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Corporate Success:Overcoming Procrastination

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Before We Begin

• Write down a task or an activity that you have been procrastinating for quite sometime, the completion of which will add value to your life.

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21 Principles to Overcome Procrastination

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Principle 1Establishing Clarity

• # 1 reason why some people get their work done faster than others is they are absolutely clear about their goals and objectives.

• Only 3% percent of adults have clear, written goals

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Principle 2Plan Every Day in Advance

• Every 10 to 12 minutes for you to plan out your day will help save you up to 2 hours in wasted time and effort.

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Principle 3Apply the Rule of 80/20 to Everything

• Pareto Principle from 1895 The Top 20% in terms of money and influence, and the bottom 80% (the trivial many)

• 20 % of your activities will account for 80% of your results, 20% of your customers will account for 80% of your sales

• Focus on Activities, Not Accomplishments

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Principle 4Consider the Consequences

• Rule: Long-term thinking improves short-term decision making.

• Successful people have a clear future orientation. 5,10, or 20 years in the future.

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Principle 5Practice Creative Procrastination

• Procrastinate on low value activities

• Rule: You can get your time and your life under control only to the degree to which you discontinue lower-value activities.

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Principle 6Use the ABCDE Method Continually

• Think on Paper – Place ABCDE next to each item on the list before

you begin the first task.– A is defined as a “must do” , your A tasks are your

biggest most important tasks.– B is defined as defined as a “should do”.– C is defined as “would be nice to do”– D is “delegate to someone else”– E is “eliminate all together”

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Principle 7Focus on Key Result Areas

•Key point to high performance is identifying the key result of your work.

•Make a list of your most important output responsibilities and they are in sync with Management /company goals.

•Then grade yourself on a scale of 1-10 where are you the strongest and the weakest?

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Principle 8 Apply the Law of 3

• Three core tasks that you perform contain most of the value that you contribute to your day.

• Your ability to identify and focus on these three key tasks and then focus on them most of the time is essential for you to perform at your best.

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Principle 9Prepare Thoroughly Before you Begin

• Create a comfortable workspace• Get on with the job • Launch towards your dreams

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Principle 10Take It One Oil Barrel at a Time

• Persons with comparatively moderate powers will accomplish much, if they apply themselves wholly to one thing at a time.

- Samuel Smiles

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Principle 11Upgrade Your Key Skills

• Upgrading your skills is one of the most important personal productivity principles of all.

• A major reason for procrastination is a feeling of inadequacy, a lack of confidence or an inability in a key area of a task.

• Rule: Continuous learning is the minimum requirements for success in any field.

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Principle 12Leverage Your Special Talents

• You are remarkable! You have special talents and abilities that set you apart.

• There are tasks that you can do that make you one of the most important

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Principle 13Identify Your Key Constraints

• Identify the Limiting Factor• Apply the 80/20 Rule• Ask yourself internally “What is it in me that is

holding me back?”• By defining the constraint determines the

strategy that you use to alleviate it.

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Principle 14Put the Pressure on Yourself

• Lead the Field- See yourself as a role model for others. Raise the bar on yourself.

• Create Imaginary Deadlines• By putting pressure on yourself you will

accomplish more and better tasks faster than ever before.

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Principle 15Maximize Your Personal Powers

• Overworking can mean under producing.• Work at your own pace (find your best time

when you are most productive),• Sometimes the very best use of your time is to

go home early and go to bed.• Get enough sleep• Guard your physical health

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Principle 16Motivate Yourself into Action

• To perform at your best, you must become your own personal cheerleader. You must develop a routine of coaching yourself to play at the top of your game.

• Control Your Inner Dialogue• Develop a Positive Mental Attitude

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Principle 17Get Out of the Technological Time Sinks

• Don’t Become Addicted• Technology is your friend• Standardize and Delegate• Refuse to be a slave• A Servant, Not a Master• Continuous Contact is Not Essential

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Principle 18Slice and Dice the Task

• A major reason for procrastinating on big, important tasks is that they appear so large and formidable when you first approach them.

• Develop a Compulsion to Closure• This means that you feel happier and more

powerful when you start and complete a task of any kind. The bigger the task, the more elated you feel.

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Principle 19Create Large Chunks of Time

• Schedule Blocks of Time• Use a Time Planner• Make every Minute Count

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Principle 20Develop a Sense of Urgency

• Do not wait; the time will never be “just right.” Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along. –Napolean Hill

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Principle 21Single Handle Every Task

• Every bit of planning, prioritizing, and organizing comes down to this simple concept.

• Every great achievement of humankind has been preceded by a long period of hard, concentrated work until the job was done.

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1. Set the table:2. Plan every day in advance:3. Apply the 80/20 Rule to

everything:4. Consider the consequences:5. Practice creative procrastination.6. Use the ABCDE Method.7.Focus on key result areas8. The Law of Three9. Prepare before you begin10.Take it one oil barrel at a time11. Upgrade your key skills12. Leverage your special talents13. Identify your key constraints

14. Put the pressure on yourself15.Maximize your personal power16. Motivate yourself into action17.Get out of the technological time

sinks18. Slice and Dice the task19. Create large chunks of time20. Develop sense of urgency21 . Single handle every task

Putting it all together