Procrastination is a major time management antagonist. You know it’s getting in your way and slowing you down and keeping you from getting things done, yet you don’t know what to do to stop it. Identifying why you are procrastinating is a first step in stopping the undesired behaviors.
Time management foilers. You procrastinate because you’re just plain stubborn, and you’re determined to show others that they aren’t going to push you into doing anything. You’re your own person, and you’ll do what needs to be done when and if you decide to do so and not before. It’s seems logical on the one hand, but it has also caused you some pretty bad unnecessary grief. If what you are asked to do shouldn’t be done stick to your guns and don’t budge, but if deep down you know that it’s going to have to be done at some point you may be better off choosing when and communicating that to others.
Time management exaggerators. You exaggerate the extent and involvement of the project. Part of you is hoping that will make others just give up and go away, but that doesn’t work all that often. Break the project down into it’s components to understand the full scope of the project, and then just work on one component at a time until it’s done.
Time management fretters. You create all sorts of imagined problems that may or may not ever happen. You fret about what might happen if you succeed. You fret about what might happen if you fail. You fret about what others will think. You fret that you don’t really know how to tackle the problem. With all this fretting you’re like the kids who cheat in school rather than study. It would take a whole lot less time and energy to just do it and let the chips fall where they may than it does to do all that fretting.
Time management stargazers. You’d rather think about doing something way more than just doing it. The problem is that nothing ever happens until you take action, so the longer you stargaze about what could be the more you prolong not getting the possible.
Time management perfectionists. You just can’t let go of a project and call it done because there is always just one more thing you could do to make it perfect. The problem is almost no one else wants, expects, or appreciates that level of perfection that you demand. You’re expending all your energy on the apex of perfection when everyone else around you just wants ok.
Time management procrastinators are frequently creatures of habit. You’ve been procrastinating so long that you automatically put everything off even when it’s something you really want. Something that would end a major discomfort or bring you great pleasure keeps getting put off. The only way to break a habit is to make a commitment and then follow through with action until you develop a new habit. The key is understanding: what you have to gain from the new habit, and replacing the bad habit of putting things off so you never have enough time with getting things done, so you have time to do something you really want to do.
Procrastination is a real time management foe. Identify which type of procrastinator you are. Evaluate the rewards that behavior is giving you, and identify the rewards you could get if you let go of that behavior. Doing so will enable you to refocus your energies so you can do the right things, in the right way, for the right reason, at the right time.
Would you like to learn more about your time behaviors? Try this Time Management Analysis and find out where your opportunities for improvement are.
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