JJ's (Sept 2012) Tips in this issue: 1. Procrastination ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Use the following tips as training tools. Present this situation to your group and brainstorm solutions together, or submit your own situation question to be answered in an upcoming newsletter. ------------------------------------- Meeting deadlines has been a problem in my department since almost everyone has a tendency to wait until the last minute. it stresses me when coworkers waste time when a deadline is close. What can I do to help them eliminate this bad habit? --------------------- It's not up to you to change their habits and tendencies to work if they are meeting the deadlines. You need to accept that everyone produces in their own unique way. You could practice a number of stress relievers when your deadlines have been met and they are still working on theirs. Everyone falls back to natural tendencies when it comes to meeting deadlines. Some procrastinate to the point of actually missing deadlines. If you fall in this category, you may not be committed to your job or the task at hand. If you have accepted a job, personally or professionally, you have committed to making time to accomplish it in the time frame that was allotted. Otherwise, you should not have accepted it. Some people don't know how to say, "No, I'm overcommitted and won't be able to take on another project now." Or they could ask their manager to prioritize the tasks they have been assigned to do. With the downsizing and flattening of teams, you may have more on your plate than you can successfully manage. If this is the case, ask for help and prioritize what has to be done. Work smarter, not harder or longer. Set up self-imposed deadlines that are ahead of actual deadlines to give you breathing room. If you have a tendency to procrastinate, notice which jobs you put off and which ones you don't and why. Usually these are the ones you don't want to do, or they require larger blocks of time, research or creativity. If other people are involved and their work tendencies are different than yours, early planning is essential. Divide the project and set early deadlines to regularly check everyone's progress. If you do procrastinate but are extremely productive at the last minute to meet deadlines, then that is the way you function best. If you are not consistently successful in meeting your deadlines, it is probably time to develop some new habits. Some procrastination is good and actually needed in certain situations.. A new study finds that people produce 41% better when they have taken a mindless break than those who worked straight through on a project. Taking the break actually makes you more productive. In fact, procrastination isn't all that bad according to John Perry, professor emeritus of philosophy at Stanford University and author of The Art of Procrastination. He says, for the most part, procrastinators become great file organizers as they near deadlines. The more procrastinators have to do the more productive they become. They do need to use self manipulation to keep ahead of their natural tendency to put tasks off until later. Everyone procrastinates on some things. Set early deadlines to keep ahead of your natural procrastination tendency when it really matters. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "We learn and grow and are transformed not so much by what we do but by why and how we do it." "If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DO YOU WANT TO IMPROVE in an area? Service? Sales? EVALUATION OF YOUR ENVIRONMENT Have you had an Evaluation of Your Environment lately so you could receive suggestions on improving it? (It's like the doctor's check up, you often don't know you need it, until after you've had it.) http://www.jjlauderbaugh.com/about.html **************************************** JJ Lauderbaugh, CMC JJ works with companies that want to give exceptional customer service to increase sales,
and with Directors and Call Center/Help Desk Managers who want to improve human
performance. ---------------------------------------------------------- Reprinted with permission
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