Three excuses for procrastination and how to overcome them
Everyone procrastinates at some point or another. What makes procrastination a real problem rather than just an excuse is the next step in overcoming the problem. To prevent the excuse from becoming a time management problem, consider the suggestions listed below for three of the most common excuses people use to procrastinate.
“I get so much mail that it prevents me from doing other tasks.”
Mail comes in many forms. There is snail mail, inter-office notes, email, and internet chat / instant messaging. Eliminating unnecessary communications is the best way to handle this excuse. For advertisements and catalogs by post or email, the solution is as simple as requesting that the name and address be removed from the mailing lists by calling a toll-free number or visiting a website to choose an opt-out option. For inter-office notes and company emails, first check if action is required or if the copy is informational to try to get out of the information-only lists. To get away from Internet conversations, turn it off completely or let others know what times this option is appropriate during a planned work day. Most mailings are non-urgent, so don’t worry about an immediate response, but do plan on reading each day. For urgent items, people often pick up the phone to get a more immediate and reliable response. Unless a “needed by” date and time is stated, the general rule for most business communications is to respond within 24 hours (one business day is preferred for paper and the end of the business day the same day for the electronic one).
“This project is so big; I just don’t have time to get started.”
While some projects are short-term and can be handled quickly, there are also worthwhile projects that will take many hours to complete. Instead of worrying about how long the project may take, determine the project’s due date and divide the main project into several mini-projects or daily tasks. Do this by listing each step and / or task required to successfully complete the main project. Then put the to-do list in the order of the steps required to complete each mini-project. Once the order has been established, start scheduling tasks to do each day on your personal calendar or to-do list from two days before the final project due date. This method makes the work not seem so big, since a little work will be done on the project every day. Padding in extra time before the due date also allows you to handle issues that may arise while keeping the final finish date on schedule.
“Every time I start a job or go to a meeting, my phone rings and interrupts my flow.”
Telephone interruptions are more frequent because most people have a phone in their work area, and many have cell phones for calls, pagers, and text messages as well. Consider turning off the phone or ignoring it at certain times of the day to fully focus on high-priority tasks or fully participate in a meeting. Be sure to inform other key people in the workplace when they are not available by phone. Or ask someone to be an alternate call manager during times when the phone needs to be ignored and return that favor later. If there are department rules against turning phones off because it is used similar to a pager, consider turning off the ringer and using vibration or text messages only during meetings. To get back on track after a call, keep a sheet of paper handy to write down the current thought or action at the time of the call, so it’s easier to get back on track after the call ends. Also use the other side of the paper to capture notes during the call to ensure that no action from the call is forgotten, as forgetting could result in a reminder call later.
To avoid time management problems in the future, stop or reduce procrastination excuses before they become disproportionate and become a bigger problem. Use the ideas suggested above to overcome common excuses for procrastination to improve time management. Remember, while many procrastinate from time to time, it’s the way those typical thoughts are handled that turns them from a potential problem to an easy-to-get-over excuse.
* NOTE: The suggestions in the article are adapted from the ideas in the book “TAPP Steps in Time Management.”