Winners don’t procrastinate

With the New Year behind us many people and businesses alike will have taken stock of their performance for the year past and planned their improvements for the year ahead.

By Gerhard van Wyk

The franchise industry in South Africa is dynamic and the speed at which business is conducted is perhaps one of the most important components of achieving success in this industry. If understanding the importance of setting objectives and planning how to improve your performance in the coming year is important, understanding the negative impact of procrastination is equally so.

What is procrastination?

In psychology, procrastination refers to the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of lesser import, or putting off important tasks by doing something from which one derives enjoyment instead.

Overcoming procrastination

The key to controlling and beating this destructive habit is to first of all recognize that you are procrastinating. It is often said that admitting to the problem is half the battle won. Understand why it happens (even to the best of us) and take steps to better manage your time and outcomes.

Step 1: Recognise that you are procrastinating

If you're honest with yourself, you probably know when you are guilty of procrastinating. Delaying an unimportant task isn't necessarily procrastination; it may just be good prioritisation. Postponing an important task for a short period because you are feeling particularly tired isn’t necessarily procrastination either, provided it is only an occasional event and that the delay does not extend beyond a day or so. Rescheduling something important for a valid reason is not procrastinating, but if you are simply making excuses because you just don’t want to do it, then you are guilty of procrastination.

Step 2: Understand why you are procrastinating

The reason for your procrastination might be contributed to yourself personally or to the task itself.

To overcome your reluctance to get going it is necessary to understand the reason behind your reticence.

It may be that you perceive the task as a particularly unpleasant one, or it may be that you are disorganised. Organised people are better placed to avoid falling into a procrastination trap because they know how to break the work down into manageable ‘next steps’. However, even the organized can feel overwhelmed by a task. Surprisingly, perfectionists are often procrastinators, because they are doubtful that their skills and/or resources will enable them to complete the job perfectly.

One final major cause of procrastination is underdeveloped decision-making skills. People who can’t decide what to do are likely to defer taking action in lieu of doing the wrong thing.

Step 3: Adopt anti-procrastination strategies

Procrastination is a habit – a deeply ingrained pattern of behaviour. Prevailing over an ingrained habit takes time and persistence and will probably require multiple approaches to maximize your chances of success.

Some general tips to motivate you to get moving:

• Make up your own rewards,
• Ask someone else to check up on you,
• Identify the unpleasant consequences of not doing the task.

Some tips will work better for some people than others, and for some tasks than others. Sometimes beating the ‘procrastination peril’ simply requires a fresh approach.

If you're procrastinating because you're disorganised - get organized!

• Keep a to-do list,
• Use an Urgent/Important matrix to prioritize your to-do list,  
• Become a master of scheduling and project planning, so that you know when to start those all-important projects,
• Set yourself time-bound goals,
• Focus on one task at a time.

If you're delaying a project because you find it overwhelming, try a different approach.

• Break the project into a set of smaller, more manageable tasks and construct an action plan,
• Start with some quick, small tasks even if these aren't the logical first steps.  

Do you find the task unpleasant?

• Often procrastinators have overestimated the unpleasantness of a task – so give it a try!

Remember: the longer you can spend without procrastinating, the greater your chances of breaking this destructive habit for good!

As you work hard on achieving your franchise objectives and goals for 2013, we urge you to remember that winners don’t procrastinate!

(Reference: www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_96.htm)

vanwykg@mweb.co.za

+27 71 481 9956