Ask: In what ways do I procrastinate?

Tip # 4      Ask: In what ways do I procrastinate?

Ask yourself, “In what ways do I procrastinate?”  Sit down with pen and paper.  Writing them will help you focus and identify them more clearly.  Here are some ways where people procrastinate:

• paying bills
• not discussing the complaints you’ve received about a member of your team for fear of hurting his/her feelings
• repeatedly postponing a dental appointment because you’ve got better things to do
• not returning the call of your son’s teacher because you know what the problem is and you’re fed up
• not discussing your resentment about your husband spending too much time at work or with his buddies
• not getting that hair cut, that dress dry-cleaned, that donation mailed
• not visiting a sick relative in the hospital
• not telling your significant other you no longer love her/him
• not calling your doctor about that persistent numbness in your right arm or not fixing a colonoscopy exam date
• not having the car’s squeaking brakes checked
• not going to confession because you never know what the priest’s schedule is
• not sending that overdue thank you note or making that overdue call to your mother-in-law

Tip # 5      Goals not met because of procrastination

After listing the ways in which you procrastinate, make a second list of goals that you failed to achieve because you procrastinated. 

Let’s take two typical examples:  you promised your editor you’d get that article done by a certain due date.  On the day the article was due, the editor calls you.  You tell her sheepishly that you didn’t have time to do it, and you say something like, “My son was sick for days and I couldn’t concentrate” knowing full well your editor was generous with a deadline date. 

Result?  You took one step farther away from your goal of becoming a professional writer, and two steps farther away from developing a good relationship with an editor who picked you from the 25 writers who applied for the assignment.  You can be sure your name has been taken off her address list.

Second example:  you delayed lobbying for your colleague’s promotion even if he was the best man for the job. 

Result?  The job went to someone less deserving; second, your colleague resigned to take up another offer.

When you measure the consequences of a missed opportunity because you procrastinated, ask if the consequence was worth the delay.