Now is the time
Procrastination
Ever since I can remember, my mother was fond of saying: "Don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today."
Procrastination is like a virus. It creeps up on you slowly, drains you of energy and is difficult to get rid of if your resistance is low.
Procrastination is a close relative of incompetence and a first cousin to inefficiency, which is why their marriage is taboo. These suggestions will help you conquer the "virus":
Give yourself deadlines
In moderation, pressure motivates. Extreme pressure debilitates. Set appointments, make commitments, write out your goals and develop the determination to succeed.
Do not duck difficult problems
You will face both difficult and easy tasks every day. Tackle the difficult ones first so that you can look forward to the easy ones.
If you work on the easy ones first, you might expand the time that they take to avoid the difficult ones waiting for you.
Many people put off difficult or large tasks because they appear too huge to tackle in a reasonable time frame. They feel that if they start and complete the "large" task at one sitting, it will prevent them from accomplishing any of the other tasks they have to do on that day.
The answer to this problem is to break all large or difficult tasks into their smaller sub-parts. Then, you can do each of the sub-parts of the larger project over a series of days, if appropriate.
Do not let perfectionism paralyse you
This is a problem that many sales staff have when writing proposals. They sit with pad and pen in hand, waiting for the "right" words to come out. What they are doing is avoiding the process of writing. Just get started. You can always go back later and polish the points you are unhappy with.
Because humans are so susceptible to procrastination, you must work at building up your immunity to it. Effective action is the best medicine.
Handling paperwork
Try to answer any correspondence immediately. Record your correspondence and leave the rest to your secretary, if you have one.
Even for other forms of mail that you receive, try to act immediately on whatever you can.
If you receive a magazine, peruse it and clip out articles you intend to read. Try categorising your reading material into three groups: articles you must read soon, articles you should read and articles that would be nice to read. Clipping the article makes it more accessible.
Naturally, there will be more than mail accumulating on your desk. Adopt a policy of picking up paperwork only once. This means you should not look at something and put it back down where you found it. It is much wiser to take some form of action on the item. Decide what to do with it and move it along to the next step toward completion.
Telephone calls
The telephone is, of course, one of life's greatest time savers. It saves time over writing letters, making trips and meeting people. It can also be a great time waster.
In your goal-oriented workday, you often deny yourself much needed periods of relaxation. Like a high-powered sports car, you can be very impressive at high speeds, but sacrifice distance, efficiency and physical integrity in the process.
Your body and mind are designed to work well if they are not overtaxed. Frequent periods of relaxation and stress reduction are important to the longevity of body and mind.
A coffee or lunch break should be used as a time to relax - and get your mind off the job - so that you are more effective when you return to work.
Change your bad habits
Managing your time efficiently and effectively will require some changes in your behaviour and thinking. These changes require practice.
Giant strides, when looked at closely, are made up of many small steps. In "overhauling" your management of time, you, too, need to take small steps.
Start doing those things that will make you a better manager of your time. After you have improved in one area, choose another and so on.
How about taking a moment, right now, to list the ideas you would like to implement? Circle or highlight the items of most immediate value to you in these articles. Then put them on tomorrow's "to do" list for action.
Ever since I can remember, my mother was fond of saying: "Don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today."
Procrastination is like a virus. It creeps up on you slowly, drains you of energy and is difficult to get rid of if your resistance is low.
Procrastination is a close relative of incompetence and a first cousin to inefficiency, which is why their marriage is taboo. These suggestions will help you conquer the "virus":
Give yourself deadlines
In moderation, pressure motivates. Extreme pressure debilitates. Set appointments, make commitments, write out your goals and develop the determination to succeed.
Do not duck difficult problems
You will face both difficult and easy tasks every day. Tackle the difficult ones first so that you can look forward to the easy ones.
If you work on the easy ones first, you might expand the time that they take to avoid the difficult ones waiting for you.
Many people put off difficult or large tasks because they appear too huge to tackle in a reasonable time frame. They feel that if they start and complete the "large" task at one sitting, it will prevent them from accomplishing any of the other tasks they have to do on that day.
The answer to this problem is to break all large or difficult tasks into their smaller sub-parts. Then, you can do each of the sub-parts of the larger project over a series of days, if appropriate.
Do not let perfectionism paralyse you
This is a problem that many sales staff have when writing proposals. They sit with pad and pen in hand, waiting for the "right" words to come out. What they are doing is avoiding the process of writing. Just get started. You can always go back later and polish the points you are unhappy with.
Because humans are so susceptible to procrastination, you must work at building up your immunity to it. Effective action is the best medicine.
Handling paperwork
Try to answer any correspondence immediately. Record your correspondence and leave the rest to your secretary, if you have one.
Even for other forms of mail that you receive, try to act immediately on whatever you can.
If you receive a magazine, peruse it and clip out articles you intend to read. Try categorising your reading material into three groups: articles you must read soon, articles you should read and articles that would be nice to read. Clipping the article makes it more accessible.
Naturally, there will be more than mail accumulating on your desk. Adopt a policy of picking up paperwork only once. This means you should not look at something and put it back down where you found it. It is much wiser to take some form of action on the item. Decide what to do with it and move it along to the next step toward completion.
Telephone calls
The telephone is, of course, one of life's greatest time savers. It saves time over writing letters, making trips and meeting people. It can also be a great time waster.
- To avoid spending more time than necessary in calling people back, follow these suggestions:
- Determine the best time of day for you to return calls;
- Prepare information in advance when you call back. You can pull files and gather documents that you need to answer questions. This is obviously a time saver for you;
- Curtail the length of your calls, when and where appropriate; and
- Be organised. List the questions or topics you wish to discuss and have them in front of you.
In your goal-oriented workday, you often deny yourself much needed periods of relaxation. Like a high-powered sports car, you can be very impressive at high speeds, but sacrifice distance, efficiency and physical integrity in the process.
Your body and mind are designed to work well if they are not overtaxed. Frequent periods of relaxation and stress reduction are important to the longevity of body and mind.
A coffee or lunch break should be used as a time to relax - and get your mind off the job - so that you are more effective when you return to work.
Change your bad habits
Managing your time efficiently and effectively will require some changes in your behaviour and thinking. These changes require practice.
Giant strides, when looked at closely, are made up of many small steps. In "overhauling" your management of time, you, too, need to take small steps.
Start doing those things that will make you a better manager of your time. After you have improved in one area, choose another and so on.
How about taking a moment, right now, to list the ideas you would like to implement? Circle or highlight the items of most immediate value to you in these articles. Then put them on tomorrow's "to do" list for action.
posted by Freehaven at
3:51 PM
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