We’re all guilty of putting things off or postponing the inevitable. This can be a good trait, especially if you’re weighing up the pros and cons of a big or difficult decision that has significant consequences. But there are some people who really need to just ‘get on with it’. These people are procrastinators and some it would seem, are serial experts at it. You may chuckle reading this, recollecting a period of your own procrastination but it can all too often be the root of a serious problem if you do not look at planning your workload.

Nip procrastination in the bud

Procrastination can affect you emotionally, manifesting itself in the form of negative feelings or a small internal voice that will always put something off until tomorrow and speak louder and more frequently than your real voice. Think about it, if you keep putting off chasing a bad debt, wouldn’t it eventually lead to limited cash flow? Unnecessary stress? Inadequate funds to invest? Potential loss of assets, even staff? It’s your choice to do something about it and it’s best to get on with it. Ask yourself, what’s the worst that could happen?

And what if you took so long perfecting the marketing tactics for your new product launch that overnight your competitor stole the thunder that should belong to you?

Many problems are unnecessary but procrastinators fail to see that they are the ones creating drawbacks in the first place. Short-term fulfillment is often chosen over long-term advancement.

How to spot your inner procrastinator

Typical characteristics of a procrastinator include:

• Struggling with self control
• The inability to delegate
• Chronic lateness
• Underestimating the time it takes to complete a project
• A lack of goal setting
• Feelings of anxiety
• To-do lists that never reduce
• Tackling the simple tasks first

Procrastination can affect your reputation. It can impact the reputation of your company if you are seen to delay decisions or fail to act upon something your customers, colleagues or suppliers see as important to them.

Whilst a virtual personal assistant such as myself can offer a guiding light for procrastinators it’s often a realisation challenge that has to be overcome. Procrastinators first need to understand they have a problem and then accept it.

So ask yourself honestly, do you relate to the above behaviours?

If you do, delegating mundane tasks or projects that you distain is a good start. It will free up time and prevent you from using easy chores as an excuse to put off the important, often more challenging tasks. Organising regular admin chores and staying on top of financial requirements will save much time. Choosing to plough through a chunky task as your first of the day will bring more pleasure when you reach the shorter, easier tasks. In fact, break down a chunky task into smaller, more manageable chunks to give the appearance of a much easier project.

Challenge procrastination – break the habit

Seize the day, review your workload and get organised. Get good at communicating with others to motivate and push forward. Set goals – daily, weekly and monthly – and hold yourself accountable (or ask someone else to).

Unfortunately, procrastination is a state of mind so it takes will power to make a difference and break the ‘put it ‘off’ pattern of addiction. Instill a sense of self-belief and a go-getter attitude. Change your behaviours and get into good, regular habits of getting stuff done.

Never question anything (small) more than twice!

Do you have any tips to keep procrastination at bay? Have you ever been in a procrastination spiral? And what made the difference for you?