Avoiding something unpleasant is the main reason people procrastinate. Try one of these four approaches when you face an unpleasant task:
- Do it. There’s an adrenaline rush from knowing you’ve completed an unpleasant task. Finishing something you’ve been putting off will energize you for the rest of the day.
- Don’t do it yet. If you’re not sure what to do, putting off an unpleasant task may be wise. That’s prudent postponement. Perhaps a better approach will surface once you sleep on it.
- Ditch it. If the task has been hanging over your head for a long time, maybe you don’t really need to do it.
- Delegate it. Delegation can be a great way to procrastinate less. If you’re someone who feels that you need to do things yourself to get them done right, you may think that delegating tasks isn’t worth the time and trouble it takes. But think about it this way: Figure your hourly salary and then decide whether, for example, having a staff member get bids from an office interior decorator isn’t a better investment of your time and money than doing it yourself.
As is the case with most time-management problems, overcoming procrastination must begin with self-awareness. The key is to identify your own personal pattern of procrastination so you can motivate yourself to switch gears.