Sandy has an important report that’s due today.  She’s had a week to complete the report, yet has put it off to the last possible day.  Now she’s under the gun!  “I’m going to get started on my report first thing this morning,” Sandy tells herself.  “But first, I need a cup of coffee to ‘get my juices flowing’.”  At the coffee station, Sandy runs into a friend and they chat for ten minutes.  Once back at her computer, Sandy decides to check her email to see if Bill sent the data needed for her report.  No message from Bill, but Sandy has read 13 messages and responded to six of them.  By this time an hour has passed, and Sandy still hasn’t gotten around to writing her report.  Sound familiar?  Do you suffer from that disease called procrastination?

Procrastination reduces our productivity.  When we put off important assignments, we put pressure on ourselves to produce the work at the last minute.  This practice increases our stress level and also results in sub-par work.  Or we end up missing deadlines and turning in work late.

How can you overcome procrastination?  First you need to determine why you procrastinate.  We procrastinate for a variety of reasons.  In my work with my coaching clients, I find there are three primary reasons we procrastinate.  Here are the key reasons and solutions for each.

Too Complex – The task is too complex and you feel overwhelmed, so you’re not quite sure how to get started.

• Take the ‘Swiss Cheese Approach’.  Break down the project or task into smaller pieces, and then tackle one piece at a time.

Don’t Know How to do it – You’ve never done this before, and you may not have the necessary knowledge or skills to complete the project.  You experience fear of failure, so you ‘freeze up’ and don’t do anything.

• Seek help.  Find a mentor who has done this before who can ‘show you the ropes’.  Seek out resources or training to learn how accomplish the task or project.

Task is Unpleasant – You really dislike doing this task, so you put it off.

• Give yourself a reward for completing the task or project.  As an entrepreneur, making calls to prospects is important to my business, but I don’t like making the calls.  Therefore, I’ll complete my calls in the morning, and then reward myself with a walk out in nature on my lunch break.

The next time you find yourself doing anything but the task at hand, then ask yourself why you are procrastinating.  Then follow one of these tips to get back on task.  By doing so, you’ll be able to complete your projects on time and with high quality.

What other tips help you overcome procrastination?  Please share with other readers.