“The Leadership Perspective” is a series of articles designed to assist millennials and emerging leaders with navigating difficult situations. Each week, successful business leaders provide targeted, actionable advice to enhance your perspective and improve your leadership skills.
This is part one of a two-week series on combating procrastination and staying motivated, featuring two hospitality leaders:
Dr. Lalia Rach, Founder and Partner of Rach Enterprises
Marti Winer, Vice President at MGM Resorts Event Productions
Though procrastination and motivation are interrelated, their subtleties warrant separate attention. This week’s article discusses the first step in getting back on track: understanding your procrastination.
Procrastination is a universal experience that affects us all differently. Recently, it seems that I will come up with brilliant ideas in the shower, only to forget them five minutes later. Sometimes I take a walk to try to rekindle my thoughts. If that doesn’t work, why not? Maybe I’m hungry? Or tired? Perhaps, I’m distracted? As time passes my excuses build. In seemingly no time at all, I will realize I have accomplished nothing that I set out to do. I fall behind, the pressure mounts, and I feel useless. Worse yet, I am fully aware of these bad decisions and their consequences, but I make them anyway.
Unlike me, my husband is an expert procrastinator. However, the current period of social isolation has brought to the surface many new experiences for me, and heavy procrastination is one of them. I am human, I have fallen victim to procrastination before, but never like this. Usually I can detect the onset of procrastination and divert my attention back to the original task by remembering my motivations and proceeding with vigor. But, as we all know, these are unusual times.
Lalia says, “I think I have perfected the act of wasting time, and so to alleviate what was once a negative reality, I created a method that addresses the way in which I procrastinate.” Her procrastination stems from her tendency to “squander time going down rabbit holes,” so the key for her is sticking to a set timeframe. “My method includes an organized calendar listing projects by section with due dates and a detailed to do list with determined timeframes… I stop on time, and when I return to the idea, I re-read what I have done and with that in mind move forward.” Marti adds, “if there is a time of day that my brain tends to wander off, I let it. If I can come out of that time period happy and well-fed (because let’s face it- there is always a snack involved), I’ll be more likely to make the next period of time a productive one.”
Your ability to recognize and assess the nature of your procrastination before taking action allows you to create an appropriate plan in order to get back on track. Properly identifying the reason(s) you struggle is paramount in overcoming procrastination, but it can be tricky. To help jumpstart your process, here are a few reasons people tend to procrastinate:
- A project is intimidating or conversely, unstimulating.
- A task is confusing, not perceived as important, and therefore can wait.
- The assignment doesn’t connect or contribute to your values.
- You lack confidence in your ability to execute and succeed.
- You are consumed by negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, or a presumption of failure.
- You don’t know when to do the task (I’ll get it done later).
Lalia continues, “But what I really did was let go of my fear of failure. I relied on my process, I stopped going in circles, and began to accomplish, which created a positive loop and reinforced that I could succeed.” Procrastination is a challenge that can be managed by reframing your mindset. Instead of avoiding her work, she shifted her focus so that she could avoid her negative emotions. Lalia’s ability to make this mental adjustment allowed her to effectively manage and overcome procrastination.
Once you have addressed the reasons behind your procrastination and your negative emotions are in check, it is crucial to remember why and how you were motivated in the first place so that you can re-establish motivation as a tool for success. Next week in part two, Lalia and Marti are back to share their thoughts.
Maggie Glasser is the founder and owner of Maggie Glasser Enterprises, a boutique consulting business that provides strategic guidance in sales, business development, and client services to hospitality businesses and event agencies. She writes about topics that provide business professionals with actionable advice to improve their skills and advance in their careers.
