Hello….is that YOU?

Do you have piles of “To Do” lists and Reminders on your hands? Do you keep writing the same tasks over and over again in every new To Do list? Do you keep saying I will do it and you never do? Do you keep jumping from one task to the next and you always find an excuse why not to get it done and finally you feel exhausted but when you check you can’t signal any task as done?

Is that YOU? Well, you have a procrastination problem!

Procrastination is a serious problem that can ruin your career and even an entire company if you are on the top of the hierarchy.

How to heal this?

1- Acknowledge that you have this problem and take the decision to heal it.

2- Understand why it happens? Why do you procrastinate?

a- Waiting for the right time or the right mood to get it done?

b- A fear of failure?

c- Underdeveloped decision making skills?

d- Poor Time Management Skills?

e- The task is unpleasant or overwhelming?

f- Perfectionism? “wait until I can make it 100% perfect”

g-……OR WHAT??

3- Take active steps to BEAT it.

Asking HOW???

Many things can be done to heal procrastination, for example:

– If the task is overwhelming, divide it into smaller task and take one at a time until done

– Always have an Urgent/important matrix to decide which task should you start with first.  Answer questions like is it urgent or not? there is also the rule of shorter job first that can help you get 10 small tasks out of the way before getting into something that will take a longer time span.

– Create an action plan and STICK TO IT

– Remind yourself of the consequences of not getting a task done on time.  Like for example by calculating the cost of your time on the job everyday you will realize how much you cost your company and hence your conscious will force you to get it done.  You could also weigh how this will affect the company image with the customer, its effect on other colleagues who are waiting on you to do something else and so on….

– Create your own reward and punishment plan to encourage yourself.

– If you know you are too weak to be able to do all the above, ask a colleague or friend you trust to check on you.  This way you’ll be ashamed to keep saying not yet.

There are many ways to heal this problem if you really want to, but you have to admit that you have it first.

The Rules of Management – Managing yourself

As I mentioned in my previous post, the book “The Rules of Management” – by Richard Templar is divided into two main sections; managing yourself and managing your team.  Last time I wrote a few of the points mentioned in managing your team section.  Today I will list some of the points mentioned in managing yourself:

1- Set an Example / standards:

You have got to be what you want them to be.  If you come to office on time and even early and finish your work on time and finish it properly with high quality, and if customers love dealing with you, expect that your team will strive to be like you.  But if you come to office late and delay tasks and lose your temper on customers, don’t expect that your team will be any better. You have to be a role model. Whether you like it or not this is the way it works, your team will be affected and inspired by what you do not what you say.  So, if you try to preach what you don’t really practice, it will never work.  I liked the quotation he used “You’ve got to give your staff something to aspire to.”

2- Have principles and Stick to them:

“There has to be a line beyond which you will not go. You have to know where that line is drawn.” Some people won’t stop at anything to get a job done or reach their objective, no matter what the cost is.  But it is very true that when you have principles, when you have a line that you’ll never cross it really pays back.  Stick to your principles and learn to say NO and you will see that it will pay back.

3- Seek feedback on your performance:

Always seek evaluation of your performance, from your managers, your team, your peers and your customers.  Assess yourself and compare your results with the assessment of others to you.  See where you went wrong and learn from your mistakes.  See the performance of your team and know it is a reflection of your own performance.  Believe that you can be wrong and do things the wrong way sometimes, but learn from your mistakes.  Be thankful to anyone who tells you where you went wrong.  Always remember to seek FEEDBACK not PRAISE.

This is book is a nice guide to people who are aware of what it takes to be true leaders and successful managers, but people who think they are always right will not benefit from it.  This is not because the book is bad but because these people don’t listen except for themselves.