Do You Really Work Better Under Pressure?

Juggling all the tasks that come with business ownership can make it easy to procrastinate– especially when it comes to projects that take longer chunks of time.   The challenge?  Flying by the seat of your pants can cause you to settle for mediocre work and thereby sacrifice significant profits.   Brian Tracey makes the point in this quote,

“Nobody works better under pressure.  They just work faster.”

Who does it affect?   While procrastination might seem like a personal problem, it creates more stress for your team and left unchecked, can poison an otherwise positive atmosphere. In fact, if you’re a procrastinator, you may be losing valuable, high producing employees as a result of your bad habit, because they most likely consider deadlines and quality work as an important core value.

Two of the biggest hurdles for chronic procrastinators to overcome are:   1. Identifying internal motivators, and 2. Planning ahead.   One of my jobs as a business coach is to help clarify my client’s true internal motivators, aid in identifying smaller action steps, and plan for potential obstacles before they show up. Of course, it also helps to agree on, and be held accountable for deadlines, so follow through becomes consistent.

Using a Productivity Matrix

My clients also use this simple matrix to make sure they spend as much time as possible in the “Important Goals” and “Critical Activities” quadrants, while eliminating as many of the “Distractions” and “Interruptions” as possible.

Bottom Line

The world is moving at a faster pace every day and our to-do lists keep getting longer. Defining priorities and taking the time to plan allows for better focus and increased follow through, making for a much stronger business. To stay ahead of your competition, and hold on to your best employees, you need to ensure you remain efficient and fully productive by nipping procrastination in the bud.