second-rate. You miss details and can’t give the project the attention it deserves.

Increased stress – When you put off an assignment until the last minute, you sentence yourselves to a life of stress until that assignment is finished. Under stress like that, your health and relationships tend to suffer as well.

Missed opportunities – Entrepreneur Victor Kiam wrote, “Procrastination is opportunity’s natural assassin.” When you put things off till the “eleventh hour,” you are unprepared to take on new opportunities that present themselves. You are stuck, trying like mad to finish the obligations that have been piling up, causing new and exciting opportunities to pass you by.

Defeated attitude – Eventually, the consequences of procrastination catch up with you and get you down. You feel bad about your missed deadlines, the stress you’ve caused yourself, and for letting others down. You find it hard to climb out of the hole you have dug for yourself.  This is not good.

Damaged reputation – Almost without exception, when there are deadlines involved, other people are counting on you. But when you are late or produce less-than-quality work time and time again, you get a miserable reputation for being unreliable. And that can kill any business.  Even yours!

As you can see, there’s a long, compelling list of the dangers of procrastination. But what causes it? Why do we fall into its trap? A few of the reasons for procrastination might be:

• Habit
• Lack of planning
• Misplaced priorities
• Distractions
• Lack of self-discipline
• Fear of failure
• Fear of the task itself
• Unsure of how or where to start on a project

All those reasons and more can lead us into the trap of procrastination. So, let’s focus on the cure!

6 Cures for Procrastination 

1. Only take on projects that fit. One of the things that promotes procrastination is taking on projects that don’t fit your mission, values, or what you enjoy. Accepting these projects causes you to regret it later and you drag your feet. In the end, nobody is happy.

2. Get it on the calendar. Put your projects, tasks, appointments and any other crucial dates on a calendar that is easy for you to monitor. This is vital for breaking a procrastination habit.

 3. Prioritize tasks. Check your calendar often to determine what’s due when. Figure out which projects take priority and tackle them in their priority order. Make a list daily and weekly of what you need to complete to stay on track.

4. Anticipate and eliminate distractions. This takes self-discipline. You must resist the temptation to run after those “shiny things” that present themselves to you and distract you from what is really important in life and business.

5. Follow through with action. Action is the antidote for both procrastination and fear. Once you have understood all the above steps, you must follow through.

6. Get help when needed. Sometimes a project ends up being much larger than you anticipated. Or perhaps the project involves an expertise that you don't have. If so, partner with someone to help you and do this early so that you are not dragging them past a deadline.

 Procrastination will ultimately kill your joy for your work, destroy your relationships and undermine your business. If you tend towards procrastination, don’t put off following through with these 6 cures for procrastination!

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IN CONCLUSION:

1. Procrastination can be fixed.

2. How to manage procrastination in bite-size steps.

3. You can overcome procrastination easily.

4. Procrastination: What you say matters greatly.

RESOURCES

Article: Procrastination: Why We Do It

Book: Say What You Mean: Because You’ll Have What You Say

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God Bless your week!