Archive for November, 2007
That Awful P Word
Procrastination – probably the number one trait that undoes more business owners than any other! I see clients get bogged down and putting off endlessly stuff they need to do to make their businesses more successful. This is usually related to sales and business development – the money-making part of the business, which is supposed to be the fun part! I came across a great article recently – Overcoming Procrastination. Manage Your Time. Get it all done.
My favourite part of the article is a list of indicators you can use to catch yourself when you start procrastinating:
- Filling your day with low priority tasks from your To Do List;
- Reading an e-mail or request that you’ve noted in your notebook or on your To Do List more than once, without starting work on it or deciding when you’re going to start work on it;
- Sitting down to start a high-priority task, and almost immediately going off to make a cup of coffee or check your e-mails;
- Leaving an item on your To Do list for a long time, even though you know it’s important;
- Regularly saying “Yes” to unimportant tasks that others ask you to do, and filling your time with these instead of getting on with the important tasks already on your list.
If you find yourself procrastinating on doing important things that will contribute to your success, print off the list above and keep it in a prominent place on your desk so you can get rid of this bad habit. Catch the rest of this great article.