Overcome
Procrastination Today
Whether you’re tackling a mountain of work, developing new projects, or
mapping the future of your business, procrastination can be a pitfall. This is
especially true when it comes to tech-related investments or transitions down
the road. Defeat procrastination by planning ahead so that your business can
adapt and refresh strategy as needed.
First, understand the procrastination cycle—when putting off a task, you
can easily get caught in an endless loop. Not being in the mood to start leads
to putting it off. Then the guilt sets in because you haven’t started yet and
feel that too much time has passed. Finally, a lack of focus seeps in—emails
and other tasks pop up—and you feel worse for having put off the task in the
first place.
Here’s how to acknowledge the cycle and get back on track with your
productivity:
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mbrace it. Accept the task at hand. Get to the bottom of why you
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don’t want to work on it—maybe you need help from another team
member, or the deadline is unrealistic.
Break it up. Determine how you can break the project into smaller
chunks of work. Set a reasonable schedule for each task so that you’re
more efficient throughout the day.
Be fast to fail. If you’re concerned about the project outcome, find
ways to quickly solve—or fail—a small task. This further defines the
path toward your goal.
Creating
Metrics
That Matter
Numbers and data help validate
your business’s success, at least
when it comes to sales and
efficiencies. Streamlining data
across the company, instead
of separating it into individual
departments, can help you
develop meaningful metrics for
tracking your growth.
While important, employee
performance reviews are not
the most realistic indicators
of business growth. Sure,
some employees may feel
like they’re improving, driving
better sales and reducing
losses, but how accurate is
that perspective? If you don’t
provide your team with the
right metrics, a company can’t
realize its effectiveness—or
ineffectiveness.
Î Î CENTRALIZE DATA ACROSS
ALL DEPARTMENTS. Share
meaningful data to get an
overall look at what’s working
and what needs improvement
in the business.
Î Î BUILD A BUSINESS INTELLI-
GENCE TEAM. This cros s-de-
partmental group will devise
solutions to fix the problem or
challenge identified by metrics.
Î Î FIND ORGANIC SOLUTIONS. It’s
not often you’ll find a one-size-
fits-all, out-of-the-box solution.
Just as your business is unique,
so will your metrics and analysis
process be unique.
Î Î DEFINE SUCCESS. Ensure every
employee understands what
success looks like—and specifi-
cally how it can be measured.
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