Why Procrastination Is Bad For Your Business

Fuschia Sirois , a professor of psychology at the University of Sheffield in England, defines procrastination this way: “The voluntary, unnecessary delay of an important task, despite knowing you’ll be worse off for doing so.”

Joseph Ferrari , a professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago has found that about 20?percent of adults are chronic procrastinators. “That’s higher than depression, higher than phobia, higher than panic attacks and alcoholism. And yet all of those are considered legitimate,” he said.

Why do we procrastinate?

We procrastinate on tasks we find “difficult, unpleasant, aversive or just plain boring or stressful.”?If a task feels especially overwhelming or provokes significant anxiety, it’s often easiest to avoid it.

A fear of failure can cause individuals to put off doing tasks and delay taking risks. Perfectionists often procrastinate?because of the need for perfect conditions in order to begin, and perfect outcomes once completed. Not being able to make a decision can often cause entrepreneurs to put off tasks and projects.

How does procrastination affect business?

Whatever type of procrastinator you are, pushing off tasks over and over again, is not only a risk factor for poor mental and physical health, but it's hurting your business.

Procrastination can be lethal for a business, especially small businesses, who simply can't afford to waste time. Time is money, and when people procrastinate,?it causes deadlines to be missed. This can then affect payments, not to mention damage the reputation of your business.

Some Consequences of Procrastination in Your Business

1.- Reputational Damage

If you continuously miss deadlines, or don’t deliver on time, your company’s reputation will eventually be tarnished. Nobody wants to do business with a company that has a bad reputation.

2. Missed Opportunities

Procrastination often leads to missed opportunities. When an opportunity presents itself, and you wait until the last minute to act, you risk losing that opportunity to another business.

3. Poor Decision-Making

Waiting until the last second forces you to make hasty, and often bad decisions which could cost your company.

4. Poor Customer Relationships

Procrastination can ruin the relationships you have with your customers. Missing deadlines, not responding to customer queries in a timely manner, and not delivering orders on time can lead to the trust between your business and your customers being betrayed, and the relationship eventually ruined.

Tips to Overcome Procrastination

Everyone deals a bit different with procrastination. Some experience it pretty much every morning when they keep on pressing the snooze button on their alarm.

Overcoming procrastination is a challenge, but it is possible. Below are a few tips to help you get out of the procrastination trap and move forward.

1. Become Aware

Make a conscious effort to pay attention to procrastination. Notice when you have an intention to complete a task, but don’t follow through. Also take note of the excuses you give yourself for not starting or completing tasks. Identify your most commonly used excuses or self-deceptions. We sometimes overestimate the difficulty of a task. Getting started can change our perception.

2. Break it Down

Nobody can concentrate for hours at a time on a single task. Break big tasks down into smaller, more manageable parts.

3. Disconnect

Social media can be the enemy of productive work. If you find yourself constantly distracted by the endless supply of entertainment and social media, go offline and work without distraction when you have a big task to complete.

4. Don’t Wait for the Perfect Moment

Don’t put off something that needs your attention, even if you’re not in the mood. All you have to do is get started. Starting is often the biggest step.

5. Know your Power Hour

If you’re a morning person, tackle your most tedious tasks in the morning when you are most productive.

6. Set an Artificial Deadline

If a project is due on Tuesday, then set an artificial deadline for Monday. This will force you to tackle the project sooner, and you won’t have to rush it at the last moment.

7. Streamline Processes

Identify repetitive jobs, simplify your tasks and use technology to reduce your workload. Time is a very limited resource, use it wisely.

PS: If procrastination is down to the fear of making the wrong decision, maybe you would find interesting our our previous article "Is Indecisiveness Hurting Your Business?"

Sources:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/procrastinate-why-stop-advice/2021/07/09/13b7dc2c-e00e-11eb-9f54-7eee10b5fcd2_story.html

https://www.commercient.com/dont-sabotage-your-business-how-to-overcome-procrastination/

https://www.eu-startups.com/2019/11/how-to-overcome-procrastination-in-order-to-grow-your-business/