When it comes to moving forward with your career, you have to exercise strict self-control and enforce productivity. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself putting everything off until tomorrow and never actually getting around to doing anything. Success requires hard work and dedication which can be exhausting (and alternatives may give you more instant gratification), but the fruits of your hard work will be so sweet that they will be more than worth the effort. So, here are a few different ways to get to grips with procrastination and become a more productive individual.
Understanding Procrastination
The majority of us will avoid carrying out tasks from time to time. We actively look for distractions, embracing the freedom of the current moment while pushing the consequences to the back of our minds. This only serves to create a downward spiral where the deadline for our given tasks looms ever closer, and we find ourselves putting off even more in an attempt to ignore the anxiety and self-condemnation that will inevitably catch up with us anyway. There are various excuses that people make up for procrastination. They claim that they work better under pressure, but this isn’t necessarily true. What is true is that they leave all of their work to the last minute and have no other option than to somehow manage under strained circumstances. This can reflect itself in poor work and low-quality output. When it comes to your career, whether you are employed or self-employed, this can be extremely detrimental. After all, if you consistently miss deadlines or your work doesn’t make the cut, you’re likely to be let go from your position or clients and customers will stop coming back.
Self-Management Techniques
So, now you understand procrastination, it’s time to overcome it! Here are just a few different self-management techniques that you can try out to encourage your own success.
Lean Management
Lean management also referred to as “Lean Enterprise” or “Lean Thinking”, is a philosophy created by Toyota that forms the basis of the company’s Continuous Improvement Structure. But you don’t necessarily have to work for Toyota for it to benefit you. It is essentially a way of encouraging an organisational culture in which individuals strive to maximise customer value. Click the previous link to find out more about this management technique!
Timetable
Another effective technique is to timetable your working days. Work out everything that you need to do in each day and allot time slots for each task. This will help you to work out what time you need to rise and where you need to be at any given time throughout the entire day. Having a timetable to stick to can help you to acknowledge when you’re falling behind and give you helpful prods to move forward.
As you are probably well aware, procrastination can be a difficult bad habit to overcome. But by understanding it and actively combatting it, you should be able to move past it and consider it a thing of the past.
