ONE OF my favourite one-liners is, "A pessimist is one who complains of the noise when opportunity knocks." And well, this knocking reminds me of the adage, "Opportunity knocks but once." Simple, yet true.
How often have you put off doing something and borne its consequences in the form of a `late fine' or `late promotion' at work? Probably, it was not even your fault. Most perfectionists get labeled as procrastinators simply because they aim for the sky when all that is required is a piece of the earth! Well, that just might be a bad parallel to draw.
So here's an example. Imagine that a certain Miss X is asked to collate the minutes of a high level meeting. The perfectionist that she is, it took her 5 hours to finalise the document, and she came up with a 50 page document! Utterly needless and a waste of time, which could have been put to better use!
Bottom line: Despite knowing that procrastination is definitely not the best thing to do. Why do we yield to it?
Afraid of failing: Most people are afraid of failing in new tasks assigned to them. So they tend to postpone them. A logical thing to do, isn't it? Indulging in regular routine work keeps them happy and so anything which places them out of their comfort zone, is swiftly pushed under the carpet!
Afraid of mediocrity: Perfectionists want to do it all, and do it perfectly. They spend a lot of time over trivial matters thereby missing many an important deadline. Remember Ms. X?
Some perfectionists set such high standards for themselves that they consider anything else below that sky touching goal mediocre. And once they have set their goal, they keep putting it off. As their standards are unreasonable, they are afraid they may not accomplish them!
Afraid of success: Yes, there are people who are actually afraid of success. That's because success brings with it more work and additional responsibilities! Such people are efficient workers and love challenging projects. However, once they have made significant progress, they lose interest in the work and look for ways to stall the additional work.
Let's see how this problem can be remedied without being a prey to procrastination.
First the bad news: M. Scott Peck, a psychiatrist and author of "The Road Less Traveled" recommends delaying gratification by experiencing the pain first, as the best way to cure procrastination. Dr Peck suggests that onerous tasks must be dealt with first and then the remaining time spent on gratifying tasks. Most often we simply complete tasks that we like in the first couple of hours of the day. This leaves us with the most monotonous jobs for the rest of the day. No doubt, we don't ever get around to completing them!
How often have you put off doing something and borne its consequences in the form of a `late fine' or `late promotion' at work? Probably, it was not even your fault. Most perfectionists get labeled as procrastinators simply because they aim for the sky when all that is required is a piece of the earth! Well, that just might be a bad parallel to draw.
So here's an example. Imagine that a certain Miss X is asked to collate the minutes of a high level meeting. The perfectionist that she is, it took her 5 hours to finalise the document, and she came up with a 50 page document! Utterly needless and a waste of time, which could have been put to better use!
Bottom line: Despite knowing that procrastination is definitely not the best thing to do. Why do we yield to it?
Afraid of failing: Most people are afraid of failing in new tasks assigned to them. So they tend to postpone them. A logical thing to do, isn't it? Indulging in regular routine work keeps them happy and so anything which places them out of their comfort zone, is swiftly pushed under the carpet!
Afraid of mediocrity: Perfectionists want to do it all, and do it perfectly. They spend a lot of time over trivial matters thereby missing many an important deadline. Remember Ms. X?
Some perfectionists set such high standards for themselves that they consider anything else below that sky touching goal mediocre. And once they have set their goal, they keep putting it off. As their standards are unreasonable, they are afraid they may not accomplish them!
Afraid of success: Yes, there are people who are actually afraid of success. That's because success brings with it more work and additional responsibilities! Such people are efficient workers and love challenging projects. However, once they have made significant progress, they lose interest in the work and look for ways to stall the additional work.
Let's see how this problem can be remedied without being a prey to procrastination.
First the bad news: M. Scott Peck, a psychiatrist and author of "The Road Less Traveled" recommends delaying gratification by experiencing the pain first, as the best way to cure procrastination. Dr Peck suggests that onerous tasks must be dealt with first and then the remaining time spent on gratifying tasks. Most often we simply complete tasks that we like in the first couple of hours of the day. This leaves us with the most monotonous jobs for the rest of the day. No doubt, we don't ever get around to completing them!
Action plan: At some point of time in our careers each one of us is bogged down by an apparently complex project. This makes us delay it to eternity. A simpler thing to do in such cases is to identify action steps. Break down the complex project into simple steps. Organise these tasks sequentially. Breaking a project into smaller bite sized chunks takes away the drudgery of the tasks.
Make time: An overwhelming project leaves us looking for that huge slot of time when we can accomplish it. Not required. Try accommodating smaller tasks through the day.
How about scribbling the points to be dealt with, in a report when travelling to work? Or making that 2-minute telephone call to the executive board when waiting for the elevator?
Delegate: It is important to know when to let go. It is possible to reassign a part or the entire project to a subordinate.
This will let you concentrate on more important tasks. Reassigning of projects might also happen among colleagues. Swapping of projects in which you aren't too interested, can be done with a colleague who is similarly disinterested in something you like.
Procrastinate procrastination forever!
Make time: An overwhelming project leaves us looking for that huge slot of time when we can accomplish it. Not required. Try accommodating smaller tasks through the day.
How about scribbling the points to be dealt with, in a report when travelling to work? Or making that 2-minute telephone call to the executive board when waiting for the elevator?
Delegate: It is important to know when to let go. It is possible to reassign a part or the entire project to a subordinate.
This will let you concentrate on more important tasks. Reassigning of projects might also happen among colleagues. Swapping of projects in which you aren't too interested, can be done with a colleague who is similarly disinterested in something you like.
Procrastinate procrastination forever!
PAYAL CHANANIA
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