7 Excuses to Help You Procrastinate Better!

Working alone from home can often mean mixed results in terms of getting things done. I don’t know about you, but on some days I can amaze myself by whizzing through what I thought would take me all week. Unfortunately other weeks seem to arrive and depart before I even manage to build up any real momentum.

If I’m totally honest, the slow weeks are usually down to that old enemy of productivity – procrastination!

I was relieved to learn from speaking with other home based business owners, that I’m not alone in making excuses and procrastinating from time to time! Can you relate to anything on my list?

I’ll just make a cup of coffee first

The thinking behind this is that I don’t want to have to stop once I get going, so I should get a drink first. But actually, I know I’ll enjoy that coffee much more as a reward after working for an hour or so. A glass of water will do in the meantime.

My desk needs to be tidy before I can start

Using this kind of busy-work delaying activity is usually because I’m unsure about starting a particular task. Is it because of lack of knowledge, lack of resources or am I worried that I may not do a good job? I like to have a tidy desk to start the working day so make a habit to take a few minutes at the end of the day to clear everything away.

I’ll be more productive …. tomorrow

Tomorrow is always the busiest day for a procrastinator! A tip I learned from time management coach Mark Forster, is to commit to completing one action each day. Just one action – choose it the evening before. It really does help to break the cycle of putting things off, and it’s very satisfying to build up a list of daily achievements.

There isn’t enough time to finish this task today

Often it isn’t necessary to get the whole task done all in one go. If that’s the case, then I try breaking it down into smaller steps and just do the first one – or as many as the limited time allows. At the least, I will have made some progress towards getting the task completed.

I have to finish everything else on my list first

I used to put off projects or task that required ‘writing’ until everything else was ticked on my to-do list. This is because I like to be able to focus 100% on the creative task in front of me and not have niggling thoughts about other projects interfering with my concentration.

Unfortunately it isn’t always practicable or possible to finish everything else. When I realised the issue was really that I was worried about missing deadlines, I was able to work on a solution. Now I make a note of all project and urgent action due dates and keep them somewhere visible, or I use online reminders (Remember The Milk sends me emails) – both can be a great help when juggling several projects.

I have to make a detailed plan first

As someone who enjoys writing lists probably more than is good for me, I’ve been working on this procrastination excuse for a while! These days I find that a hand-drawn mindmap on paper (or on a whiteboard then photographed) is quite good enough to get started. The perfectionist trait can be better used when working on the task itself to get a great result.

I’ve only got 15 minutes before my next call or meeting

I used to feel this meant there was no point in doing anything, but knew deep down that it wasn’t true! There are always a few little odd jobs to fit into short time slots, and I enjoy the feeling of achievement too. Those few minutes are usually long enough to use my smartphone to check phone messages, acknowledge an email, or even engage with a few people on Twitter or Facebook (strictly for business, of course!).

What’s your favourite procrastination excuse? Please share in the comments below – and a retweet would be much appreciated if you enjoyed this post!