Every so often something really useful comes through in a
newsletter. My friend Jan Jasper is an
organizing and productivity consultant who has a lot of good ideas. Her newsletter this month was on
procrastination. In spite of business
being a little slow, many businesspeople and professionals I know are
procrastinating more earnestly than ever.
Jan's advice, excerpted below, is simple, profound and timely. I especially like the second point. Heaven knows I’ve wasted a huge amount of
time and energy in my life putting off something I didn’t want to do. I also
find this particularly relevant to my clients when it comes to marketing tasks
(ahem)…
Jan's Top Procrastination Busters
- Prune your to-do list of the non-essential items you know you'll never do.
- For that must-do task you've been putting off, just do it - ideally, the first thing in the morning. This frees your mental energy - often, not-doing something drains you more than doing it.
- Identify a part of the disliked task that's fairly pleasant - such as calling a colleague for information - and do that first, to get your feet wet. Or make a list of the various steps involved.
- Schedule hunks of time to tackle work that requires concentration. Actually make an appointment with yourself. Let voice mail pick up your calls. You'll make a lot of headway in a short time.
- If the task is really objectionable, promise yourself you'll tackle it just for 10 minutes, then if it's killing you, you can stop. You may find it's not so bad and can easily keep going until finished.
- If you want to avoid being distracted by email or the internet, put your computer behind you. You'll have to swivel around in your chair to check your email for the umpteenth time, or to Google something you're only mildly curious about. Going to the computer will now be a conscious decision.
- Avoid the temptation to shift from one half-finished task to another. This task-hopping is a form of stealth procrastination that many of us do without knowing it.
- For digitally managing tasks with sub-tasks, watch for our upcoming article "Use Outlook to Keep Track of Multi-Part Tasks" in the next issue of this eLetter.
- Some of the best procrastination advice is from
Alan Lakein - pre-tech era, but still excellent.
Jan Jasper is author of Take Back Your Time: How to Regain Control of Work, Information, and Technology, published by St. Martin's Press. Find her on the web at www.janjasper.com