Procrastination

March 12, 2010

Interview with Karen Leland, author of the book Watercooler Wisdom: How Smart People Prosper in the Face of Conflict, Pressure, & Change

_______________

Mike Carruthers:
Everyone procrastinates a little bit but for many of us procrastination is a real problem.

Karen Leland:
Procrastination only becomes a problem when it's starting to have an impact on you - financially, spiritually, emotionally, physically, etc.
 

Karen Leland, author of the book Watercooler Wisdom: How Smart People Prosper in the Face of Conflict, Pressure, & Change, says a great way to fight the tendency to put things off is to write down the tasks you have to do.

In their book "The Power of Full Engagement," (I think it was Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz), they looked at studies that determine the power of taking an action. And in one of the studies they did, between 75 and 100% of the individuals who set a specific date and a specific time to complete a task, actually did. So, we know that the power of writing it down and committing yourself to doing something greatly increases the chance that you will get it done.

Karen says another important tool to getting things done is what she calls "time planning".

We recommend a two-step process for time planning. So, for example everybody has high and low periods of energy and focus, so for some people it's in the morning and for some people it's in the afternoon and for some people it's in the evening. So, once you know when you have an easier time doing difficult tasks, time planning is actually going into your calendar and setting aside blocks of time for getting certain things done. One of the tricks is you want the time periods to be short - anywhere between 15 minutes and an hour is the most effective.