The Toll of Procrastination

“You don't need to read this now, if that's the case, leave it for another time.”, Although you may find it interesting Discover the 10 characteristics of people who procrastinate, The 10 keys to stop procrastinating and the 10 benefits that make you more employable if you work on eliminating or minimizing procrastination.

“If you really want to do something, you will find a way; if not, you will find an excuse.” Jim Rohn

“Time is our most valuable asset, even though we tend to waste it, kill it and spend it instead of taking care of it and investing it.” Jim Rohn

Have you ever put off until tomorrow what you could have done today? Have you ever done things that don't add value to you and left aside the important things? And then regretted it because you could have avoided it?

The procrastination (from Latin: pro, forward, and crastinus, referring to the future), postponement or postponement is the action or habit of postponing activities or situations that must be attended to, replacing them with other more irrelevant or pleasant situations.

Our RAE dictionary, procrastinate defines it as defer, postpone, therefore it is clear that it is to delay the moment of doing something; that is, we leave it for a little later, or for another time or for tomorrow, or… when? First of all, What we must be clear about is that it separates us and quickly distances us from our objective, and we will end up demotivated and full of negative feelings and emotions.

I know several people who, having resources and capabilities, postpone actions, I know others who also find it very, very comfortable to postpone them (it is already a long-standing habit), others do it for not daring to say NO, others (and I am in a sales area) for not feeling capable of reaching the objective. So the question is. Am I clear about my purpose? and compass values help me achieve it? Honesty, integrity? And some questions from your Jiminy Cricket: Who am I trying to fool? What am I afraid of? What am I not facing right now? Am I consistent? Am I assertive?

When you become aware, you face reality, you set a goal and you will make your action plan to go for it.

The “I HAVE TO…”, (a good coaching tool)

Tool for the "awareness by the coachee of the activities with which he relates freely and voluntarily, with respect to those he assumes as obligations”, It is the belief of “an effort”, of “a sacrifice” and of course “that there is no reward”.

In coaching we use it in the following way:

The coachee is asked to write down some activities he or she does (minimum 20), using at the beginning of each sentence "I have to…".
We suggest the coachee do the same exercise, replacing “I have to…” with “I want…”.
We asked: What have you realized?

Do you dare to try it? You will be surprised, I have no doubt.

10 characteristics of people who procrastinate

"Me “I take refuge in what I like”, and they do not prioritize anything at all, even if it is important and/or urgent. That is, the matrix of priorities of Covey (originally from General Eisenhower) “it is pulverized”, come on… don’t pay attention!
They postpone tasks sine die, without a deadline or date, they do not say when they will do it; yes, he thinks and says he will do it later… he is an expert here!
Gets distracted by anything (open Facebook, WhatsApp, read emails...) and are aware of any notification on their mobile.
Feeling of not knowing where to start the tasks.
They enjoy the pleasure of immediate rewardsOur brain works by “avoiding pain and seeking pleasure.” Procrastinating gives pleasure, and taking action to do what you know you should do involves pain.
They have the belief that they work better under pressure and that yield more at the final moment ("that's just how I am).
They succumb to the Parkinson's Law, which says that “All work is indefinitely extended until all the time available for its complete completion is filled”. (E.g. If I have a report to do and 3 hours ahead of me, I spend the 3 hours, when I could really do it in an hour and a half)
Many They demand perfection and stagnate. (Demand vs Excellence)
They don't manage their energy, that is, the moments in which you can be most productive (your body more awake, “more agile mind”).
They suffer more stress and have fewer healthy habits.

It does not go unnoticed The expression on his face when he asks himself why I didn't start sooner, the feeling of guilt is obvious.

The good news the thing is… we can learn to stop procrastinating!, to develop habits that allow us to be more professional productive.

The basic pillar, The main key is to become aware of whether or not you are… a true procrastinator! (maybe you are a chronic procrastinator or it is just temporary), become aware of your reality (the one that tells you…”I will do it tomorrow”), you have to Breaking the cycle of delay and from here carry out the action plan or plans aimed at developing the habits to be productive as soon as possible and leave aside the demotivation that invades you and of course the wear and tear that it takes away from you.

10 keys to stop procrastinating

Stop making excuses for not starting now!, especially the one about “I work better under pressure”. In reality, what happens is that you have become accustomed to working this way. And if not, try it!
Break down the task into micro tasks. Find a balance between the tasks that you find most tedious, boring or that you are less good at and those that you find most satisfying and enjoyable to do.
Analyze yourself and discover what is holding you back. As soon as you recognize what is slowing you down, it will be the beginning of changing your habit. (The tool can be useful to you "I have to" (view above)
Avoid or minimize distractions because they will make it difficult for you to concentrate, which reduces the productivity Always, but in the case of a procrastinator… it is even worse! For example, having your phone in front of you when you are doing an important task, or social networks open and sending you notifications (WhatsApp, Twitter, etc.). Identify what distracts you and control it.
Set a deadline (or even a time) for your tasks (or micro tasks): Realistically, assess how much time you will need to do what you need to do to reach your goal by the defined date.
Get going now!: Believe in yourself and your abilitiesDon't wait for your emotional state to be "magic" to start the task. It will never be a good time, and even less so if it is something you don't like. The sooner you get it over with, the better! If you don't believe in your abilities, no one will..
Plan some downtime and enjoy it (and don't feel guilty or like a victim). Take it like athletes do, “who include rest in their training as a means of physical recovery and your brain also appreciates it.”
Play sportsYou will see the immediate effect and how the brain “decongests” and then the endorphins will help you much more than you can imagine. Sport is a healthy habit.
Include small rewards to motivate yourself every time you manage to finish particularly important tasks that you don't like. This will help you stop procrastinating next time.
Learn to say NO, Do not take on responsibilities that do not correspond to you, since you will delay the tasks because you do not want to do them, and you will gain time and energy.

10 benefits that make you more employable if you work on eliminating procrastination

It saves you from stressful situations, emotional exhaustion, and the dissatisfaction of a constant list of pending issues.
You will gain motivation, since procrastination It generates demotivation for oneself and for other people your team or environment, they will no longer think that you leave everything to the last minute!
In it teamwork, the procrastinator usually pays with a bad image and reputation (sometimes others take on their tasks because of the risk of not arriving on time).
Is source of many errors in projects, because sometimes there is no time or way to save certain situations, because there is no real room for maneuver.
You will get used to the Supervitamins A, D, C (Self-discipline, discipline and concentration)
You will work less and better, you will be more productive
You will learn to break your limiting beliefs (fear of failure, perfectionism)
You will learn to manage your time.
You will be clear, “your why”, your goal and define your action plan to achieve your purpose
You will learn to be assertive, you will learn to say NO, and you will have much more confidence in yourself

“Don’t let what you can’t do interfere with what you can do” John Wooden.

This irrational habit makes you more inefficient and also more unhappy because as we have seen it takes you away from your goal, from my point of view it is interesting to develop Emotional Intelligence skills and how The good news is always that by training, training and training, you can stop… procrastinating.

¡Cheer up, prepare your brain and fill yourself with energy! Procrastination is an enemy that can be defeated… and you know, start as soon as possible!