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End Game

by Adair Good

How many times have you wanted to start a big project, but got side-tracked making a cup of coffee, answering that e-mail or chatting with a colleague? There’s an endless list of ways we can avoid doing the task at hand.

I work for myself, so it’s easy to procrastinate because there’s no one to keep me on track. As an experienced coach I’ve learned to control my urge to procrastinate, and here I’ll share with you how you can manage it, too.

I combat the problem by setting myself deadlines and by making deadlines with clients, even if they don’t ask for them. I’m a conceptual or analytical thinker, so I need to follow systems to keep me on track in order to complete tasks. I keep a diary and use calendars to stay focused.

Why we procrastinate is mostly due to our subconscious, listening to negative thoughts that can literally immobilise us if we let them.

What do we procrastinate about? It’s the big stuff, the stuff we put in the “too hard” basket.

It could be in your work or personal life such as starting a major project, perhaps one that’s out of your comfort zone; starting a fitness programme; giving up smoking; having a difficult conversation to resolve something; putting off applying for that job you want; or even starting that course you know would be good for your career.

My plan for eliminating procrastination involves 10 key steps to break through the barriers that stop you from achieving what you set out to:

1. Identify the key things happening around the procrastination. What’s going on with you right now?
2. Explore why it’s happening?
3. Make a list of what you’re not doing, especially if there’s more than one thing. Put them in order of priority, from most to least important.
4. Are there any negative thoughts going through your mind? If so, what are they? Make a list. Write them like this – “I’m not/can’t…”
5. Identify what action you need to take to move forward.
6. If it’s a big project, break it down into parts and timeline or project plan it to a deadline.
7. Take action: choose the first part you’ll do.
8. Get started: spend at least 20 minutes a day on the project (or one part) and it will slowly get finished.
9. Communicate your deadlines to others and make them public. We sometimes lie to ourselves, but we usually don’t lie to others.
10. Celebrate your achievement with a reward – you deserve it.

If you follow these steps you’ll find it will be easier to identify and resolve your behaviour and you’ll start to notice major changes in other areas of your life, too.

Your relationships will also improve as you feel better about yourself. This is because you’ll admire yourself for getting things done and, as a result, your self-esteem will be enhanced and you’ll have more energy. You’ll be able to call yourself a “finisher” and your performance will improve markedly.

As your self-esteem improves you’ll find you start achieving much more than you ever did before.

Once you start finishing things, set yourself some major goals. You’ll find that you achieve those, too. You didn’t start out procrastinating, it’s a learned behaviour. And behaviours, as we know, can be changed.

Adair Good is a member of the Hong Kong International Coaching Community (info@coachinghk.org)