It’s human nature to procrastinate—we all occasionally drag our feet on projects. But putting off a project that’s important (and perhaps not urgent) can be damaging to your career. If you find yourself repeatedly ignoring a particular item on your to-do list, here are five things you can do.
- Get clear on the vision. Ask yourself or your manager: What, precisely, are you being asked to do? What is the desired output, and how long do you estimate it will take? Getting specific will help you move forward.
- Identify concrete steps. Speak with colleagues who have done something similar in the past to find out what it took to get the project done.
- Take (small) action. Identify a task you can accomplish, even if it’s not the most strategic (such as sending an email or fixing the layout on a presentation deck). This can help disrupt your inertia and make it feel easier to return to the task in the future.
- Create forcing functions. Set up accountability mechanisms for yourself, like scheduling a weekly check-in with your manager or a trusted colleague.
- Limit competing distractions. Experiment to see what works for you; you might try keeping your phone in another room, using software to limit your access to certain websites, or even working on a computer that’s not connected to the internet.
