Procrastination and how to avoid it: 5 tips for your business

One of the biggest enemies of success is procrastination, because goals don’t achieve themselves: you have to complete a series of steps to reach any milestone.
That’s why you should know how to avoid procrastination in your business.
In this article, we’ll show you exactly what procrastination is (we know, it doesn’t sound great… and it’s not a positive thing), what disadvantages it brings to your business, and what benefits you get from this unproductive attitude.
But that’s not the best part: we also provide you with 5 very effective steps that will help you get rid of it without much difficulty and, if that weren’t enough, you’ll discover a tool within the TIMP CRM with which you can say goodbye to procrastination forever.
Doesn’t sound bad, right?
Let’s not delay any further and get started.  

What is procrastination?

Yes, it’s a rather difficult word to read, and the consequences of putting it into practice are just as unattractive.
Because procrastinating is nothing more than continually postponing an obligation or a task.
This act is also known as procrastination.
As a consequence of procrastination, these obligations are pushed further and further into a corner until they remain permanently unfinished, hindering processes that are often essential for the smooth running of a company and sometimes directly preventing projects from moving forward.
And the worst part is that most of the time tasks aren’t postponed due to a lack of time, but because we don’t know how to manage the negative emotions that a certain task awakens in us: we might find it tedious to complete, or we might not fully understand the objective of performing a certain activity.
Thus, sometimes it’s the laziness sparked by a certain action that leads someone to postpone it.
Other times it’s insecurity or the fear of not being up to the task that pushes a person not to get to work.

How to avoid procrastination in your business in 5 steps

Below we provide you with 5 simple steps to eliminate procrastination in your center:

1. Tackle the hardest things first

It’s like eating: on a plate, what do you leave for last—what you like least or what you like most?
If you’re one of those people who always finish their plate, you probably start eating what you don’t like and finish with what you like most.
This way you ensure you finish everything.
At work, the most effective thing to do is to get rid of the hardest things and then move on to those that are a piece of cake.
Do this: be brave and patient and tackle the tasks you don’t feel like doing first.
Once you’ve cleared them, you’ll see that the rest will be a breeze.
What a relief!

2. Set deadlines

Both you and your team should set deadlines for completing tasks, especially the most difficult or boring ones.
This will introduce a priority component that will motivate you to meet these obligations.

3. Divide and conquer

If a task is difficult or takes too long, the solution can be to break it down into mini-tasks that are easier to perform.
As they say: one step at a time.
Little by little you will complete each phase until the activity is finished without much difficulty.

4. Don’t get distracted

In today’s world, even in businesses, distractions often come from those tools that make our lives easier: mobile phones, tablets, the Internet… Don’t let all this distract you from your goals and only look at your smartphone screen when you’ve done everything else.

5. A reward for every achievement

If after completing a task you didn’t feel like doing, you give yourself a reward or reward your team for doing it, you’ll feel that the effort was worth it.
Above all, you will establish a habit that will improve your productivity.
These rewards can be as simple but rewarding as a break to check your phone or a special lunch to share a few laughs and enjoy a good snack.

  At TIMP we know how important it is to complete any task—large or small—and to do it on time.
That’s why our integrated CRM includes a section called “Tasks” where you can define the actions to be carried out, set deadlines for each of them and assign them to the staff members you prefer.
Additionally, you can set reminders to prompt staff members to do what they need to do.
And you can set reminders so that no one forgets to fulfill their obligations.
Isn’t that great?
Later we’ll explain how the Tasks section of the TIMP CRM works.  

Disadvantages of procrastination

Now you know how to get rid of procrastination, but… do you still think procrastinating is something unimportant?
Think again.
Here are some reasons why procrastinating is a terrible idea:

Work piles up

The most obvious disadvantage of procrastinating in a business is that work piles up little by little, but steadily.
In the end, the accumulation of obligations is such that fulfilling them all becomes a real headache.

Failure to meet deadlines

Completing important tasks within the set deadlines is essential for the smooth running of a business.
When you procrastinate, these deadlines are not met and problems start to arise.

Your business ends up looking unprofessional

If the tasks assigned to the team are not completed, the company’s goals are not met and it’s only a matter of time before the problem moves from the internal sphere of the company to that of customers and suppliers.
If you want your business to project an image of reliability and trust, you must avoid procrastinating at all costs.

You and your team feel guilty

This is logical.
You know these tasks need to be done, but because you’re not sure how to tackle them or you’re too lazy to do so, they are always left pending.
And this is a constant hammering in your mind that eventually makes you feel guilty.
Furthermore, when you start to feel the effects of postponing your obligations, the guilt worsens.  

The benefits of not procrastinating

Fulfilling your obligations brings very interesting benefits for you and your staff:

You and your professionals feel better

As we’ve just seen, but in the opposite direction.
You will no longer hear that annoying little voice reminding you that that boring but important task has been left undone.
Goodbye to regrets!

Work doesn’t pile up and everything flows better.

When work is postponed, a “snowball effect” occurs that makes uncompleted tasks increasingly complicated, and further problems arise that make everything more difficult.
On the other hand, if you avoid procrastinating, the workflow runs like clockwork, always on time.

Achieve your business goals

As a consequence of the above, the goals you have set for yourself are achieved (at least those that depend entirely on your effort and daily work) and your business grows as planned.

Improved work environment and job satisfaction

When every member of the company performs their tasks , everyone’s work progresses, leading to greater job satisfaction and a more positive mood for the whole team.

TIMP puts an end to procrastination: task management with our CRM

We’ve already told you: TIMP includes a complete CRM with which you can manage your customer base, perform a full commercial follow-up of each of them, and offer them a 100% personalized service, anticipating their needs.
And among all its tools are Tasks, the best thing there is to put an end to procrastination. Tasks is a section that allows you to create a task in the control panel and assign it to any member of your staff.
To do this, you just need to enter a series of details such as the task title and task details (a brief description with the steps to take and its purpose).
Then you’ll need to assign it to whoever you want and set a deadline.
Finally, create a reminder so that the program automatically notifies the assigned professionals when the deadline is near.
And that’s it.
With this simple procedure, which will only take you half a minute for each task, none of them will be left pending.
Remember to reward your team from time to time for the results achieved and the rest will be done.
In the following article you will find all the information to start using TIMP Tasks.
Let us know your doubts via chat and we will help you use this feature.   With our CRM, procrastination in your business is over!