Overcoming Procrastination
Like any learned habit, procrastination can kill the sale. With a few simple disciplines, you too can over procrastination! Because you want to be the Sales Professional at the top of his/her game, being able to stop procrastination takes priority in your sales life. Let’s take a look at some of the techniques to reduce, if not eliminate procrastination altogether.
For starters, you will want to take a long hard look at your self! Try to figure out why you are procrastinating….Are you suffering from call reluctance? Is your research done for your upcoming call? Once you’ve determined why you are dragging your feet, you can get it done! As those nice people at NIKE once said…..JUST DO IT!
Perhaps you find yourself more apt to take care of a task at your home office rather than at your regular office. Change your routine! Refresh your environment. Get it done where you’re likely to sit down and complete the task. Imagine the powerful feeling when it’s completed! Checked off the list…filed away. Accomplishment at its finest!
Ahhh…the list! Everyone needs a to-do list that’s kept handy. So close at hand that you can actually check items off the list as you’ve completed them. Your list should include your personal and professional to-do’s all in one place. You’ll feel more organized and pulled together if you can see all of your action items in one place. That way, you can prioritize them and give each item a time limit and a deadline.
If you are procrastinating because the task seems too large to tackle….break it down into smaller bites. Avoid interruptions, and get one small piece at time done. You’ll find that once a small portion is completed, you’ll feel so satisfied with that, you can’t help but move on to the next piece! Again, imagine the powerful feeling when it’s completed! Checked off the list…filed away. Accomplishment at its finest!
Envision the end result. Imagine the satisfied feeling once the task is completed! Block out small increments of time, and tackle your project in those smaller segments that we just discussed. Satisfaction at its finest when it’s completed!
Set yourself up with a deadline. Make it known to others…and make it realistic. Give yourself a pep talk to get started and to actually complete the task. And never look back!
I just did…I wrote my first article for this website! In future segments, we’ll explore planning and organization, prioritizing and mult-tasking, tips for finding more time in your day, managing email, managing the phone, and project management. We will also explore new ideas for cold-calling and finding new business. After all, if we don’t continually reinvent ourselves, someone else will, and we’ll miss out on perhaps the next great opportunity. Why? Because we procrastinated! So…let’s commit today to overcome our ability to procrastinate, and just dive in and get it done.
