Are you looking for some practical tips to help you overcome procrastination in your business?
Do you want productivity tips that will help you break through procrastination in a fun and creative way?
In this article, you’ll find five unique tips to help you overcome your procrastination and get things done today.
Key Takeaways
- Procrastination often stems from fear, lack of knowledge, low motivation, or overwhelm
- Persistent procrastination can harm business outcomes, but overcoming it can improve productivity and success
- Reduce procrastination by breaking tasks into smaller steps, using rewards, and adopt creative approaches in your work
Table of Contents
- What is procrastination?
- Who is affected by procrastination?
- What should you consider to overcome procrastination?
- What are some common signs of procrastination?
- Why should you care to overcome procrastination?
- What are some benefits when you overcome procrastination?
- How can you overcome procrastination?
- 5 creative ways to overcome procrastination
- FAQ: ways to overcome procrastination
- Conclusion
What is procrastination?
Procrastination is the act of putting off, avoiding, ignoring, or delaying tasks that need to be completed, often in a timely manner. You’ve probably experienced procrastination in some form or another your life — it’s just part of being human.
Procrastination can rear its head in the professional world in business and at work. It can also show up in one’s personal life when dealing with household, administrative, relationship, and other personal items.
In my experience as a productivity coach, I find procrastination tends to appear in people’s lives when there is both importance and urgency associated with a task.
When you’re procrastinating, you may actively avoid performing a task, say completing a report by 12 noon. But for some reason or another, you do not complete the task by the deadline.
You may find yourself working on some other task in its place, conveniently forgetting about the task, or filling up your time with some other task entirely.
Who is affected by procrastination?
People of all walks of life are affected by procrastination. And it’s not uncommon for procrastination to pop up either at work or at home.
You can be a small business owner, entrepreneur, solopreneur, executive, professional, creative, or anyone in between. In fact, depending on the person and context, a person may have different experiences with procrastination than another person.
For instance, you may find that you procrastinate doing laundry at home, but can easily complete client assignments in your business.
Conversely, you might have a friend who procrastinates on marketing their business, yet easily stays on top of cleaning their home every week.
And of course, there can be varying degrees of procrastination where someone might equally avoid tasks both professionally and personally. For example, you might put off bookkeeping both in your business or at home.
What should you consider to overcome procrastination?
In my experience as a productivity coach, procrastination doesn’t simply just present itself all of a sudden.
There’s usually some sort of external influence that causes you to procrastinate on a task.
Over the years, I’ve found that people who procrastinate tend to have at least one of the following be true of their particular situation:
Fearful of something or someone
You may be secretly harboring some sort of fearful outcome, experience, repercussions, or thoughts related to your work. You may be afraid of how you’ll be perceived by others, your relationship with others, and how your life will potentially change. In some cases, this may manifest as a fear of success, fear of failure, or simply fear of the unknown.
Concerned about a lack of knowledge
No one knows everything there is to know in this world. But the good news is that wee can take steps to learn something new every day. Feeling unknowledgeable about a subject, topic, or area of expertise can be a cause for concern. And then of course there’s the fear of having to learn something completely new or making a mistake in the process while learning.
Feeling unmotivated, bored, or lazy
Feeling unmotivated to do your work can be big factor when it comes to procrastination. Maybe you’re not feeling 100% interested with the task at hand and need some motivation to help you move things forward. Perhaps you’ve lost your passion for your work, are feeling tired, lazy, or perhaps even flat out bored by the work itself.
Feeling overwhelmed
Another common reason why people procrastinate is that they feel totally overwhelmed by their work. They don’t know where to start or how they should begin with a project. This can leave people in a state of analysis paralysis where they continually analyze the situation without taking any forward action.
What are some common signs of procrastination?
Procrastination can show up in many different ways in your business and in your daily routine. And the key is to uncovering procrastination within your business is to simply pay attention.
Ask yourself, “What are some areas or aspects of my business where things feel stuck, stagnant, or behind schedule?”
Here are some common signs of procrastination that can be found in many businesses:
- Not returning phone calls, emails, and texts from potential clients, customers, and vendors in a timely manner
- Refraining from delegating tasks to an assistant, team members, employees, or contractors
- Avoiding revenue-driving sales and marketing activities to can grow your business
- Delaying or sidestepping an important decision about your business’ future
- Failing to schedule important meetings and appointments with key stakeholders
- Avoiding hands-on production work for a new or existing client or customer
- Ignoring routine administrative paperwork with a bookkeeper, accountant, lawyer, or other financial professional
- Starting the work day late and finishing work late on a consistent basis
Why should you care to overcome procrastination?
Procrastination may not seem like a big deal in business. Perhaps you only procrastinate every now and then without any undue stress or complications in your business.
But a continual lack of attention to your work or the overall flow of work in your daily routine can have a great impact on your business’ future success.
For instance, a seemingly small action, like not returning a potential client’s call can potentially have a cascading effect in your business. That potential client may choose to work with a competitor.
Conversely, if you continue to put off returning an existing client’s call in a timely manner, that high-paying client may no longer choose to work with your business.
If you consistently procrastinate in one area of your business, whether it’s production, finance, marketing, or sales, it will most likely impact your business’ bottom line in future.
Any business needs clients and customers to survive. In the example above, not dealing with procrastination can ultimately have long lasting effects on your business’ integrity and overall wellbeing.
What are some benefits when you overcome procrastination?
When you learn how to overcome procrastination, you literally give yourself the gift of a transformative experience.
And in case you were wondering, that goes for both yourself and your business!
Sure, there are practical benefits of overcoming procrastination in your business, like an increase in sales.
But there are also intangible benefits that can help you become a better business person for the long-term.
Some potential business benefits that may arise when you overcome procrastination:
- Increase in revenue and take home pay
- Decrease in expenses and operating costs
- Consistent influx of clients and customers to your business
- Better knowledge of your business’ financials
- Streamlined operations for accounting, bookkeeping, and finance
- Close new business in previously unexplored areas and industries
- Regular production of consistent and quality work
And some potential personal benefits that may arise when you overcome procrastination include:
- Increase in self-confidence in your decision making abilities
- Willingness to trust yourself when prioritizing tasks
- Learning new skills, tools, and techniques to help you as a business person
- Feeling in control of your business…and not the other way around
- Less overwhelmed and more focused in your business and work
- Save time and energy in your day meeting things on time
- Present a more professional version of yourself to clients, customers, vendors, and contractors
How can you overcome procrastination?
I’m going to be blunt here: overcoming procrastination is a work in progress. You don’t simply wake up one day and decide you’ll never procrastinate ever again.
That’s really not going to happen. But what you can do instead is to be more self-aware of your actions at any given moment in time.
One of the best things you can do understand why you’re procrastinating in the first place. When you can clearly define why you’re procrastinating, you can find smart solutions to help you deal with it.
For instance, perhaps you’re feeling hesitant about a new computer program in your business. With some careful thought and consideration, you may discover you’re feeling nervous and unknowledgeable about using a new tool.
Great, now you have something you can work with! You could watch a training video, ask someone for assistance, or sign up for a workshop to further your skills.
Another thing you can do to overcome procrastination is to figure out when you procrastinate. This is a bit more nuanced than the “why.” For example, do you procrastinate when there’s a looming deadline? When it’s later in the day? When there’s no one else in the office?
In this case you could, you better plan your projects so you’re not rushed, do important work early in the morning, or make sure you do your work even if there’s no one else around.
Lastly, if you really want to overcome procrastination: take action. Sometimes this is the best path forward instead of wallowing in hours of indecision, frustration, annoyance, and boredom.
Once you get the momentum going and start getting into your work, you may wonder why you even procrastinated in the first place!
5 creative ways to overcome procrastination
Procrastination can rear it’s ugly head when you least expect it.
It can show up in different areas of your life, be it work, school, errands, personal projects, and more.
That’s why it’s such a good idea to be prepared and have several different procrastination-fighting options available to you.
Use one or more of these creative tips to push past your resistance and get your work done.
Make a list of teeny-tiny tasks
Does the thought of working on a large task seem less than inviting to you? If so, stop trying to do absolutely everything in one sitting!
It’s perfectly okay to break your work up into several teeny-tiny steps. After all, it’s far better to take several small steps forward, than to not move forward at all.
Once you start completing and adding up those tiny tasks, you’ll realize you’re well on your way to completing your final task.
Let’s say you need to organize an upcoming client meeting at your office. You’re probably not going to complete every single aspect of your planning in one afternoon.
Just start. Make a list of really simple tasks. Yes, these tasks may seem small, but they will help you make a dent in your work.
How creating a first draft of the meeting agenda? Done.
What about asking your team lead to prepare a slide deck for the meeting? Done.
How about asking your assistant to book a conference room? Done.
The next time you’re feeling overwhelmed by your work, go small.
Break your current tasks into even smaller tasks. All that’s left to do is work on one small task after another. Simple, right?
Create a reward board game
If you’re really dragging your feet when it comes to doing your work, why not create a couple of juicy rewards for yourself?
You can create a little reward board game that includes a list of tasks, followed by a mini-reward.
The idea here is that you do your work for a certain amount of spaces, or tasks, and then claim your little reward.
When you have all of your rewards lined up and staring you in the face, it might give you the motivation you need to start working.
Now, keep in mind, these rewards don’t have to break the bank. They can be small rewards that bring a smile to your face or make you feel good.
You could schedule a relaxing bath at home, go out for your favorite latte, buy a couple of new songs, or hold an impromptu dance party.
You could watch an on-demand episode of your latest binge-worthy TV show, hug your pet, or call your best friend on the phone.
Work alongside a work buddy
Are you motivated to put your back into your work when you’re with a diligent and industrious person?
If so, you may want to temporarily work in the same room or area with a friend or acquaintance whom you know will keep you on task.
Now, the caveat of this tip is that you must be strict in your selection of a work buddy. Ideally, you should work with someone who is amendable to this type of arrangement.
They should be someone who is 100% serious about doing their work. They want you to do the same.
Once you’ve found a work buddy, you can agree upon a specific time and location in which to meet.
Come ready and prepared to do your work. Set a timer for as long as you’ve scheduled yourselves to work, and then get to it!
When the timer goes off, review your progress. Make plans for your next work session and revel in the successful completion of your most recent task.
Find another work solution
Many times it’s not the work itself that you avoid, rather the prescribed method of doing the actual work.
Sure, you may not like to write, research, read, or brainstorm. But that certainly doesn’t mean you can’t get the job done.
In cases like this, it may bode well for you to complete the task at hand by using an alternative work method.
What are some alternative work options that would make the task at hand just a little less stressful, annoying, or frustrating?
You are only limited by your imagination. Here’s a couple of ideas to get you thinking…
Dislike brainstorming on your own without any prompts? Try doodling a few images, pick a couple of words from the dictionary for a word-association game. You could also cut out colors or images from magazines.
Don’t care for reading? Check if the book or text is available as an audiobook. You can also use your computer or other digital device for the audio narration function.
Don’t care to write? Try recording your thoughts into a digital recorder or note taker and have the device translate it to text for you.
Read the directions
Sometimes, the easiest thing you can do when it comes to doing your work is to simply read the directions. It’s a convenient way to set the foundation and tone of your work.
It’s also a good way to reinforce basic concepts, safety issues, and practical concerns. In essence, you are taking the time you need to set yourself up for success.
And isn’t that a step in the right direction?
Okay, so how can you “read the directions” for your work? You could review the ingredients and instructions for a new recipe or review an appliance set-up manual.
You could read the assembly instructions for a piece of furniture or read the instructions or guidelines that came along with your project or assignment.
Likewise, you could watch a video or read a tutorial. Another option is to ask someone for their personal thoughts or professional experience with the task at hand.
It all counts towards being more informed about the work you’re going to perform.
FAQ: ways to overcome procrastination
Who should overcome procrastination?
Everyone should learn steps to overcome procrastination both at work and home. Small business owners, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, executives, professionals, and creatives should especially learn how to overcome procrastination if they want to create a supportive business environment for themselves.
Why should you overcome procrastination?
Even the smallest of business tasks has the potential to have an impact on your business’ bottom line. Overcoming procrastination means you’ll have a better chance of completing tasks, projects, and assignments in your business in a timely manner.
Where should you overcome procrastination in business?
Focus on areas that are central to your business’ overall wellbeing. Begin by exploring tasks in business operations, administration, marketing, sales, production, management, and finance. Learn how to complete or delegate tasks as needed.
How can creativity help overcome procrastination?
Overcome procrastination by finding creative ways of solving old problems. You may come up with different solutions, techniques, ideas, and more just by simply changing your perspective or approach.
What’s the best way to overcome procrastination?
Take action on a small task that you’ve been procrastinating on. Completing a small task can help give you the momentum you need to motivate you to restart and complete your work.
Conclusion
Procrastination can come up every now and then for even the most savvy of business owners. Whether your procrastination stems from fear, low motivation, overwhelm, or a lack of knowledge, the good news is that you can take steps to overcome it.
Breaking tasks into small steps, rewarding yourself for progress made, or changing your approach can keep your workflow fresh and exciting. Consistency is key if you want to boost your productivity and run your business with less stress.
In case we haven’t yet met virtually, it’s nice to meet you! Hi, I’m Rashelle Isip, The Order Expert®, productivity coach for entrepreneurs, small business owners, and professionals.
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