Ending Procrastination: A New Look at the Old Demon - Work-Life Balance Articles

Ending Procrastination: A New Look at the Old Demon
By Sharon Teitelbaum, MA, MCC, Sharon@stcoach.com

Do you believe the best way to deal with procrastination is to "get tough" with yourself and "just do it?" Many people take this approach. What’s behind it is the sense that procrastination is essentially a character flaw, a weakness, and the only way to handle it is to muscle past it through sheer will.

The truth is, there’s a way to approach it that’s more effective and more self-respectful. Essentially, the idea is to identify what’s MOTIVATING the procrastination behavior, consider it valid, and then address THAT. For example, you may be avoiding installing your garage-door opener because you really don’t know how to do it. The way to solve that would be to get some help. You may be putting off clearing the clutter in your office because you actually have nowhere to file things. You might address this fairly simply by getting yourself an additional file cabinet.

Get the idea? Give up the character flaw idea, and look for what’s really underlying the procrastination. Once you know what that is, you can usually figure out a way to deal with it, get unstuck, and get moving again. Here are examples of how two of my clients solved the problems underlying their procrastination:

PROCRASTINATION: I don’t want to write the letter.
UNDERLYING PROBLEM: I want the letter to be brilliant & creative but don’t feel brilliant & creative about it.
SOLUTION: (paraphrased:) "I realized it was more important to get the letter OUT than to be brilliant. Once I decided I could write a less-than-spectacular letter, it was very easy to just sit down and do it."
CONCEPT: "Expedient" is not a dirty word. Sometimes, it serves you better to have the B+ letter out in the world already, being read, than to have the A+ letter still sitting in your word processor, unfinished and nagging at you.

PROCRASTINATION: I don’t want to unpack the boxes in my new office.
UNDERLYING PROBLEM: Boring!!
SOLUTION: "I hired my young daughter to unpack the boxes, shelve the books (I told her where), and dismantle the boxes. She was happy to do the work and earn a little money, and thought it was cool to help Dad. I was happy because we got to spend that time together AND the job got done."
CONCEPT: Delegate! If a task seems boring, it’s often a good clue that this is a perfect job to delegate. You may need to supervise or train someone to do it, but chances are there is someone for whom the job would be a plus. Find that person and work out a deal. Delegation arrangements can be paid or bartered in infinite creative ways. Don’t be stopped by failure of the imagination!

COACHING TIPS
Here are the generic steps to take to address most procrastinations. Please note, each step is important. Don’t under-respect any of them just because you already know how to do them. And don’t underestimate how long it may take you to master some of these steps. Some people, for example, may find it takes them a very long time to learn to stop judging themselves.

1. Recognize when you are procrastinating.
2. Notice if you are judging yourself for procrastinating.
   
3. If you are judging yourself, stop. If you’re not judging yourself, acknowledge yourself for that.
4. Identify what’s motivating the procrastination. (This may take some thoughtful investigation.)
5. Solve the problem that’s underlying (motivating) the procrastination.
6. Do the action that you no longer need to procrastinate.
7. Say to yourself: "Well done!"
   

Next Steps

For a procrastinations "tune-up" or to check-in about something MAJOR you’re not getting around to, CONTACT ME: Sharon Teitelbaum, Sharon@STcoach.com, 617-926-8393 for an initial consultation at no charge.

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Copyright 2000-2008, by Sharon Teitelbaum, all rights reserved.

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