Overcome Inertia & Get the Really Important Things Done

Are you a person who waits until Christmas Eve to do the bulk of your Christmas shopping? Or, when filing your taxes, do you wait until April 12th to start sorting through the shoe boxes filled with receipts? And then do you wait in those long lines at the Post Office to mail the return? When a member of your organization has a complaint that you need to address, do you find other items suddenly becoming more pressing? If so, you are not alone.

Procrastination is the continual avoidance of starting or seeing a task through to completion. It is one of the most common stumbling blocks to managing time. Straightening the desk, reading the mail, cleaning the house, washing the car, et al., are all tasks that have to be done. But if by doing any of those tasks you avoid doing the A-number-one-top priorities, like filing your taxes, making follow-up phone calls, implementing a new marketing program, or tackling a complicated project, you are procrastinating. To combat the tendency to "put things off" start by looking at the underlying causes of delay .

1. INABILITY TO SAY "NO"

How often have you said yes to demands on your time before evaluating your desire or ability to fulfill them? When you overcommit yourself you can be forced to delay because you are in fact unable to find the time. It is often difficult to say "no" to a request particularly if the person asking is in need. Working for an Association requires helpfulness, friendliness and availability. So, you accept even if the location is unattractive, they make a case for needing your special skills, or they have been a member forever.

2. FEAR

The root cause of most avoidance is fear -- and there are many kinds. Fear of failure, success, rejection, anger, embarrassment or any negative emotion. If you are asked to make a speech and the thought of standing before an audience is terrifying, what happens? Do you wonder what is going on in their collective minds? Do you worry that they will not like, approve, or agree with what you have to say? And the worst case: What if they ask a question that you cannot answer? This process of anticipation and worry about a worst case scenario can escalate the fear until it becomes unmanageable.

3. AN UNPLEASANT TASK

Very few of us are eager to do something that is distasteful. The longer you avoid it, the more seeming freedom and control you have. The longer you wait the better the chance that it will go away or someone else will do it. As soon as you procrastinate the sooner you get an immediate reward -- in this case, not having to start the unpleasant task.

BREAKING THROUGH PROCRASTINATION

The next time that you are asked to accept yet another thing to do, resist the tendency to answer immediately. Offer to call them back after you have thought about it. Consider what chairing the fund-raising committee really means. Look at your calendar, brush off your resolutions, and most important: determine the true nature of the task. How much of your time, energy and resources will it really take?

When a task is unpleasant, evaluate the need to do it at all. Ask if it can be done less often or more quickly. Is it a task that can be bartered away or hired out? If you must handle it, try to do it sooner rather than later. The longer you wait, the more hateful it becomes. You can spend a great deal of anxious psychic energy doing the job in your mind over and over again. Spend that energy actually doing the task and then begin to reap the benefits of having it finished.

Do not let fear immobilize you. A good technique to use in lessening its impact is to actively visualize yourself facing and overcoming it. Do you believe that the audience will laugh at you? That they will ask you questions you cannot answer? That they will doubt your expertise? Practice the speech before a mirror, into a tape recorder, before friends. Anticipate the difficult questions and find the answers. Have yourself introduced as an authority in the field with x-number of years experience (if it is true, of course). Ask associates to share tips on how they handle fear and nervousness. Channel that fear into actions to overcome the fear.

When you find yourself procrastinating ask yourself "What is really so bad about it?" Remember, anticipation is much worse than the actual occurrence can ever be. When you simply are not in the mood to tackle the project, remember: Once you start something related to the project, no matter how small that portion may be, you are no longer procrastinating.

Odette Pollar is a nationally known speaker, author, and consultant to business, government, and industry. She founded TIME MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, a training firm based in Oakland, California. Her book, Organizing Your Workspace: A Guide to Personal Productivity (Crisp, 1992) is available for $9.95 per copy (plus $3.50 S & H). Call TMS at 1-800-599-TIME or mail to 1441 Franklin Street, Suite 301, Oakland, California 94612.