I have talked about task lists and to do lists to help you keep on track with the work to be done. But what about those tasks which stay on the list for week after week, month after month?

Why do they stay there?

Why do we not get on with them?

Here are a few reasons why we might be procrastinating:

Fear – Is it a job which you are too scared to attempt (cold calling for instance!); or a job which once completed, will mean that you can no longer put off a job which you fear?

Just don’t like doing it!

Don’t know where to start – it is too unknown or big and overwhelming?

54 degrees have a few tips to help you get started…

1. Work out what it is that you are most scared of and then think of another way to achieve the same outcome. For example: if it is cold calling – why not join a few networking groups, build some relationships and get a few introductions – you may still have to make the call but now you can say “Fred suggested I call you…” – my goodness that makes it much warmer on the phone!
2. Have you just never attempted this job before and therefore do not know where to start? In business you should never feel like you have no help – we are surrounded by people who would like to help, or we have access to a laptop or tablet or Smartphone full of advice. Just bite the bullet and ask the question.
3. Do you just plain not like doing your accounts or writing promotional material? If this is the case you need to take a leaf out of the book of mums the world over and use bribery! Only this time you are bribing yourself to get on with it. What would be a great reward for getting it done? A bar of chocolate; a coffee with a friend; a game of Angry Birds; that new outfit/car you have been promising yourself!
4. It is very difficult to start with a blank piece of paper – so don’t! Open a document you have created in the past which has some relevance to the work you are attempting – it does not need to be very much relevance! Even if it just has the same fonts and heading formats it will get you away from the blank page syndrome. Take a tip from another expert: Rolf Harris puts a single dot on his paper to help get going!
5. Is your task so big and overwhelming that you never have the right amount of time to do it justice? Here is where the 54 degrees Action Planning approach comes in. Our approach helps you to break your big piece of work into smaller actions which are easier to get on with step by step until you sudden realise just how far you have got with your “impossible” task

If you would like some more help getting on with those tough pieces of work, give me a call on 07976 395754 for a chat