How to Prevent Procrastinating at Work
At work, we’re often told that time is critical. Your to-do list is chock-full of tasks, but you’ve barely made a start on them. Even though every minute matters and deadlines loom, we still seem to make room for a spot of procrastination.
And while we appreciate the irony that you might be reading this at work, we’ll let you off this time, because we’re sharing some useful information that might help you be more productive at work and reduce the bad habits around the office that you may have fallen into.
Quick links:
What is procrastination?
Procrastination affects us all to a certain extent, and you might not even know it if you’re not familiar with the definition. It’s defined as the action of delaying or postponing something. You might think this would only apply to tasks that are assumed to be negative, but it’s a bit more nuanced than that.
Some people may procrastinate because the reward after completion doesn’t motivate them, or because the reward might simply be more work. In this instance, simple, easy-to-complete tasks can be put off for extended periods of time.
How does this affect your work?
Procrastination can affect work in a variety of ways. The most obvious way is through a pile-up of work that’s caused by the intentional delay of completing work. This has a dramatic knock-on effect across departments, slowing down productivity and potentially leading to missed targets and deadlines.
More broadly, it can affect your ability to progress through a business. In the short term, the rewards for completing a task might be minimal, but they pay dividends in the end, which is why procrastination can be so damaging to your career prospects.
How to avoid procrastinating at work
Now that we’ve established what procrastination is and how it can negatively affect your work, your colleagues, and your progression through a business, it’s time to tackle how you can avoid procrastinating through easy-to-implement actions.
Organise yourself before you begin
Looking at a calendar filled with unorganised tasks can be daunting, but by organising the tasks into more manageable chunks, you can start to tackle the workload in a structured fashion. Take the time to understand what the tasks entail and which should be prioritised.
This first step will amplify the effectiveness of the other steps, allowing you to tick off tasks regularly because you’re aware of what needs to be done, and you’ll have a better understanding of how to achieve that.
If you’re having trouble deciding which tasks to prioritise, don’t be afraid to reach out to your line manager or other stakeholders to help you. This could come in the form of a daily, weekly or monthly meeting.
Take regular breaks
If your concentration is starting to dip, then taking scheduled breaks might help.
Breaking up long tasks with short breathers helps you maintain performance. If you’re grinding away for hours, then chances are your focus and dedication to the task will begin declining. So, go make that cup of coffee, clear your head with a brisk stroll or check your phone – we’re allowing it this time.
Follow the ‘two-minute rule’
Take a look at your to-do list (if you don’t have one, you should definitely make one). Is there anything on there you could complete in two minutes? If you said yes, then congratulations – you just followed the ‘two-minute rule’.
Entrepreneur Steve Olenski contends that the rule means that the completion of these small tasks takes less time than getting back to them later, so it’s worth striking off a few tiny to-dos before you focus on the big stuff.
Stop multi-tasking
When you’re busy, it’s easy to think that taking on more than one task at a time will help you get the list of tasks done quicker, but it’s usually not the case. Multi-tasking takes you out of a task to focus on another, stifling any rhythm you had.
Instead, take each task at a time and organise them in order of importance. You might also benefit from taking on tasks in a way that is structured into the hardest ones first, or a difficult one and then an easy one, whichever works for you and gets the tasks done on time.
It’s far better to focus on one thing before moving on to the next. Taking your time and finishing each task first might show less dynamism, but it’s better than sloppily completing several tasks together and having to re-do them later down the line.
Turn off notifications, get rid of distractions
It can be incredibly difficult to concentrate when your friends are sending you post after post of the latest social media trend, particularly when your phone is lighting up like a Christmas tree right in your eyeline.
If you find yourself being distracted by your phone lighting up or even by your colleagues emailing you, it might be time to turn off your notifications and periodically check them. If you find that your phone is a distraction even when it’s not lighting up, consider putting it on the other side of the room.
Be aware of your circadian rhythm
Throughout the day, you will naturally find that there are periods where you are more productive than others. You may notice that your energy peaks and troughs as the day goes on; this is called a circadian rhythm.
By understanding your own circadian rhythm, you can determine what time of day you should tackle certain tasks. Most productive in the morning? Use that time to tackle the time-consuming, difficult tasks. You can then use the afternoon to complete smaller tasks. Again, this advice should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Sometimes, you might need to go against your circadian rhythm to get a task over the line.
Set realistic goals
If there are any upcoming projects or tasks on your to-do list that seem daunting or overwhelming, then procrastination is sure to kick in. Instead of looking at these as one big task that you’ll struggle to finish, break it down into smaller, more manageable tasks. Not only does it make bigger projects seem less daunting, it’ll give you more control over your productivity, putting you on the right track to finishing the project as a whole.
Click here for the latest news and features from SEFE or visit our homepage to find out about our latest career opportunities.
The views, opinions and positions expressed within this article are those of our third-party content providers alone and do not represent those of SEFE. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. SEFE accepts no liability for any errors, omissions or representations.
