11.07.2024

TECHNIQUES TO FIGHT THE BAD HABIT OF POSTPONEING UNPLEASANT WORK

So you don't feel like going to work in the morning, that you hang around and are late. Then you don't like that task so much that you put it off until the last possible moment. You end up being late with her performance or beating her over and over again.

If it happens a few times, don't get mad at your boss at all for his policy of firing employees who are consistently late. From his point of view, the logic is ironclad - subordinates who hang around and do not meet deadlines are not motivated enough to work. And it's his fault because he lets them. And unpunished non-compliance with the rules is contagious like the flu. Before he knew it, the epidemic had engulfed the entire team.

In his book "Manager's Tattoos - Rules of the Modern Leader", published in Bulgaria by AMG Publishing, the Russian Maxim Batirev tells how he found confirmation that he was right to chase his late subordinates. While clearing the folders, he came across one with explanations from employees who had been late twice in two weeks. The explanations were more than a year ago. He was surprised to find that none of these people worked for the company anymore. "Being late is a litmus test for the attitude to work. A person who does not know how to organize himself treats every task in the same way. And then either he himself will quietly move out, or you will have to part on your own initiative," he believes the manager.

Getting to work on time is a matter of both self-organization and self-respect. You do understand how infantile it is to explain every day that you are late because something extraordinary happened. Either you are the world's biggest dork, or you haven't mastered one of the basic skills of an adult - managing your time. So buckle up and leave on time for service.

It's far more difficult, once you get there, to learn not to put off tasks, no matter how unpleasant they may seem.

Fear vineyard guard

Managers and HR professionals are adamant that the strongest reason for employee disengagement is the consequences. If someone puts off work until the last minute and submits a mediocre project, but is not punished for his negligence, he will continue to do the same until he sees negative effects for himself. In short, the fear of being fired or some other kind of sanction stops the desire to procrastinate.

It sounds harsh, but millennia of experience have proven that awareness of the "crime-punishment" relationship is a powerful motivator for human behavior.

Maybe you're smart enough for now and the boss didn't catch you hanging around until the last minute. Try to shock yourself. If you're in the habit of procrastinating, you're bound to screw up. Then you will damage your professional reputation, your career, your income, etc. Instead of taking that risk, it's wiser to fight the bad habit that will inevitably fail you at some point.

Why is it inevitable? Well, because if the work could be done with quality in two days instead of three, your boss would have given you a two-day deadline. His main duty is to take care of the efficiency of his employees. This means organizing things in such a way that no one does for three days something that can be done in two.

The carrot is your own backbone

Fear is a powerful motivator, but as positivists say, success is even stronger. And more precisely, the reward for it. Knowing what you will gain by completing your tasks on time and with quality will undoubtedly make you not procrastinate. It is not by chance that the infamous carrot and stick theory exists.

But the bad thing is that in the performance of current duties, the relationship "work - reward" is quite mediated. You know the reward is basically the salary, but that's not enough of an incentive. Especially when you have to do things that are boring to you. Usually, in every profession and in every position there is no shortage of tedious tasks, and with them people who have the habit of procrastinating until the last moment suffer the greatest downfall.

Experts advise fighting the urge to put them off for later by rewarding yourself.

First, think realistically. It is clear to you that you are only delaying the inevitable - no one else will do it, it is waiting for you. Tasks will pile up and overwhelm you like an avalanche.

Then think optimistically - look at these tasks as part of a bigger picture. They are moments of your professional life and your income, your chances of promotion, your career depend on their fulfillment. By seeing the particular task as an important step of something bigger, by reminding yourself of your ultimate goal, you'll give yourself the impetus not to procrastinate.

Finally, think pragmatically - set a reward that you will give yourself by doing the work. Make a promise to yourself before you even start. For example, as soon as you write that analysis that the boss wants, you will go eat a piece of cake.

If the task is longer, break it up into stages and give yourself small rewards for progress in each stage to keep you interested. This will keep you motivated all the time, and you won't be tempted to stop halfway through and put off finishing until tomorrow. And in the end, you'll get both the reward and the satisfaction of getting the crap done.

By making it a habit to counter any urge to procrastinate, your brain will get used to motivating you, ie. to say why you are interested in taking on the task.

He, the brain, is very much to blame for the procrastination drive. It secretes hormones it likes and becomes dependent on them.

Addicted to hormones like drugs

When you do something that interests you, the brain releases dopamine - the so-called hormone of happiness. When it's boring, you know the dopamine won't be there and you lack the desire to start. But since you are not sitting completely idle, but doing some more pleasant task, your brain is "having fun" and its immediate dopamine is an excuse for procrastination.

It gets even worse if in the meantime the boss cancels the tedious task or someone else does it for you. Then the happy hormone comes in to tell you how right you were to wallow.

From that moment on, the brain starts to make you procrastinate in order to get the desired dose of dopamine, either because you will fill your time with something better, or because the unpleasant thing can get away with you. And procrastination becomes a habit.

It sooner or later leads to a disaster, so provide yourself with the hormone of happiness by that technique - promise yourself a reward for the work done, which will give you dopamine.

The other dangerous hormone that causes you to procrastinate may be adrenaline. The so-called stress hormone comes when you have to get the long-delayed work done in a short period of time. This naturally leads to great tension.

Adrenaline is also addictive to the brain. Without realizing it, you may have developed a stress hormone addiction. To get your dose of it, you do everything at the last minute.

You will deal with this problem by not letting your addicted brain dictate your work decisions, but by providing it with adrenaline in another way. For example, take up a competitive sport, climb mountains, bungee jump or skydive.

Besides, you can also get adrenaline by periodically repeating to yourself that you should not be late either in the morning for work or with the performance of your tasks, because you will be fired. It gives as much adrenaline as skydiving.

---- Classic Cause ----

Very often, employees put off work not because it's unpleasant, but because they don't know where to start. In these cases, it is foolish not to seek help from a colleague or the boss. Don't worry about looking incompetent. You will expose yourself more if you are late with the task or perform it poorly.

When you feel insecure, procrastination further reinforces the impasse. If you take it upon yourself to think, make a clear plan, provide yourself with the necessary resources, including help, it will surely turn out that the task is not so scary.