Do You Procrastinate?
More time is lost in work through people putting off tasks and worrying about them instead of just getting the job done. To give you an idea of your potential for procrastinating, try answering the following questions, and choose answers that you feel best applies to you. Be honest with yourself!
Try this Assessment test
You can take the “Do you procrastinate? Self assessment test”
Just in case it turned out you do, here are 12 quick procrastination killers:
1. Get started – beginning is usually the hardest part. Once you have formed the 30-day habit you’re destined to succeed.
2. Break the task down into manageable chunks. If the problem seems to be a big one and you don’t know where to begin, start with the easiest chunk to give you confidence, then take it one bite at a time.
3. Use your ‘time gaps’ – even in five minutes you can accomplish a lot. You can often make your C tasks disappear during these quieter moments.
4. Important tasks first – routine seems easy – so we waste time on it by tackling it first. Schedule the difficult tasks first and then ‘reward’ yourself with the easy tasks.
5. Reward yourself for doing it and not procrastinating – if you really don’t want to do it, give yourself something to look forward to. When I’ve done this, I will have a coffee / go for a walk.
6. Start in the middle. If the first step seems the hardest, try starting in the middle and work your way outwards.
7. Give yourself more time. Set your alarm clock 15 minutes earlier.
8. Simplify it. Ask yourself if you could do it differently. Maybe you are making it more complicated than it needs to be.
9. Do nothing! Tell yourself that for fifteen minutes you are going to sit with the tasks and not do anything. (controlled procrastination) Generally people become bored and start.
10. Delegate it.
11. Involve someone else. Tell them what you intend to do, and ask them to check on your progress!
12. Use your leisure time for leisure. If you stop procrastinating then your leisure time will be ‘guilt free’.
