Suffering from Temporal Myopia?
You are not alone.
It’s very likely that everyone has suffered from this at some point and many times over.
It is the inability to see or consider the long-term outcomes of an action that you are contemplating.
This is the weapon that the Business Demon ‘Procrastinator’ has been wielding for centuries and very effectively too.
The Romans had a word for it.
The ancient Romans called this Demon Procrastinatio and it was even around in 700 BC when the Greek poet Hesiod pleaded with his brother Perses as follows:
“Do not put your work off till to-morrow and the day after; for a sluggish worker does not fill his barn, nor one who puts off his work: industry makes work go well, but a man who puts off work is always at hand-grips with ruin.”
Procrastination opens the door to let others steal a march on your business.
If you don’t make that sales call, your competitor will. If you’re not looking to create more efficiency in your business, your competitor will and start outstripping your productivity. If you’re not building a great team, your competitor will be and soon be outperforming you.
So how can you slay this Demon?
Firstly, recognise that this is not about Time Management but Emotional Management. Know that you’re going to have good days and bad ones. Understand that and prepare yourself to work through those bad days.
Goal setting is key but don’t make them too big. The bigger they are, the more demotivating they can seem to be. Break them down into small, bite sized chunks. Ask yourself, what are the smallest baby steps that we can take to move this along?
If it’s something that fills you with dread, just give it five minutes. Once you’re doing it, it’s very likely that five minutes will become ten, then twenty and maybe even forty. You will be surprised at how much can you can achieve once you’re on a roll.
Keep track of your progress. You’ll feel so good when you and your team starts hitting each of your baby step targets and ticking them off as achieved. They are all progress toward your goals. Also, the more you can see you’re knocking through them, the more motivation and momentum you create.
Finally, make sure you reflect on what you’ve collectively achieved. Take the time to analyse how well it was done, how happy the team were while they worked on it and how the process of achieving that step could be improved.
Following each of these tips has helped our clients to replace procrastination with productivity, increasing their business and their profits and having fun with making all that happen.
Want To Know More ?
If you would like to know more about how we can help you overcome and then vanquish the Procrastination Demon, then hit the contact button and get in touch or …. alternatively, stop procrastinating and call us on 01373 837 331.
We’d love to help you slay this Demon once and for all.
Bill/Mark : October 2022