“Procrastination is the thief of time”

This line was written by the English poet Edward Young back in 1742 – the essence of this meaning that someone who continually puts things off, ultimately achieves very little.

Lack of time is often the biggest barrier stopping SME business owners working ON the most important priorities in their business – strategy, planning, team development – and procrastination is often the root cause of this time challenge.

If we’re honest, we’re all guilty of procrastinating from time-to-time, and in many cases, it makes total sense that you might want to put off starting a task or project that doesn’t exactly fill you with joy – or that urge to spend another 15 minutes in bed looking at your phone, rather than getting up and embracing the day!

And we all know someone who will leave something to the last minute, regret it, but then do that same thing again next time around!

Recent studies have however shown that there are essentially six different types of procrastinators, and these can be broken down into two main criteria:

Procrastinators who avoid completing activity due to some form of anxiety:

  • The Worrier – will put off starting a diffcult task as they don’t believe they will be able to complete it. They won’t start the task as they don’t want to feel the anxiety of potentially failing it.
  • The Perfectionist – similar to the Worrier, but they fear that they won’t be able to complete the task to perfection, rather than not at all.
  • The Over-Doer – commits to too many tasks, fails to prioritise and therefore doesn’t complete any of them.

Procrastinators who are driven by boredom and frustration:

  • The Crisis-Maker – holds a belief that they need to be stressed to be able to perform at their best.
  • The Dreamer – believes that they don’t have to work hard to achieve their goals and is not a fan of the details which in turn makes it more difficult for them to implement their ideas.
  • The Defier – a rebel who is seeking to break the rules.

And although modern technology like Netflix and social media, are easy scapegoats for procrastinating, people have struggled with the related issue since the dawn of time, and studies show that chronic procrastinators are likely to have higher levels of stress and increased health problems. So it’s something that’s very important to get on top of should this be an issue for you.

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to procrastination – as detailed above. It will come down to why you’re potentially putting things off in the first place.

However, there are productivity hacks and tools that I’d recommend, that can help you get tasks underway and build some momentum around them.

  • Eat The Elephant – break down your tasks into bite-sized chunks and set SMART goals to keep you on track and motivated.
  • Prioritise Like A Boss – use the Eisenhower Matrix to help you focus on the most important tasks.
  • Embrace Your Routine – use your default diary and get into good habits. Click here to read our previous article on ‘The Art of Managing Your Default Diary’
  • Technology and Software – there are stacks of great productivity tools to help keep you on track, such as Trello, Asano or Monday.com
  • Let Go Of Perfectionism – in most cases, good is good enough. Perfection is the enemy of progress!
  • Be Mindful – take the time to breathe and align yourself. Be in the moment and you will lower the stress as well as improve your focus.

Need some help implementing these techniques into your daily routine?

Book a free 45-minute strategy session with me here.

 

While you’re here…

  1. This must-read book details twenty-one practical and doable steps that will help you stop procrastinating and get more of the important tasks done – today! “Eat That Frog” by Brian Tracey
  2. I recommend this Ted Talk by Tim Urban – Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator [Takes just under 14 minutes to watch]