Page 67 - Time Management

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Time Management
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Waiting for Other People
There’s one other external factor that might lead to
procrastination: waiting for other people.You may be an
angel of timely behavior, but your boss, your spouse, or your employee
may not be. Changing someone else’s behavior is even more difficult
than changing your own. Here are a few ideas that may help:
• Set precise timelines and deadlines for others.
• Set false, early deadlines, to make it more probable that they’ll actu-
ally finish on time.
• Communicate your frustration with their behavior, if necessary.
• Encourage them to use some of the strategies outlined in this chap-
ter to overcome their tendency to procrastinate.
increase significantly” is less productive and has less impact than
saying, “Our goal is to increase sales by 12%.”

5. You fear change. This is one of the more deeply psychologi-
cal reasons for procrastination. All living things are creatures of
habit. Doing something the way you’ve always done it seems
safe. Making changes sometimes courts the unexpected—and
the unexpected can sometimes be unpleasant. So fear of
change is a natural, human reaction. But it can also be debilitat-
ing, encouraging procrastination and deferring changes that are
useful and beneficial.
If you procrastinate because you’re in a rut—because you’re
resisting change—any of the following might work for you:
• Change your physical environment. Old habits cling to
old places. Try a new room, a new chair, a new office, a
new anything. You’ll be surprised how such a change can
spark actions on duties you’re avoiding.
• Change your routines and patterns. Take a different route
to get to work. You may be surprised at how you might
feel toward a procrastinated obligation when you get to
the office.
• Do nothing. Just walk into your home or office, sit down,
and stare at the wall. You’ll soon be so bored that a
change will be precisely what you want.