Ten techniques to fight procrastination at work
4 March 2013
Read by 1639 persons
You have a serious tendency to postpone tasks that bother you?
Like 20 to 30% of your contemporaries, you are prone to procrastination (1). To the point of losing all your credit. You are therefore determined to change your behavior. Ten techniques to combine to achieve this.
You don't want to contact that prospect, and even less to fill out those damn expense reports. Time is running out. Soon you will be pressured to act, stressed as usual... "Procrastination is not a matter of poor time management," says Bruno Koeltz, doctor and behavioral therapist, author of "How not to put everything off until tomorrow" (Odile Jacob, 2006). The individual does not postpone because he has ten things to do at the same time, or because he does not choose the right priorities. He procrastinates to do something else, more pleasant, easier, in order to avoid the task that weighs on him and which he had nevertheless decided to accomplish." Should we try to plan in this case? Not really. "Giving a planner to a procrastinator is like asking a depressed person to smile," says American researcher Joseph Ferrari. And asking him to make to-do lists is a waste of time. He will always find a way to get out of it. To get out of it, it is better to act on other levers, simple but effective.
1. Listen to your little voices. You are not fooled by the fact. When postponing a task, a signal is triggered within you, informing you that you are drifting. It can be permissive inner voices, which absolve you of any delay ("It needs to mature"). Or even anxious little voices ("You won't succeed"). Sometimes it's a physical sensation, a familiar feeling, boredom. "You have to be attentive to these warning signals," insists Bruno Koeltz, "because it is each time an opportunity to recover the blow, to finally mobilize oneself on what is being indefinitely postponed."
2. Evaluate your interest in doing it now. This involves moving from the idea of "having to do" to the idea of "the interest in doing". Because procrastinating does not only provide short-term well-being. "Postponing has a cost in terms of mental, psychic, financial, relational and material energy," summarizes Xavier Cornette de Saint-Cyr, coach at Hexalto. Constantly postpone an administrative chore, a decision to be made, and you will drag it around like a ball and chain. Additional risk, your entourage will judge you inefficient. Delay writing a report for your boss, you risk a warning. Draw up a pros and cons list. Then you will decide!
3. Dare to make five-minute plans. The emails that pile up are Mount Everest to climb. Forget the monstrosity of the task. Commit to dealing with the matter for only five minutes. Then it's up to you to see if you want to continue with another plan. And from five minutes to five minutes, continuously or discontinuously, you will advance. The technique, recommended by Bruno Koeltz, is clever and devilishly effective. It helps to contain frustration - you are doing something unpleasant but not for long - and increases self-esteem, since you manage to accomplish a tedious or difficult task. "In addition, you get into it, it works well, so you find pleasure in it," adds the therapist.
4. Break down tasks. This is the salami method, recommended by coaches. You cut the activity into slices, in order to make it more palatable. Be careful to give it a well-identified beginning and end. You need to make a report? Break down the work to be done: create a file, make a summary, check points, reread... You only have an hour in front of you? You will be able to carry out one of these sub-tasks.
5. Find starters. "Observe a starting ritual," advises Jean-Bernard Gouteix, training coach at Pilotis. "Like the golfer who prepares his movements before hitting the ball." You will identify yours. It can be an automatism, going to get a glass of water. Or even essential preliminaries, also called "starting tasks", simpler, going to get a document. You are struggling to do the monthly point? Take the previous month's one. Sweep away what is no longer current, the figures, the dates, then update them. You will then continue more easily on the reflection work, more difficult and at the heart of the subject.
7. Resist distractions. Just before tackling a file, you start your computer. But you know that once on the Internet, you surf with frenzy. "Self-discipline yourself through warning signals that you will have designed yourself, which will remind you to order," recommends Bruno Koeltz. A large red adhesive on your PC mouse will do the trick. "Associate these symbols of procrastination with slogans that will help you interrupt the process," continues the practitioner. Tell yourself "A little bit is better than nothing at all" or "After the effort, the comfort!"
8. Get rid of the "clutter". "The method doesn't work for everyone, but it's worth trying. Tackle what displeases you and clutters your head first. You will then take even more pleasure in doing what you like," underlines Jean-Bernard Gouteix, at Pilotis. In other words, save the best for last.
9. Take a third party as a witness. The procrastinator who works in a team often corrects himself of his fault, observe the coaches. Because there is emulation. In addition, if you commit to a colleague to deliver such a task on such a file, you are playing your credit. Communicate your objectives to a third party and ask him to remind you to order on such a repulsive approach that you will have programmed.
10. Congratulate yourself. "Pleasure must be a consequence, not a motor," warns Xavier Cornette de Saint-Cyr, at Hexalto. "And you can be happy with yourself after having accomplished a tedious task." Even if it's a five-minute plan. It's already a small victory. So, between two chores, treat yourself to a coffee, a chat or any pleasant activity, and you will start again with renewed vigor.
(1) According to one of the rare specialists on the subject, the American researcher Joseph F. Ferrar from the University of Chicago, who conducted studies on the North American population.
Marie-Madeleine Sève.
Pourseformer.fr
Posted online on March 4, 2013.
Like 20 to 30% of your contemporaries, you are prone to procrastination (1). To the point of losing all your credit. You are therefore determined to change your behavior. Ten techniques to combine to achieve this.
You don't want to contact that prospect, and even less to fill out those damn expense reports. Time is running out. Soon you will be pressured to act, stressed as usual... "Procrastination is not a matter of poor time management," says Bruno Koeltz, doctor and behavioral therapist, author of "How not to put everything off until tomorrow" (Odile Jacob, 2006). The individual does not postpone because he has ten things to do at the same time, or because he does not choose the right priorities. He procrastinates to do something else, more pleasant, easier, in order to avoid the task that weighs on him and which he had nevertheless decided to accomplish." Should we try to plan in this case? Not really. "Giving a planner to a procrastinator is like asking a depressed person to smile," says American researcher Joseph Ferrari. And asking him to make to-do lists is a waste of time. He will always find a way to get out of it. To get out of it, it is better to act on other levers, simple but effective.
1. Listen to your little voices. You are not fooled by the fact. When postponing a task, a signal is triggered within you, informing you that you are drifting. It can be permissive inner voices, which absolve you of any delay ("It needs to mature"). Or even anxious little voices ("You won't succeed"). Sometimes it's a physical sensation, a familiar feeling, boredom. "You have to be attentive to these warning signals," insists Bruno Koeltz, "because it is each time an opportunity to recover the blow, to finally mobilize oneself on what is being indefinitely postponed."
2. Evaluate your interest in doing it now. This involves moving from the idea of "having to do" to the idea of "the interest in doing". Because procrastinating does not only provide short-term well-being. "Postponing has a cost in terms of mental, psychic, financial, relational and material energy," summarizes Xavier Cornette de Saint-Cyr, coach at Hexalto. Constantly postpone an administrative chore, a decision to be made, and you will drag it around like a ball and chain. Additional risk, your entourage will judge you inefficient. Delay writing a report for your boss, you risk a warning. Draw up a pros and cons list. Then you will decide!
3. Dare to make five-minute plans. The emails that pile up are Mount Everest to climb. Forget the monstrosity of the task. Commit to dealing with the matter for only five minutes. Then it's up to you to see if you want to continue with another plan. And from five minutes to five minutes, continuously or discontinuously, you will advance. The technique, recommended by Bruno Koeltz, is clever and devilishly effective. It helps to contain frustration - you are doing something unpleasant but not for long - and increases self-esteem, since you manage to accomplish a tedious or difficult task. "In addition, you get into it, it works well, so you find pleasure in it," adds the therapist.
4. Break down tasks. This is the salami method, recommended by coaches. You cut the activity into slices, in order to make it more palatable. Be careful to give it a well-identified beginning and end. You need to make a report? Break down the work to be done: create a file, make a summary, check points, reread... You only have an hour in front of you? You will be able to carry out one of these sub-tasks.
5. Find starters. "Observe a starting ritual," advises Jean-Bernard Gouteix, training coach at Pilotis. "Like the golfer who prepares his movements before hitting the ball." You will identify yours. It can be an automatism, going to get a glass of water. Or even essential preliminaries, also called "starting tasks", simpler, going to get a document. You are struggling to do the monthly point? Take the previous month's one. Sweep away what is no longer current, the figures, the dates, then update them. You will then continue more easily on the reflection work, more difficult and at the heart of the subject.
7. Resist distractions. Just before tackling a file, you start your computer. But you know that once on the Internet, you surf with frenzy. "Self-discipline yourself through warning signals that you will have designed yourself, which will remind you to order," recommends Bruno Koeltz. A large red adhesive on your PC mouse will do the trick. "Associate these symbols of procrastination with slogans that will help you interrupt the process," continues the practitioner. Tell yourself "A little bit is better than nothing at all" or "After the effort, the comfort!"
8. Get rid of the "clutter". "The method doesn't work for everyone, but it's worth trying. Tackle what displeases you and clutters your head first. You will then take even more pleasure in doing what you like," underlines Jean-Bernard Gouteix, at Pilotis. In other words, save the best for last.
9. Take a third party as a witness. The procrastinator who works in a team often corrects himself of his fault, observe the coaches. Because there is emulation. In addition, if you commit to a colleague to deliver such a task on such a file, you are playing your credit. Communicate your objectives to a third party and ask him to remind you to order on such a repulsive approach that you will have programmed.
10. Congratulate yourself. "Pleasure must be a consequence, not a motor," warns Xavier Cornette de Saint-Cyr, at Hexalto. "And you can be happy with yourself after having accomplished a tedious task." Even if it's a five-minute plan. It's already a small victory. So, between two chores, treat yourself to a coffee, a chat or any pleasant activity, and you will start again with renewed vigor.
(1) According to one of the rare specialists on the subject, the American researcher Joseph F. Ferrar from the University of Chicago, who conducted studies on the North American population.
Marie-Madeleine Sève.
Pourseformer.fr
Posted online on March 4, 2013.
