By Joe McKenna
Procrastination builds guilt and stress. I call
it the ‘shoes on the stairs’ factor. You
know, you’ve left a pair of shoes on the stairs
and then you step around them each time you climb the
stairs. If you’re like most of us, when spotting
them—again—you think to yourself “Next
time I’ll put them away” or “I
wish s/he would put them away”. You tolerate and accommodate… and
pay the price in lost productivity and peace of mind.
Many of us are plagued by procrastination:
•
The difficult phone call we need to make but won’t.
•
The business plan we need to complete but haven’t.
•
The daily goals we’ve been meaning to set but
don’t.
When we could have, would have, should have, but haven’t—we
waste time, build stress, and lose respect—in
our own eyes and in the eyes of others. Why do we procrastinate?
Sometimes it’s fear. Sometimes it’s a lack
of commitment. Sometimes we’re too busy, which
means we aren’t clear it’s really all that
important. Sometimes we procrastinate on things we
said “Yes” to when we really wanted to
say “No”.
Our behavioral styles influence what we procrastinate
about and why. Unstructured people may delay starting
a project because they’re jumping from task to
task. Highly detailed people may delay finishing a
project because they keep finding one more detail to
polish.
Whatever our styles, we can beat the procrastination
problem. It is a matter of habit and choice. Our choice.
When you find yourself procrastinating on something,
make a choice. Do it or drop it. Don’t waffle.
Stop pretending you’ll do it ’one of these
days’. Get on with it, get through it, get out
of it, or get over it. You’ll feel better, and
work better. The choice is up to you.
© The KENNA Company – Joe McKenna helps
companies select and engage high impact performers.
His products and services help companies improve productivity,
retention and employee satisfaction. To reach Joe:
joe@kennacompany.com; www.kennacompany.com; 816-943-0868.
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