I’m not a believer that procrastination is good.
If you put things off until the last minute you’re doing harm to yourself.
According to research, procrastination can lead to unnecessary stress that can lead poor quality of life.
However, I realize now that you can’t just tell someone to do something if they’re a procrastinator. It looks like it’s part of their genetic make-up.
If you’re a procrastinator, there are some suggestions for improving your genetic make-up. These methods can help you overcome the tendency to put things off until it’s too late.
Procrastination is part of who you are. It’s difficult to change and a good way to combat its effects might be to use it where it can help. Procrastination is mostly bad when it comes to business, but there are certain times when entrepreneurs can use it to their advantage.
Here are those instances…
Focus Only On The Key Tasks
A great thing about procrastination is that you can learn what really matters. If you’re working on various tasks in your business and you’re procrastinating on some things then it’s time to take one day to analyze your priorities.
You’ll have key tasks each day that you have to complete in order to keep your customers happy. But there are probably many things you’re working on that don’t need to get done. This opens up time for other things.
And if all your tasks are important then your number one key task for today should be finding someone that can take on some of your tasks, freeing you up to focus on other key tasks.
Turn Big Projects Into Smaller Projects
One thing that can make you put things off is the idea of a huge project. This happens to most people. We see this gigantic project in front of us and the thought of it is terrifying. So instead of diving in we put off the scary idea of working on it.
This can lead to the unfortunate times when you have to rush through things to get it done on time. Or you have to delay delivery, which has other consequences.
It’s a reminder that with big projects it’s necessary to have smaller projects within the big project. Break the big item down into manageable items that you can work on and completely throughout the process. It’s the concept of taking baby steps and feeling the reward of completing something while you work on something much bigger.
Eliminate The Tendency To Multitask
One of the struggles with procrastination is that there are always distractions. Instead of working on your key tasks you find something else to do. Distractions are something that need to be eliminated if you want to avoid procrastination, but it also could be an issue with multitasking.
Many people multitask and think they’re getting more done when they’re actually doing more harm than good. You can use your procrastination habits as an excuse not to multitask. You can focus on one thing at a time and get really good work done.
It could be as simple as closing your email inbox while you work on your key tasks or it could be more involved like creating detailed lists of the things you have to do each day and only working on those items during the schedule time.
When you work on one thing at a time you’re more likely to get things done. You might be putting some things off until later, but if you’ve prioritized the right way it will be to your benefit.
Do not take this post as a reason to embrace procrastination. Use the links in the early portion of the post above to find ways to improve your procrastination habits. They can be changed and by changing them you’ll not only make yourself a better entrepreneur, but you’ll likely find that you’re happier in all aspects of your life. Hopefully, though, the tips above can help you use your own genetic make-up to your advantage in business. There’s always a silver lining in the way we’re made.