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Procrastination! It’s not just another catchy song! Actually the song that would rhyme with that is “Anticipation,” and that could lead to procrastination, especially if the anticipation stems from doing a task that’s unpleasant.

Procrastination is something we’re all familiar with and most of us suffer from it or with it in one way or another; whether it be with household chores, work tasks, going to the dentist—it affects all of us.

If you work at a job outside of a home office, then you know that procrastination not only affects you but all of your co-workers as well. If something gets put off by one person, another must take up the slack.

If you work from home, as many of us here do, then it all falls on you. What pressure, huh?

Not only is procrastination a time stealer and a time waster, it also affects the quality of your other work if you’re worrying about something you’ve put off or dread dealing with.

I have several areas of procrastination, even though I know it’s easier to get a task over with or knowing I will kick myself for putting it off too long—I still procrastinate. It’s almost a natural part of the human psyche.

Dealing with procrastination is like dealing with time management issues—it takes conscious awareness and an active approach. If you’re trying to over come procrastination and manage your time more wisely, it should begin first thing in the morning—or whenever you rise and shine for the work day.

The last installment of this series dealt with Creating Routines – Time Management Series- Part 2. Getting over procrastination begins the same way. If you’ve been following this series, you’ve probably started taking an active approach to time management. These tips will also be useful for using your time wisely while you work on procrastination.

Routine & Time Management Quick Tips:

Tip #1: Have breakfast at home; not in the office.
Getting in a routine of eating breakfast at home—or away from your desk helps separate personal time from work time. It’s also better for your digestive system to enjoy your meal quietly instead of “eating on the run,” or worrying about work tasks.
The same goes for your lunch break!

Tip #1: Enjoy your break time.
Break time should be rewarding and relaxing. It’s a time to step away from work for a few minutes and enjoy a little quiet time. Give yourself a special treat during break time so it does feel like a break from work.

Tip #3: Exclude people from your morning routine.
This doesn’t mean you can’t be friendly or enjoy your family before work. This means once you get in work mode, you don’t need the distractions of other people. You also don’t need the distractions of email, Twitter, or IM’s. Turn them off!
If you work in an office setting—close the door so co-workers won’t think they can stop in to chat when they see your door open.
This is the time you should be planning your day’s activities or going over your schedule.

Tip #4: Only answer important calls.
If you work from home, and especially if you’re new to working at home—friends and family often don’t realize that the term “work from home” really does mean work.
This is the time you need to spend getting a jump on your day. The fewer distractions you have, the more you can get planned before having to open your door and phone line to the outside world.

Tips to Avoid/Overcome Procrastination:

Tip #1: Start Planning Your Day!
This may seem redundant after the first section, but it is the most important part of time management and avoiding procrastination.
Get a day planner, a calendar, a sheet of paper—whatever appeals to you and will help you line out your day.
Start listing your tasks and give them a priority ranking. (More on this later.)

Tip #2: Important jobs need to be done first!
This should be a given, but knowing the human brain, we often want to do the fun things first. A good rule of thumb here is to do the stuff you hate first. You might as well get it out of the way, right? The bright side is, it’ll be done and you don’t have to dread it any more.

Tip #3: Move low priority tasks to the top quickly.
When prioritizing tasks, remember the less important tasks may become a crises if left too long as a low priority. Learn how to move less important things from the bottom of the list to the top. One or two low priority tasks per day will keep everything up to date. This will save time in the long run.

Tip #4: Give yourself an incentive.
You’re more likely to get a job done if you know there’s a reward waiting for you. No one would ever chase the rainbow if there wasn’t a pot of gold at the end, right?

Tip #5: Set Deadlines!
One thing I’ve found to be helpful is to set two deadlines; the actual deadline and a deadline with yourself. If I have work due on Wednesday, I set my personal deadline for Tuesday.
This not only keeps you ahead, but if something unexpected comes up, you still have some leeway in time.

Tip #6: Get caught up!
Have you found yourself putting off too many things that need to get done soon? All of this time management stuff is great but how do you deal with the stuff that’s already behind?
You start with your new and improved schedule and task list—which is going to keep you on time from now on—if you work at it consistently. The trick to get things caught up is to set aside some each day to work on those.
Make a list of all the things you’ve been putting off.
During the allotted time each day—maybe ten minutes here and there throughout the day—work on the list of things you’re behind on. Simply marking one or two of these items off each day will soon have you caught up and back on track.

Tip #7: Break large tasks down into smaller ones.
Tackling a big job can be overwhelming and lead to more procrastination.
Break the job down into sizeable chunks and do a little at a time until it’s all done.

Simple Method for Prioritizing Work:

Use the A’,B’ method. A’ tasks are highly important and should be done first. B’ tasks are less important but should be done as soon as possible. (Make them A’ tasks quickly.)

You can also expand this method to add C’ tasks if A’ & B’ aren’t enough. Or you can use C’ tasks as the things you’ve been putting off.

These tasks can also be sub-divided into 1′s, 2′s, & 3′s. An A-1 task takes top priority. An A-2 task is important and needs to be done quickly, etc.

However, I would only use the sub-numbering for A’ tasks or it could get quite complicated.

Example:
A-1, A-2, A-3
B
C

Don’t forget that B’ & C’ tasks must become A’ tasks pretty fast or they’ll be put off too long and waste time in the future.

Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day and time management won’t happen over night. It takes forethought and persistence.

Now, stop procrastinating and get busy.