Slaying Procrastination

I met up with a pal of mine for a couple of cheekies in a new Soho juicer the other night.  Inevitably, as it was a school-night, we spent a few moments banishing the evils of the day.  We soon discovered that we were both exhibiting an alarming tendency to put-off doing particular tasks, opting instead to read a few news articles on the web.

Rarely before being prone to such abandonment, I was keen to snap out of any such current slide.  My mate is a lawyer, one so eminent that he actually earns his corn defending other lawyers.  He reckoned we were showing ‘task avoidance & procrastination’.  A fair point.

He further suggested a remedy.  Each time you know that you’re putting something off, write down a list of why what else you do is more important, and why what you’ve let slip is no longer top priority.  Apparently it makes for pretty grim reading and ensures you get back on track.  So there you have it, those unappealing emails about price rises, tricky objection handling and admin can now earn their rightful place above celeb gossip and sporting analysis.

As a salesrep at heart, I’m always likely to chase the latest prospect action rather than whatever may have been number one on my to do list.  I recognise this as a potential barrier to success.  My time in Cape Town meant I was delighted to find a download from the Uni of the Western Cape that sums up approaches to this extremely well.