Procrastination in the Workplace

How to: Avoid Procrastination in the Workplace

Everybody procrastinates in the workplace at one point or another. It seems all too easy to fall into an internet wormhole, daydream about the weekend, or fix our attention on menial tasks.

However, procrastination in the workplace greatly hinders our success, and can cost direly.

Think about this: the national average salary of a software engineer is about $90,000, according to Glassdoor. If he or she procrastinates just one hour a day, during which he or she is paid $45, this adds up to $225 per week. That’s $11,700 of valuable time wasted per year. 

[bctt tweet=”Software engineers earn $90,000. For them, procrastinating an hour a day adds up to $11,700 wasted per year.”]

What if we could eradicate these lost hours, and put our effort into activities that will advance our goals, and those of our companies?

The first step to ending procrastination in the workplace is to determine why you procrastinate:

Think about the main reasons you procrastinate. This the first step toward eradicating this bad habit.

If you’re having a hard time, or scrolling through your phone instead of thinking hard (procrastination gets to the best of us sometimes…) we’ve identified a few key factors for you.

We’ve also outlined potential approaches to eradicate each one.

Factors that can contribute to procrastination:

  • Disorganization of tasks: Often, our to-do lists can look so daunting, that we stop looking at it altogether and turn to something easier, such as reading an article on the internet.
    • Quick Fix:
      • Group tasks into projects, to simplify your list
      • Prioritize what needs to be done within each project
  • We get overwhelmed: We think, there is no way that I will be able to finish everything on time. So, we feel disappointment and stop what we are doing.
    • Quick Fix
      • Rather than only setting due dates for tasks, set start dates
      • Go one step further by realistically estimating how long each task will take you, so you know when you’ll need to start in order to finish on time.
  • Losing interest: Work is work, and even people who really love their jobs don’t enjoy everything that they do in the office. Avoidance of tasks like these leave us scrolling through our Facebook feed when we know there are spreadsheets to be filled.
    • Quick Fix:
      • Find a way to make these tasks more enjoyable; if you’re filling out a spreadsheet, for example, allow yourself to listen to music while you work
      • Reward yourself. Tell yourself that as soon as you finish the task, you can go downstairs for a cup of coffee.
  • Not knowing what to work on: This occurs when our workload becomes too spread out or backlogged to handle. We don’t know what to start on first, or we think that we finished everything that we needed to do, when in reality we could be doing more to accomplish success.
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Parting Advice

Often, when I find myself procrastinating, it’s because working on something easy, or reaching out to a friend, is easier than the tasks that lie in front of me on the desk.

However, this bad habit results in future stress and less productivity overall.

This article on Forbes offers some great insight. They say: [bctt tweet=”Procrastination can be overcome by finding a way to connect to your future self, now. @forbes”]

So, next time you push your to-do list aside and reach for your phone, think about the future stress that you’re allowing to build. Do something your future self will thank you for: tackle that big task in front of you.

There cure to procrastination in the workplace is Prioritization and Discipline.

Come back next week for a comprehensive guide on how to build self-discipline, to beat procrastination in the workplace once and for all.

 

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