Procrastinate Productively

This Ted Talk I watched recently has some interesting things to say about procrastination (May 2016).

Have you ever found yourself thinking, “I really need to do X (insert important task here)” and found yourself doing Y (insert Facebook, reading the news, another unproductive task here).

I have. In fact, I used to do so quite often but now I have found a way to make the most of my time and avoid that awful feeling that procrastination creates. You know, that why have I wasted my time and I still have X to do feeling. Mine is by no means the only way to deal with procrastination but it works for me and it might work for you, so I thought I would share.

Why do we procrastinate?

First of all, it is important to understand why we procrastinate.

There are various potential reasons for procrastinating: laziness, comfort, fear, apathy, and so on. For me the main reason is fear. I rarely feel lazy or apathetic about what needs doing, but I do fear it.

Things I tend to procrastinate over are calling potential clients, chasing money and writing blog posts (I appreciate the irony).

To be honest, the last in the list is a little strange because I enjoy writing posts. I suppose I put it off because I fear that I won’t have any good ideas. However, once I start planning, ideas tend to come on their own and even though I know this, my procrastinating brain seems to ignore the fact.

So how to I stop procrastinating?

I sort of don’t.

To a point I let myself put off important tasks like calling potential clients, but only if I am doing something else productive.

Firstly, I write myself a list of tasks for the day every morning. Some are important, some are less so. By the end of the day I should have done the important tasks and many of the smaller ones as well. This allows me to procrastinate for an hour or so and still be productive.

Behind on your admin – stop being behind. Have some new clients to add to your database – add them. Glossaries getting in a bit of a mess – sort them out. Need to buy onions and mince for dinner (mmm bolognaise) - pop down the shop.

If you can’t face the big task at least do things that will make your life easier in the future.

By achieving these small tasks and seeing how much better you feel when you cross them off the list, the benefit of doing the big task becomes obvious.

But we can’t avoid the important tasks forever.

One of the best things I do when I’m procrastinating is to set myself goals in writing. I write down exactly what I want to achieve, when and how. The process of setting goals makes me much more likely to achieve them.

How do I set goals?

Goals need to be SMART - Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time-bound

When setting goals you need to think in the present tense. Not I will call Mr T to find out where my payment is but I call Mr T to find out where my payment is. Apparently the tense of the verb has an important psychological impact, and affects how likely you are to achieve your goal.

It is extremely important to think about how you will feel once you have done the task because you know that you will probably feel better.

What’s the worst that could happen?

It also helps me to think of the worst possible outcome and how I would deal with it. I then think about how unlikely it is to happen.

Breaking important tasks into smaller tasks can make them seen less daunting, particularly if the smaller tasks help you to prepare for the main task.

I have outlined one of my goals below so you can see how it works.

Example: Calling new clients.

Why do I fear it?

I have very little experience of professional telephone calls. I know how rude my Dad can be to cold callers.

What do I want to achieve?

I call (at least) 5 companies every day starting from Tuesday 11 February 2014 to get information about potential business in their field.

How can I prepare?

I research the companies I am going to call – so I can call companies that are more likely to be interested in my services and so I can tailor questions.

I prepare a call record in excel.

I write a model script including roughly what I need to say, what I need to ask, etc.

I practice the call with friends and family.

I call a few low priority companies first for practice.

I analyse how these calls went and how I could improve them.

What’s the worst that could happen?

Someone could be very rude to me and tell me to go away and stop wasting their time.

How would I deal with this? I would get over it and try someone else.

What are the potential positive outcomes?

I will have a better knowledge of unfamiliar new markets and new clients.

How will I feel once I have started this task?

I will feel pleased that I have managed to do it. (In fact, most people are not at all rude. Even if they can’t/ don’t want to help you. Most people are in fact very nice.)

How do you stop yourself procrastinating?