The Hindu Business Line : Set deadlines to stop procrastination

Initially, time frames have to be set for the completion of various stages or phases of work given to the procrastinator. For instance, an individual working on a project may allocate two days for collection of data and information, a day for assembling the information, and so on.

PROCRASTINATORS BUILD a strong fence around their self-worth. As the years go by, the fence gets stronger and stronger and it becomes very hard to break this habit.

During a chat with my friend Diwakar, he brought up a problem he was facing with one of his subordinates. "Look Doc, I tried out all avenues to get this subordinate to submit his reports on time. But he always has some reason for not being able to complete the reports," he said, and added, "He is a good worker. The only problem I am facing with him is punctuality when it comes to submission of reports. I don't want to lose him, but want to help him to overcome this problem. What should I do?"

In the past, quite a few people have raised this question and I had to draw some kind of response to Diwakar's question based on my thoughts. The problem is related to procrastination.

Procrastination is a common problem especially when it comes to unpleasant things. It means to delay actions or postpone them.

When it becomes a habit, it is hard to break just as bad habits are hard to change. Procrastinators build a strong fence around their self-worth. As the years go by, the fence gets stronger and stronger and it becomes very hard to break this habit.

The excuses given eventually become lies and when this happens, the individual loses his credibility.

Initially, it may be hard to intrude into their world of procrastination and help them to get over this habit by identifying the causes. They put up great resistance by giving superficial excuses. Some of them may not even know what is really happening with them.

Is it just a habit that makes them feel this way? Is there a psychological element in it? It is hard to get into the world of procrastinators and analyse their state of mind and resulting behaviour. Let us look at some aspects known about them.

Some of the causes which may lead people to procrastinate are: laziness, fear of failure, lack of priorities, no perspective of time, lack of direction and a way of showing one's feelings such as anger and resistance.

Surprisingly, the fear of success may also lead to the habit of procrastination. Some may feel that they don't want to look too smart or good in the eyes of others.

Some tend to develop a feeling that `I don't want to be the first one to submit the report.' They don't want others to make comparisons between them and others who are lagging behind due to lack of knowledge, ability or skills.

Psychologists Jane Burka and Lenora Yuen of the University of California at Berkeley studied a number of procrastinators.

They suggest a three-part formula in which self-worth of an individual is determined by the amount of ability he or she has and the performance of that individual is equal to the ability he or she has. Thus:

Self worth = Ability = Performance

The researchers say when an individual wastes time the above equation is thrown off balance. Those who wait until the last minute to finish a task maintain their self-worth and ability, but performance is not probably up to a mark as they take a longer time than they should.

They may think that they are getting their job done, but they do not see they are not doing a good job in getting things done.

Somewhere along, efficiency is compromised. Is such a compromise worth making? Probably, it depends on the value system the individual holds.

How does one break this habit? Specific steps have to be taken in order to get one out of procrastination.

As he or she progresses through this schedule, one must review the time schedule to see whether it is being followed pretty much as planned.

When the individual is used to completing tasks within a shorter time, he or she will be able to get out of the habit of procrastination slowly but surely. It requires a great deal of self-discipline. Generally people working in disciplined organisations such as the military, police and so on are trained in self-discipline and, therefore, may not procrastinate as much as others.

Before Diwakar left my office, I suggested that he should give time a chance and see how things work out with his subordinate who is a procrastinator. I wished him well.

(The writer is a professor of management and international consultant to some global organisations. He has authored a number of books on management)

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