Fighting Procrastination

07/16/2007

Remember, you have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.
Louise L. Hay

In the article "Getting Organized: 50 Ideas for More Effective Use of Your Time" in our guidebook, The Art of Leadership: Managing Early Childhood Organizations, I shared these thoughts about avoiding procrastination....

It has been said, "There's no time like the present for postponing what you don't want to do." Indeed, procrastination is the number one enemy of effective time management. Faced with a difficult or unpleasant task, it is extremely tempting to yield to countless distractions and more enjoyable tasks. The following are some suggestions for dispelling the fascination of procrastination:

Confront Yourself. Much procrastination is unintentional: you allow yourself to be sidetracked without thinking about it. Often such mindless diversions can be avoided by asking yourself, "What's the best use of my time and energy right now?" If the answer is not what you are doing at the moment, stop that and put your time and energy to work on a more important task (LeBoeuf).
Attack Ugly Tasks First. When you start the day, it may be most effective to dispense with the most unpleasant task on your priority list first. If you postpone working on this task, you will most likely fret about it all day, thus preventing yourself from concentrating your full attention on other tasks you attempt.
Create Instant Tasks. Sometimes it helps to take a major task you're avoiding and break out some easy sub-tasks which you can readily start. For example, if the major task is filling out income tax reports, instant tasks could include pulling together all the necessary income and expense documents, filling out the identifying information on the forms, or reading the instructions on filling out the forms. Once you get rolling on these "instant tasks," you might establish some momentum that will carry you well into the major task (Lakein).

You can read the other 47 time management ideas by viewing "Getting Organized" in the "Exchange Ideas for You - FREE!" section of our home page, www.ChildCareExchange.com, or by buying The Art of Leadership at our bookstore.

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