I was recently at a Customer Service workshop and during a conversation on what we expected as customers, action within reasonable time frames was mentioned. One of the ladies in the group mentioned that she is forever procrastinating. She explained that she’ll read documents or emails any number of times before actually dealing with them or replying.
She reminded me of a suggestion I was once given which helps us measure how mad our procrastination of this type is and motivate us to postpone procrastination and act!
“Draw a black dot on a document or email each time you handle it”.
Simple. Easy. Effective?
Well, it certainly surprised me how many black dots appeared on my documents. It was a visual demonstration of ineffective working. And its surprising the effect that mild shame will have on motivation 
Procrastination can cause us anxiety, sleepless night…or put us in a perpetual state of catching up. There is even evidence to suggest that it damages our immune system. So my interest is pricked and I will be developing this topic over the next few posts. First I will ask whether you are indeed a procrastinator, next we will examine why we procrastinate and then we will look at ways we can avoid it.
The reasons why we procrastinate are pushing for attention inside my head at the moment but considering the importance of time management on this very topic….I need to complete a more urgent task….so watch this space for the next post…
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I’ve found when I take on a new responsibility or role I either:
- procrastinate for a while, then live in a state of panic for months after while people demand answers to yesterday’s questions when I haven’t dealt with last weeks. If anything unexpected happens, well, just make sure you aren’t beside me!
- Live in a state of panic for a couple of weeks, to get well ahead of myself. Then I can relax, knowing there’s plenty of slack if anything goes wrong.
No prizes for guessing what makes me (and those around me) happier.
I’ve found I’ve recently started taking Covey seriously, with his quadrants system. It means I really have to be honest with myself, otherwise stuff I need to do just looks silly being marked as “urgent”. This is for the big stuff.
For the small stuff, I use http://www.voo2doo.com, where I date and mark smaller things (Tasks) as 1,2 or 3 inside the bigger stuff (Projects). It works better than a massive list all jumbled up.
Interesting examples Clarke. I wonder how much info/help/support you were provided with for the new role or responsibility? Quite often we make presumptions about how much someone knows, especially if we have been doing that role ourselves. Remembering every step or providing the type of information that gets someone started is actually quite difficult. Its’ actually quite common for procrastination to increase if we are not sure exactly what we need to do.
I’m guessing the latter makes life easier for everyone involved
though, it can be difficult to get ahead, especially if you are fire fighting….
Ahh…to take the theory seriously… This is such a good point. We all have wonderful hints and tips in our heads that have been collected over the years, unfortunatley we rarely use them. Taking the theory seriously and using it appropriately is the difference bewteen seeing the benefit and not. I am always saying that the provision of the information (eg training course, seminar etc) is the easy bit…taking it away and applying it…takes some effort!
Thanks for the voo2doo link, will be looking into it for myself, I find Outlook Tasks somewhat helpful but a more organised and detailed application might just make the difference.
“I wonder how much info/help/support you were provided with for the new role or responsibility?”
So far in my working life I have found I might get:
- Zero support, because I have replaced someone who has moved on, who didn’t document their work, and who nobody really likes talking about. I can either run away or make a (well-documented) niche for myself.
- Nit-picking micro-management because the person who used to do the job can’t let go. I have to find a diplomatic way of letting them know they are paid to do something else, while not doing so-well in the short-term that they hate my guts and are impossible to work with in the future. Oh, and subscribe to the Friday Tele’, in case they become impossible.
- Or generally, I have found I work/have worked with really supportive people who apologise for the mess someone left behind and I have had given to me. For a reasonable short-term investment, I can become a star. It was like that when I sub-taught – as long as I didn’t let my saviour-of-the-day role go to my head, it was great.
In either case, it’s all useful experience.
Many thanks for the additional info Clarke. Lack of support is a key reason for procrastination…and although micro managing is sometimes the right way to tackle someone who is procrastinating, providing them with the information they require or giving them the first coupkle of steps to complete is much more effective.
Good on you for your ‘saviour’ style of working…sounds like in these incidences the satisfaction of completing the work encouraged and motivated you to do even more!
Did the satisfaction of completing work motivate me to do more – yes, certainly. It also motivated me to stay somewhere long enough that any element of ‘firefighting’ was gone and enjoy the routine. Then I got bored with that for being too predictable…
no problem at all – happy for you too