Procrastination, defined in the Cambridge Dictionary as the act of delaying something because it is uncomfortable or boring, affects everyone at some point, but it is particularly common in the workplace. Some people are inherently hesitant, which is why they are reported to cause chronic workplace inefficiencies known as procrastination.
Procrastination is a persistent avoidance of a multitude of tasks that must be completed, which can lead to feelings of guilt, inadequacy and self-doubt. Procrastination can become chronic and debilitating and have a huge impact on people’s productivity levels in the office and the workplace. Since it is a habit, it is guaranteed to have a negative impact on work and life.
If delays prevent you from meeting deadlines and achieving your goals, you stand an unpleasant chance of losing your job. You can hide it for a while, but don’t doubt that it will ruin your career in the long run. Trying to understand the root of your hesitation and to use intelligent target concepts can be helpful.
In reality, procrastination is a complex behaviour with many possible causes, including laziness, external stress, overexertion, lack of motivation and discipline, poor time management techniques, lack of skills and perfectionism. It is not a product of laziness; even the most skillful procrastinators can become hard workers in the hours before a deadline. However, rushing to complete the tasks on your daily to-do list does not mean that they are done and provide meaningful gratification.
In summary, if you want to help an employee end his or her hesitation at work, look at the bigger picture, understand why he or she feels overwhelmed, and plan to break down the task into smaller parts. If you accept that people are hesitant, that is fine, as long as they plan ahead. If anyone wants to hesitate, they should first try to address the problem as a whole.
By communicating company and departmental goals and defining expectations for specific roles, you can alleviate some of the grey areas that can lead to delays in the workplace. Allow employees to work through their tendency to hesitate, even if it is not what you want. Keep in mind that some employees are laggards, and knowing their triggers can lead to how you assign tasks and projects.
Entrepreneurs who try to avoid delays in the workplace can correct them before they occur, and opening lines of communication with employees is a great way to investigate the cause. Creating multiple means of communication can help employees communicate with management about problems that could lead to improved workplace procrastination.
Employees who hesitate do so because they do not have a clear deadline for the project they are working on. Another way to promote accountability is to hold a meeting with the entire team each morning and ask potential delayers to see their progress. If employees do not know how slowing down a project they are slowing down, they should discuss the delay as openly as possible and use hard numbers to communicate the problems that cause it.
Once you have identified us as hesitant, give us a hard time for our work. If it is a long-term task, break down the work into smaller, manageable parts and assign each one a deadline. Dedicate the first few minutes to work, overcoming heavy commitments and completing smaller tasks.
Employees who survive their hesitation will be rewarded and encouraged to continue the good work. The reward may be a small incentive, but the real boost is to increase productivity, increase job satisfaction, and reduce stress.
Tackling delays can lead to more productive employees and a more successful business. Procrastination is an expensive and visible price for a company that is difficult to measure and can have negative effects. It requires psychological therapy to get a coworker back on track, to manage his time and his life, and to bring the behavior under control.
One of the solutions can be to check out the Eisenhower matrix to get your tasks done in order of priorities. To become more efficient, try to write down your tasks at the end of each work day as you go. You can draw ideas from different situations, and over time you will find that delay is your default coping mechanism, and you will turn to better ways to deal with important tasks.
