Procrastination costs any business an untold amount of lost $$$.
Many think that one of the toughest things to do is to CHANGE their habits. And when they think that, then of course, it will be true for them.
The Panic Monster
There is a great TED talk by Tim Urban Well called ‘Inside The Mind Of A Master Procrastinator” He says that there’s two kinds of procrastination.
There is the first kind – short term procrastination. This is the kind that goes on when we are faced with doing something that has a deadline. When there are deadlines, the effects of procrastination are contained to the short term. This is because, what he calls, ‘the Panic Monster’ gets involved.
And then there’s the second kind of procrastination – long term procrastination. This happens in situations when there is no deadline.
He gives examples of those situations. It occurs for people when their work or their career requires them to be a self-starter – something in the arts perhaps or something entrepreneurial. Since there are no deadlines on these sort of things, at first, because nothing’s happening until you’ve gone out and done the hard work to get momentum underway, the tendency to procrastinate can be an issue. He also gives examples of the second kind of procrastination in relation to things outside of one’s career – things that don’t involve any deadlines. Things like seeing your family or exercising and taking care of your health, working on your relationship or getting out of a relationship that isn’t working.
If the procrastinator’s only mechanism so as to be sure to do these things is to respond the effect of the Panic Monster, then there’s a problem. This is because in all of these non-deadline situations, the Panic Monster doesn’t show up. He has nothing to wake up for. So the effects of procrastination will not be short term and they will not be contained. They just extend outward forever.
And it’s this long-term kind of procrastination that’s much less visible and much less talked about than the funnier, short-term deadline-based kind. It’s usually suffered quietly and privately. And it can be the source of a huge amount of long-term unhappiness, and regrets.
It’s this long-term procrastination that is the one that does so much harm. People can feel like a spectator, at times, in their own lives. The frustration is not that they couldn’t achieve their dreams; it’s that they weren’t even able to start chasing them.
We all have limited amounts of time and money. How well we use each of these creates the difference between a successful company and a mediocre one. Being able to focus on the issues that make the biggest difference is key. This is the way to obtaining a massive return on investment in your business.
Let me challenge you for a moment.
- Do you regularly review and proactively use your financial statements?
- What key drivers or performance indicators do you track?
- What do you do to diagnose the health of your company?
- How do you know if you and your team are delivering your products and service consistently and reliably?
- Do you test and measure your marketing?
In other words, are you focusing on the most important issues in your business?
If you feel that you don’t have mastery over the fundamentals of your business, take action. Isn’t it time to do something about it? Your customers can wait for an hour or two whilst you pay attention to the business side of your business.
Remember, long term procrastination has a cost. Putting this off could mean a bunch of lost opportunities and a whole heap of lost dollars. Decide to run your business, don’t let it run you!
Creatures of Habit
We are all creatures of habit. And yet to make the changes we want in our lives and our businesses, we have to break current habits to form new ones. This only happens when we choose to break our habitual behaviour. We have to stare our procrastination habit in the eyes and say. Enough!
We must use today’s injection of fresh will power to choose to embrace self-discipline. We must create some sort of “Panic Monster” for our long term issues and challenges.
Most people know what they need to do to be the very best in their field. But “doing it” on their own can be a huge challenge for them.
The best definition of self-discipline is this. “Self-discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether or not you feel like it.”
It is easy to do something when you feel like it.
It’s when you don’t feel like it and you force yourself to do it anyway that you move your life and career onto the fast track.
What decisions do you need to make today to start moving toward the top of your game? Whatever it is, make your decision today and then get started.
This single act alone can change the whole direction of your life. Provided each day you renew your determination and make a series of purposeful choices, you will reach your goals.
And if you know that you can’t do it on your own, and you know you need the Panic Monster to be in play, then get a mentor or a coach of some sort.
