4 Steps to Stop the Procrastination Pandemic
There is a procrastination pandemic sweeping the nation. Symptoms include growing piles of clutter, dust bunnies, and thinking you should have done it already. You know you want to stop it… when you have time. The problem currently is that we have too much time. Not too much free time, but too much time before our deadlines. Those who are fortunate enough to be able to stay at home are doing so until…whenever. As my 8 year old says, “this will end on the 4th of Neverary.”
Some of the projects we’d normally do this time of year are on hold. Our taxes are due… eventually. School assignments should be turned in, if possible. Signup for summer activities isn’t happening until we know what summer will look like. This sense of time stretching into infinity feeds our natural tendency to procrastinate and creates a new set of justifications for it.
After all, if I clean the closet today, I won’t have anything to do tomorrow!
We can disrupt the process of procrastination if we understand the behaviors that maintain it. We procrastinate when we anticipate disliking the task, overestimate the time required to complete it, fail to prioritize our task lists, and make partial plans to get the job done. We can counter these tendencies with the following 4 behaviors:
Use balanced thinking
Our thoughts about tasks and projects often skew negative. We say “I’ll never get to it,” “I hate doing that,” or “I don’t have time.” Catch yourself doing this and ask yourself “is that really true?” Balanced thoughts are more realistic. “I’ll never get to it” becomes “I can do this when I’m ready, but it isn’t my top priority right now.” The balanced version of “I hate it” is “I really don’t enjoy doing this, but I know I can do it.” Balanced thinking can also disrupt the self criticism that comes after you procrastinate. Consider what you might say instead of “I should have done that already.”
Get real about time
First, take a good look at how much unscheduled time you actually have. Block out times when you know you will need a break and label them as rest time. Set times for the things you value, such as playing with your kids, meditation or prayer, social time, and exercise. Now identify some times that would work for quick tasks (15 min or less), medium tasks (15 min to 1 hour), and projects (more than an hour). Next, write down all the undone tasks that are swirling around in your mind. Include tasks for yourself, for family, and for work. Label each one with the amount of time you expect it to take. Is your list all projects of an hour or more? Take a moment to break the first stage of each project into a list of quick or medium tasks. You now have the foundation for more balanced thinking about time. The balanced version of “I don’t have time” is “It will take an hour to get that done.”
Choose a few priorities at a time
Now that you’ve assigned a length of time to each of your tasks, put a star next to your top priority tasks and projects. (If you tend to put off your play time to get things done, put some relaxation tasks on the priority list.) Look at your schedule for the next month. How many of them fit in your open blocks of time? If your top priorities don’t fit or they fill every open time slot, you’re asking too much of yourself. Consider what could wait, or who you could ask for help in order to get it done.
Make a plan to get it done.
Schedule your top priority tasks and projects for actual blocks of time within the next 4 weeks. Leave the remaining tasks and projects on the master list. You’ll use that list to set next month’s priorities.
Do only the projects and tasks you’ve scheduled. Remember that it isn’t time to do the others yet. If you finish your priority list early, you can make the next list early… if you want to.
If you don’t do a task in the time that was planned, assign it to another time slot (like you would reschedule an appointment).
Think of a new task or project? Add it to the master list. If it needs to be done right away, take something off this month’s priority list to make room.
When the 4 weeks are over, cross the completed items off the master list and set the next month’s priorities.
