Have you ever had a call to return, piece of work to get started on or an impending deadline approaching? And do you find yourself spending the day working "round" it? Telling yourself you will get to it soon....right after I finish this e-mail.....ok, after my next meeting....might as well have lunch first.....I'll just check my in-box before I make that call....and before you know it, its 4.30pm!!
Maybe there's a reason why you are avoiding a particular task - it may be that you are responding to a complaint, or you need to share what you perceive to be bad news - and you are worried about the response you may receive.
The challenge with procrastination, is that its simply putting off the inevitable. And for all the time that you spend avoiding the task, its taking up your headspace. That niggling little voice is getting in the way of whatever else you are working on, and creating a distraction.
So - what is the solution? A top tip shared with me by previous colleagues, and I have now been sharing on my Brilliant Service Outcomes programmes, is very simple, and came from a book by Brian Tracy. The book is called "Eat That Frog", and the clue is in the title!
Now I know, that sounds pretty horrific! However, the theory goes, if you had a live frog jumping around your desk, and you had to eat it at some point in the day, when would you eat it? Now, most of us would say they would just go to the local sandwich shop for lunch - but lets take that option off the table! The answer is to eat it straight away. Get rid of it! That way, we avoid getting slime all over the desk, annoying croaks as it hops about (and if you are like me, you will have developed an emotional bond by lunchtime and won't have the heart to eat it!)
The same advice goes for that pesky call or piece of work you know you have to deal with - just get it done. It will rarely be as bad as you think its going to be, and you will feel so much better for getting it out of the way. And - even if it does go badly - you then have the remainder or the day to resolve it!
A few other top tips I recommend for getting those tasks out of the way:-
Time-lock - set aside time for routine calls and admin daily, and make sure you use it!
If you are delaying getting started on a project as you know its going to be a huge task, break it down into bite-sized chunks and small goals - what needs to be done today/this week?
Connect the work with the "why" - why is this piece of work important - what impact will it have on another person? What problem are you helping to solve by getting it done?
*Disclaimer:- no live frogs were used or harmed in the production of this blog!
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