8 Sep
|
3 mins
We all do it.
Putting off that one important, slightly terrifying task staring at us from our to-do list. And what do we do instead? Tidy our in-box, rearrange our office, make another coffee – anything that feels simpler, less taxing and far less important in comparison.
We know we should just bite the bullet and get on with the job we’ve been avoiding – but we don’t. So why is that?
Research suggests that our tendency to procrastinate, to faff, to delay tackling these important tasks can be a combination of factors:
Fear of failure – we’re scared we’ll mess it up.
Feeling overwhelmed or anxious - about facing the more challenging task demanding our attention.
No set deadline – and no target time makes it harder to stay focused.
Just not feeling in the right mood – spoiler alert: that mood will never actually arrive!
Boredom – not being able to face the monotony of the task we need to tackle. It just doesn’t fill us with joy.
Deep down though, we know that these important things need to be done and, ironically, by delaying them we’re actually delaying the enormous sense of achievement and feeling of relief we’ll experience once the damn things are completed!
So if you’re ready to stay on the straight and narrow and get those tougher tasks done, here are some top tips to help you feel that warm glow of smugness at having ticked them off the list:
💣 Stop catastrophising - stop building it up into something that’s too intimidating to even start tackling! We’re so often focused on the ‘what could go wrong’ rather than the ‘what could go right’ that we stifle our own ability to move forward.
🏆 Focus on the benefits of getting it done – imagine how fantastic you’ll feel once the dreaded task has been completed and the weight of it lifted from you.
📅 Book it in – mark a time in your calendar to address it. Specify both the date and the time, so it’s properly scheduled and less likely to be over-looked.
⌚ Be realistic about your timeframes – firstly, make sure you’re factoring in sufficient time to complete the task. Don’t cram a 3 hour job in to a 1 hour window - that’s just shooting yourself in the foot. Secondly, stop condensing your own available time. Don’t fool yourself that you’ve allowed a whole afternoon to tackle something, if truthfully you’ve only got an hour at the end of the working day that’s actually free time. You’ll put unnecessary additional pressure on yourself.
🐘 How do you eat an elephant? You know it’s bit by bit. Breakdown the enormous task into manageable chunks, so it feels more achievable. And if you’re still inclined to put it off…
👣 Work out the smallest possible step. What’s the smallest action you could take to move it forwards? Do that first. The longest journey begins with the smallest steps. Taking even the most minute steps in the right direction can start to help you feel you’re making some progress.
🤫 Stop making excuses ‘I need to be in the right mood’ –no, you don’t. You don’t need to feel ready. You just need to start.
📈 Make someone your accountability coach – get someone else to keep nudging you in the right direction; asking what steps you’ve taken, which parts have been completed, what progress are you making – accountability can help keep you on track if the tendency to faff is strong.
📵 Optimise your environment – turn off that phone! Stop external distractions – and that includes going to make another coffee; getting side-tracked by emails; fussing the cat or walking the dog!
🥳 Reward yourself – once you get it completed, what will be your reward? Chocolate, exercise, that dog walk…
✅ Drop the perfectionism – better done than perfect. Some people tend towards impossibly high standards – and you know if you’re one of them! – but so often we don’t need it done perfectly, we just need it done. Repeat after me: It. Doesn’t. Have. To. Be. Perfect.
And if all else fails, stick a post-it on the wall or screen in front of you…JFDI (you know what it means!)
