The Training Platform: “Stop procrastinating… Starting tomorrow”

Procrastination is one of my favourite pastimes, so imagine my surprise when I found myself writing the October edition of The Training Platform blog on that very subject in late August. Oh, the irony!

Procrastination is when we replace high priority actions with lower priority tasks, or put something important off to do something fun. It’s normal for people to procrastinate to some degree, but when it impedes on everyday life it becomes a problem.

Procrastination can lead to stress, loss of productivity and a sense of perpetual crisis. Failure to meet responsibilities or commitments is also a problem.

The risk with chronic procrastination is that the important tasks are either delayed or are simply never addressed. Unfortunately, the resulting feeling of helplessness can lead to further procrastination, and therefore a cycle of missed deadlines continues.

Why do we procrastinate?

Life is full of tasks and it can be difficult to prioritise them – hence why I never miss an episode of CSI but the bathroom redecoration is never finished (or, if I’m really honest, started in the first place!).

Sometimes it can feel like there’s far too much to do and we focus on completing the smaller, quick win tasks rather than work on the time-consuming or difficult ones. This allows us to cross lots of things off ‘The To D List’ which makes us feel better and gives us a sense of achievement.

We commonly procrastinate about the tasks we hate doing (the ironing, anyone?) and tasks we are anxious about (such as writing that report for the Board). Both of these are understandable, but procrastinating can make the task worse. For example, the pile of ironing reaches epic proportions and the creases are harder to iron out, or you present your report to the Board feeling totally unprepared.

How do you get past procrastinating?

So, how do you stop procrastinating? It’s an interesting question and different people are motivated in different ways. Here are some ideas that might help:

• Break it down: Often we procrastinate because tasks feel enormous. Break the task down into chunks and concentrate on one at a time. For example, if you’re writing a report, draft the structure and then write one section at a time. Add each section as an individual item on your ‘To Do List’ as this will allow you to tick things off more frequently, reassuring you that the big task is moving forward. Chunks must be manageable and achievable in a relatively short timeframe in order to allow you to regularly check off tasks.
• Reward yourself: Motivate yourself to work for a set amount of time or to complete a particular task by rewarding yourself. This can be as simple a reward as a cup of tea or as extravagant as booking a holiday. Clearly, matching the scale of the reward to the scale of the task is a good idea!
• If a reward doesn’t work, bribe yourself: I stumbled across that recommendation when researching to write this blog. The advice is to give a friend GB pound 50 and tell them to give it to a cause you hate if you don’t complete the task on time. Harsh… but ingenious!
• Set deadlines: Some tasks fall off the priority list because there’s no deadline, so set one (or ask someone else to set one for you). Ask your boss to set a deadline for the Board report, or your other half for a deadline for that bathroom refurbishment project.

How to make procrastination work for you

There are examples of great success due to procrastination. For example, Fabius Maximus (a Roman general from the 3rd Century BC) was infamous for his procrastination and known as ‘The Delayer’. In what is now termed as Fabian Strategy in military circles, Maximus avoided battles with the enemy in favour of wearing down his opponent through a war of attrition.

His reluctance to engage with the enemy (Hannibal) is cited as helping to turn the ride of the Second Punic War. The strategy has since been used successfully in a number of wars including the Hundred Years War and the American Revolution.

Although this example is fairly extreme, it does highlight that procrastination is not always a bad thing. In fact, it can be successfully used to get other tasks done.

The key idea to grasp is that procrastinators are not lazy. It’s rare that a procrastinator does absolutely nothing. Instead, they prioritise less important tasks to put off doing other tasks.

Take, for example, working from home. Some people can be really productive whereas others find it a struggle. These are the people who’ll find lots of housework to do instead of actually working. So, although they don’t achieve any work aims, they are likely to have fresh laundry, clear kitchen benches and a sparkly bathroom at the end of the day.

Contrary to popular belief, then, procrastinating can actually be useful so long as you do actually complete tasks.

Of course, the big important tasks do always need to be completed. The key is to get the procrastinator to buy into structured procrastination (that is structuring the tasks as normal with the most urgent and important at the top but also including less important or urgent but also worthwhile tasks on the list).

The rationale is that the procrastinator is likely to complete these tasks to avoid doing the ones at the top of the list. Thus, the procrastinator can be motivated to address difficult, timely and important tasks as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important.

The bottom line

Procrastination can be fun, but it can also lead to stress and anxiety and is not always conducive to getting things done.

However, we need to recognise that we all procrastinate sometimes. It’s a ‘skill’ that can be used to achieve worthwhile tasks so long as the conditions are right.

Amy Burrell is a training consultant with Perpetuity Training

Further information about… Perpetuity Training

In 2010, Perpetuity Training won the Security Excellence Awards category for Security Training Initiative of the Year on the basis of it distance learning programme for The Security Institute.

Over the years, the organisation has developed exciting, interactive online training platforms which allow tailor-made specialist training packages to be delivered anywhere in the world.

Perpetuity Training also offers a range of face-to-face short courses, including Level 4 professional awards in Managing Security Surveys and Security Management.

All of the company’s short courses can be adapted to meet the needs of individual businesses, and bespoke training services are offered.

For more information call 0116-222 5550 or e-mail: training@perpetuitytraining.com