Artful Procrastination
| Category: Personal Development For Marketeers | Date: 2001-03-12 |
"Dont put off till tomorrow what you can do today." Maybe that adage worked well in Benjamin Franklins time, but old Ben never had to make a cold call. Of course, if you keep putting off difficult or unpleasant tasks, you may soon find yourself out of business or looking for another job.
The big "P", the "thief of time", is not decision making but decision avoidance. "Ill take care of it when I get a round TUIT". The average employee spends 45 days a year procrastinating; stalling, holding on to projects, redoing reports, putting it off till a better time. Theres even a Procrastinators club. Their newsletter is called "Last Months Newsletter". By reducing procrastination, you can substantially increase the available time in your day.
Most people who keep a "to do" list find they have far more tasks on their list than time in their day.The "To Do" list starts looking like a bottomless pit. In that situation, many of us tend to handle the fast, easy, fun, simple tasks first and put the difficult ones off till later.
The effects of this include stress caused by not getting the job done, a feeling of sliding into an abyss as important tasks are put off each day and more tasks pile up; and a loss of self-esteem since theres no feeling of accomplishment or closure.
So how can you break this nasty procrastination habit? Surprisingly, by procrastinating a bit smarter. Practice "artful procrastination". Essentially, this means spreading out your "to do" list across several days. Not everything you have to do must be done today. Some things can be (and should be) done tomorrow, or next Monday or two weeks from now.
Eliminate your big іTo DoІ list. Instead, have an Action List for each day in the upcoming month, then one for each of the next several months. Take a look at each task you want to do. Realistically, a few will need to get done today, and the rest can be spread to other days.
Why beat yourself up every day by staring at a never-ending list of the work you haven№t finished? Some artful procrastination can save you a lot of frustration.
About the author
Chris Widener is the President of Made for Success, a company helping individuals and organizations turn their potential into performance, succeed in every area of their lives and achieve their dreams. Get Chris FREE Made for Success Ezine by sending a blank email to success-on@mail-list.com or visit his website at http://www.madeforsuccess.com.
chris@madeforsuccess.com
http://www.madeforsuccess.com/
The big "P", the "thief of time", is not decision making but decision avoidance. "Ill take care of it when I get a round TUIT". The average employee spends 45 days a year procrastinating; stalling, holding on to projects, redoing reports, putting it off till a better time. Theres even a Procrastinators club. Their newsletter is called "Last Months Newsletter". By reducing procrastination, you can substantially increase the available time in your day.
Most people who keep a "to do" list find they have far more tasks on their list than time in their day.The "To Do" list starts looking like a bottomless pit. In that situation, many of us tend to handle the fast, easy, fun, simple tasks first and put the difficult ones off till later.
The effects of this include stress caused by not getting the job done, a feeling of sliding into an abyss as important tasks are put off each day and more tasks pile up; and a loss of self-esteem since theres no feeling of accomplishment or closure.
So how can you break this nasty procrastination habit? Surprisingly, by procrastinating a bit smarter. Practice "artful procrastination". Essentially, this means spreading out your "to do" list across several days. Not everything you have to do must be done today. Some things can be (and should be) done tomorrow, or next Monday or two weeks from now.
Eliminate your big іTo DoІ list. Instead, have an Action List for each day in the upcoming month, then one for each of the next several months. Take a look at each task you want to do. Realistically, a few will need to get done today, and the rest can be spread to other days.
Why beat yourself up every day by staring at a never-ending list of the work you haven№t finished? Some artful procrastination can save you a lot of frustration.
About the author
Chris Widener is the President of Made for Success, a company helping individuals and organizations turn their potential into performance, succeed in every area of their lives and achieve their dreams. Get Chris FREE Made for Success Ezine by sending a blank email to success-on@mail-list.com or visit his website at http://www.madeforsuccess.com.
chris@madeforsuccess.com
http://www.madeforsuccess.com/
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