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.