While some people are naturally highly motivated and enjoy making lists of priorities, there are many others who have a real problem getting tasks done on time due to procrastination. Especially in today's difficult economic times with frequent redundancies it is more important than ever to lean how to overcome this unhelpful habit.
What is Procrastination?
Procrastination, as the saying goes, 'is the thief of time,' and in simple terms is when a person puts off doing an activity or task that actually should be completed sooner rather than later. The truth is that everyone to some degree or another will have experienced that feeling of not wanting to get a job done for whatever reason and decided to put it on the back-burner for a while.
This is a habit and as habits are formed by individuals, they can also be broken; it simply requires learning new ways of approaching problems or tasks through key skills such as time management.
Problems of Workplace Procrastination
There are several reasons as to why procrastination can be problematic in the workplace environment. Firstly, if one is working as part of a team and is a chronic procrastinator it can slow the whole team down thus reducing productivity and efficiency. This will also likely begin to severely grate on other team members possible resulting in workplace conflict and reducing staff morale. A person can be so used to putting things off that he or she is unaware that this is a major problem.
In terms of promotion and career progression, if an employer has a choice between two well qualified candidates and one is known for procrastinating resulting in poor time management, then it is far more plausible that the other candidate would be successful.
The Role of Fear in Procrastination
A fear of both failure and success is often a large underlying factor of procrastination at work. The very thought of letting someone down or being criticised can have a stifling effect on one's ability to focus and simply push ahead to get a task or project completed. In reality though, it is far better to proceed as the anxiety associated with a fear of either failure or success only gets prolonged whilst the set task remains to be undertaken.
Remember that no-one is perfect and thus one can only work to the very best of one's abilities and then let the fear go. Aiming for perfection is a sure way to end up procrastinating as this is simply unachievable as perfection is just an illusion.
Time Management Skills Reduce Procrastination
There are a range of practical time management skills which may be helpful in overcoming procrastination within both the workplace and home environment. Writing a weekly or monthly progress report will help to increase motivation as will having small rewards for completing tasks within the set time frame.
Creating a priority list each morning will also likely be a good source of motivation and aid one in keeping the essential tasks at the forefront. However, it is important to ensure a priority list is clear, specific and includes jobs which are most urgent.
As highlighted above, procrastination is a very common problem but like all habits it can be broken using effective time management skills. Overcoming procrastination in the work place will help improve morale as well as likely reduce both conflict and some of the usual office politics.
Source:
Adams, B. (2001) The Everything Time Management Book Avon: Adams Media
Kate Le Page - Kate Henning-Le Page writes about eating disorders, body image and recovery issues. She specializes in anorexia recovery.
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