Bea Fields is an amazing leadership coach…
…and a mentor of mine. I am a huge fan of her blogs and recently she posted 16… count ’em… 16 strategies on avoiding procrastination. Her complete post can be found here from her blog for her fantastic book called EDGE!
6) Look closely at why you are procrastinating. Is it fear, doubt, overwhelm, lack of knowledge, or because you just don’t enjoy that activity? Once you have identified the cause of your procrastination, talk to a coach about what’s really going on, and design a solution to address the block.
7) For big tasks, break this down into smaller steps, and write out a calendar to get the smaller steps accomplished. With this approach, you will get much more done than if you decide to take on the entire project at once. If you are going to take on the entire project in one block, schedule the time on your calendar to work only on that project. If you are working on it while you are doing other things, you will add about 50% more time overall to the project.
8)Drop the perfectionism. You don’t have to have every task you take on be perfect. Get the job done, and then delegate out the “perfecting” stage to someone who can shine up the project.
9) Work on projects even when you feel like you are in a bad mood. The completion of a project can actually release endorphins that can lift your mood.
What I really love about these tips in particular is that they get at the “what’s underneath” of the avoidance. I have several comments about this that I will make in a future series of posts on this very important topic. In the meantime… Enjoy Bea’s blog.
Have a great day!