One of the reasons I’m such a strong advocate for developing Action-Block Calendaring for your ongoing time management strategy is that it is one of the most effective tools for overcoming the productivity issue we all seem to struggle with: procrastination.
So why do to-do lists trigger procrastination?
Simply put, it’s overwhelming and demotivating to be reminded daily of all the things you haven’t done. When you’re preoccupied with unfinished tasks and unmet goals you feel guilty and inadequate. In practice, you may strive to start each day with the best of intentions, but each time you reexamine your decisions you are giving yourself permission to change your mind, to procrastinate–to put off whatever it was you had planned to do, and therefore you never make progress in your business.
Procrastination is a very easy habit to fall into and you may find yourself struggling with the following behaviors and thoughts:
- Wasting time on low priority work just to feel like you’ve accomplished something. You may think to yourself, “that paper shredder has been bugging me for the longest time! I need to go get a replacement right now so I don’t have to think about it anymore.”
- Constantly revisiting your to-do list to try to reprioritize what you feel in the moment should be done. As a result, you are likely feeling the draining effect of decision fatigue and have little energy left for important strategic thinking.
- Each time you look at your to-do list, you may choose the easier task instead. This is where the emotions of the moment can get the best of you and if you fear the task that lay ahead of you, you may opt for an easier one to fill your time instead. At the end of the day you may feel “productive,” but did you really get anything important accomplished?
- You don’t feel you have what you need to complete the task in the moment. While this may be true, foresight and planning your to-dos in your calendar will help you realize what is needed in advance, so ideally you shouldn’t run into this problem.
- You feel you’re in the wrong place for the task to be completed. Again, as stated above, foresight and planning should give you insights into the nature of the task to be completed, which includes location and the optimal batching of similar tasks.
- “Many of these tasks can’t be done yet – I need to do something else first.” The longing wish of the procrastinator is that things will become more clear or will resolve themselves if given more time. In reality, very few things move forward without our action. While it may be helpful to give some time for additional thought to make sure our tasks are actually useful and strategic, this should ideally occur before the time we have scheduled for the task to be accomplished. I outline the process you need to take to avoid doing unnecessary tasks in my book Escape the To-Do List Trap.
Given time and following my proven process of Action-Block Calendaring you should see a significant change in your procrastination tendencies. It may take some effort to get into the habit of making the time and following through on your action plan, but I am confident this is one of the most essential tools you need to help you move forward in your business.
Need more help? Let’s schedule a call to see what additional support you may need.
