Tackling Procrastination Is A Time Management Tool That Works!

First, admit that you are indeed procrastinating on a task or project.
Get out your To Do List. Take a look at each item and ask yourself, “Am I procrastinating on this? Maybe just a little bit?” If so, put a “P” in front of it and go to the next item. Now, look at your list. Do you have a “P” in front of items that should be of high priority? That’s bad, admit it. Don’t beat yourself up too much. You’re beginning a reframing process and you’ll be better after you put into action the Tip of the Week.

Confess (to yourself) why this is happening. It may be a different reason for each item. Here are some of the possibilities:

1. I’m overly optimistic, as in “I could get that whole project done in 3 days, and there’s 2 weeks left, so what’s the hurry?” –
2. I see it as too overwhelming – “Great! Why did they give that to me? How could I possibly do it? It’s way too big of a project. I’m not good enough. Sob, sob.”
3. I’m too busy. Don’t ask me!.– (In this case take a look to see if you’re using precious time to complain to people here and there about how busy you are. This is time that could be better spent. Is complaining wasting your valuable time?)
4. This task is unpleasant. I dread doing it.  (It could merely be that you have to make a phone call to tell someone that they are not going to be happy with a new bit of information. Sound familiar?)

Time to confess to you. This blog was due to go out last week. What happened? It took me a while to see through my own procrastination habit. My idea is to select a blog topic that I think needs to be covered in the next week. I jot the idea down, and then finish the one I jotted down last week. What happens in my mind is that I succumb to #1 above: I think, “Oh, I didn’t write down next week’s topic. Well, that’s OK, I have plenty of time.”

Time management is a problem area for me, so I’m eager to delve into more ways to improve the situation. Stay tuned if you have this in common with me!

Break the procrastination cycle with one of these choices.

1. Delegate the task to someone else. Wouldn’t that be great?
2. Tell someone else that you’re going to do the task in question by X date and ask them to help hold you to it. (That’s why I confessed to you about next week’s blog.)
3. Picture the result of not doing the task—this is the negative incentive approach.
4. Or break the procrastination cycle by using my Tip of the Week.

Tip:
I’d like you to take a positive approach. Picture the result of doing the task in question. For one thing, your To Do List will be shorter. And you’ll feel better about your productivity. Maybe you’ll gain gratification, if you’ve taken on a challenging task. For an extra positive approach, let’s add pleasure to the mix. Plan ahead to give yourself a little reward—a big reward if it’s a big task—when you’ve handled the item in question. Who said getting rid of procrastination couldn’t be fun? Fun is a great motivator!

Now, take a look at your list and decide if you want a little or a big reward!

Be sure to visit our website, WomensMedia.com, for Expert Advice for Working Women.

Further Reading:

Blog, Women’s Lunch Talk, by Nancy Clark, Time Management By Delegation —Get A Handle On Time By Delegating or listen to it here.

Podcast (about 5 minutes), Working in Heels, by Nancy Clark, Gender Communication: Nature Or Nurture? —Why Do We Have Mars-Venus Communication, And Why Is Mars More Powerful? or read it here.

Blog, Women’s Lunch Talk, by Nancy Clark, Powerful Communication For Women —How To Change “I Speak Like A Girl” to “I Know What I’m Talking About”

Website, WomensMedia, by Kimberly Wiefling, How to Get Out of Your Own Way —5 Strategies for Thinking Outside the Box
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Tags: procrastination, time, management, working, women, business, career

One Minute of Focus Is A Minute Well Spent
 
There’s one word I’m not going to use, because I’ll lose most of you at the start. Well, I guess I have to give you a hint: This is not about meditation. This is about something that Jon Kabat-Zinn, a stress management medical doctor and author, calls mindfulness.

If stress bombards you too long and too hard, you end up in a hospital, and that’s not where you want to be. It turns out that Jon Kabat-Zinn noticed how many patients at his hospital were suffering from stress-related disorders. When he began giving these patients an 8-week course in yoga, meditation, and mindfulness, he saw a remarkable improvement.

Since you probably aren’t stressed enough to be reading this in a hospital, let’s put aside the yoga and meditation and talk only about mindfulness. Mindfulness is paying close attention to what is happening in the present moment. You stop and become aware of your thoughts but you don’t judge them. Let them play out. You’ll start noticing that you run through some of the same old scripts and these scripts are masking things you haven’t noticed or appreciated.

What’s the benefit of stopping your routine, unfocused thinking? Regarding stopping, Jon Kabat-Zinn says, “There is nothing passive about it. And when you decide to go, it’s a different kind of going because you stopped. The stopping actually makes the going more vivid, richer, more textured. It helps keep all the things we worry about and feel inadequate about in perspective. It gives us guidance.”

In my mind, this is stress reduction in a concentrated form.

This is an activity that can be done at any time. You might be walking, driving, or sitting in an office.

If you ever find yourself sitting in an office and you’re stressed, then my Tip of the Week is for you! If you’re so stressed that one minute is all you have, then my Tip of the Week is a must for you!

Here it is.

Tip:
 
I’m going to assume that you don’t want to get caught looking as if you’re doing nothing. Of course, it’s just the opposite:  You’re so busy you can’t focus, there doesn’t seem to be enough time for all the things you need to do, and you’re stressed, obviously! Who wouldn’t be?

I want you to decide you’ll allow one minute right now because you deserve it or you need it (if you’re not into indulgence). Clear the clutter off your computer screen and open one memo or letter in the center of the screen. Pick one that doesn’t upset you.

You’re going to stare into either the memo or the clock that’s probably at the bottom of your screen. The clock is my choice. When the time changes, begin to concentrate on your breathing. Pay attention to the air going in, now going out. Do this for a few breaths until you sense that you’re slightly calmer. Now, focus on listening to the sounds around you. Do this without making judgments—you’re merely paying attention. Focus your attention. Watch the clock for the end of the minute. Give yourself a One-Minute Indulgence by doing it right now! Come on, do it.

Wasn’t that the longest minute ever? Don’t you feel a little less stress? There’s one more thing I want you to do. I want you to decide what time of day you need stress reduction the most. Grant yourself a One Minute Stress Reduction Break every day.

Now hurry up and slow down for just one minute! You’ll be glad you did.

Further Reading:

Podcast (About 5 minutes), Working in Heels, by Nancy Clark, How To Get A Handle On Time —Don’t Let Time Ruin Your Work-Life Balance or read it here.
 
Blog, Women’s Lunch Talk, by Nancy Clark, A Female Brain Is A Good Brain —Can We Talk About A Female Brain Advantage? Nah, Better Not. I Can Settle For “Equal.”
 
Podcast (About 5 minutes), Working in Heels, by Nancy Clark, Perfection Is Not A Good Thing! —The Secret To Saving Precious Time: Avoid Perfection or read it here.
 
Website, WomensMedia, by Dianne Schilling, Tips for Beating Stress
 
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Tags: mindfulness, women, business, career, stress, reduction, Jon, Kabat-Zinn,