procrastination Archives -

Seven Myths About Procrastination

When faced with a deadline, how often have you said to yourself, “there’s always tomorrow!” and then put it off? If that sounds like you, you’re not alone. And we’re often told that procrastination is negative. But is it really true that people who procrastinate have no friends, overspend, and are unsanitary? I’ll tell you tomorrow.

Let Someone Else Decide

Issues May Resolve Without You

If you’ve ever decided something quickly, as we’ve all heard we should, how often could the issue be resolved by someone else? Emergencies often resolve themselves if you take no action. When people scream that it’s an emergency, often putting off the decision will force the person who created the issue to handle it themselves.

Decisions at the Last Possible Moment

In his book, Wait: The Art and Science of Delay, Frank Partnoy claims that when faced with a decision, we should assess how long we have to make it, and then wait until the last possible moment to do so. The Romans and Greeks embraced their own procrastination like the big party-goers they were. But then the Puritans came along with a bunch of malarkey that people would embroider onto cushions about “a stitch in time saves nine.” But important decisions need slow cooking, in more of a crock-pot approach than a wok approach.

Reframing the Stigma

What if, instead of procrastination we called it managed delay? Something about the word procrastination makes us seem not in control of our own destinies. But managed delay? That makes us seem to be the managers of time and not vice-versa. And if your time needs better management, here’s Time Management for Busy Entrepreneurs.

Fast and Efficient

Putting off tasks until the last minute might seem inefficient, but when it’s the 11th hour and you have to finish that report sitting on your desk, it’s more likely to get done. Maybe not perfectly done, but done. As long as you’ve left that 11th hour free, that is.

The Art of Procrastination

John Perry, in the Art of Procrastination, “generously acknowledges that he has stood on the shoulders of giants, in particular Robert Benchley, the Algonquin Round Table member. In 1930, Benchley revealed how he mustered the willpower to pore through scientific magazines and build a bookshelf when an article was due.”

Anyone Can Do Any Amount of Work

“The secret of my incredible energy and efficiency in getting work done is a simple one,” Perry wrote. “The psychological principle is this: anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.” (from a New York Times article)

Productivity Under Pressure

Not everyone can sit down at their desk and produce a masterpiece at an appointed hour. Some are early birds and work best at dawn. Others need to delay until conditions are just so. If you can give your laser focus, but are a late starter, will you be any worse off? Here’s my post on about social media in 60 minutes a day, by the way.

Do You Procrastinate?

Let me know right now! Or later. Whatever.

Secrets to Great Content You Forgot You Knew

Maybe you’ve been toying with the idea of starting a blog. You’re getting ready to get started thinking about it. That is, right after you finish that new business plan for next year. And waxing the car. And don’t you also need to balance your checkbook again?

The secret to great content is to begin creating it. Maybe your writing isn’t perfect. Whose is? If you never start writing, you’ll never know. And great, original content on your blog helps your SEO with Google. Here are a few ideas that helped me get started with blogging.

Don’t procrastinate.

“Procrastination, quite frankly, is an epidemic,” declares Jeffery Combs, the author of “The Procrastination Cure,” says in an article “How to Stop Time,” via the New York Times. Don’t add to that epidemic.

An unfinished blog post

Glue the seat of your pants to the seat of the chair.

Sit and start writing the first thing that pops into your head, and do that for 15 minutes. Can you do that? Sure you can! Now, you’ll probably go back and delete 90% of it, but there will be the glimmer of a good idea in there.

Write every day

Write every day.

Write whether you feel like writing or not. Often you will not. That monkey brain of yours will want to do other things. Pinning banana recipes on Pinterest comes to mind. You will procrastinate on this important job. So get it over with. Once you get past that first 15 minutes, the rest will get easier. Jeff Goins, in his article “Why You Need To Write Every Day,” says: “If you want to get this writing thing down, you need to start writing every day.”

Talk, then write.

Speak your ideas, then write them down. Or have them written down by someone else. Or use Dragon Naturally. Whatever. Just get the words down. You can change them later. Because everyone can talk.

Don’t expect perfection.

Perfection will never happen. Just make sure to get something in writing. You can come back and insert some long, impressive-sounding words later.

Let it simmer

Let it simmer.

Here’s the fun part. Go away. Get in your car and drive around. Go for a walk. Come back and everything will look different. When you return from your sojourn you can wear a different hat and edit your words.

Create five topics in your blog.

Today’s topic was one that I began months ago. It languished in my blog, along with some other unfinished work. But one day, you may not know what to write about. You’ll go to your website, and that half-written piece will start to take shape. By the way, here’s a post with some tips for blogging for startups.

Don’t wait to get going

Don’t wait to get going.

It’s going to be work, but once you ‘re done, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment. Your competition is already done. Don’t get left in the dust. And when you’re done, make sure to promote that blog, too.