Leaving procrastination behind increases your options

Procrastination may be one of the most self-sabotaging and all-too-common behaviors leading to failure to achieve career or work-related goals. Some might say many forms of procrastination are “human nature.” Perhaps. You can Google hundreds of articles on the subject written by psychologists who tell us there is more to it than that. Regardless of the cause, the outcome is the same: your options are typically limited when action isn’t taken in a timely way.

Procrastination is very often part of a theme that affects career satisfaction. 

It’s much too common for people to wait until they are actually laid off before they start investigating new options. Similarly, they often wait until the last minute to prepare for an interview for their dream job. So, even if this behavior stems from an unresolved issue from childhood, allowing it to continue is not working for most people. Missing a bus can be a minor thing in some cases or a major thing when it is the one that is taking you to an important interview. Throwing a presentation together at the last minute may have worked sometime in your life, but is it pragmatic to continue approaching it the same way if the last five times haven’t gone over well?

Procrastination is very often part of a theme that affects career satisfaction. It typically spreads across a gamut of other issues impacting people’s dissatisfaction with their lives. Excuses and other-blaming are frequent knee-jerk responses to why something wasn’t done, rather than a willingness to own their actions. You may have heard “my dog ate my homework” more times than you can count. Or that someone was late with a deliverable because something unexpected happened that same day, although the timeline for what was needed was established two to three weeks prior. In any case, the person who was expecting something is left unsatisfied, disappointed and quite possibly inconvenienced, and the person who was supposed to deliver may be embarrassed or pressured. Procrastinating just doesn’t turn out well for anyone.

Let’s examine what happens when you wait until the last minute to prepare for an interview. You:

• Feel anxious.
• Appear less confident.
• Provide incomplete, vague or even just plain dumb answers!
• Respond without enthusiasm or conviction, and that can be misinterpreted as lack of interest.
• Lose the opportunity to less qualified candidates who have prepared more.

Here’s what happens when you wait until the last minute to prepare for a performance review. You:

• May feel nervous, anxious and just plain paranoid.
• Are more likely to be surprised by the outcome.
• Are ill equipped to provide concrete reasons to contradict a bad review.
• Are unable to justify a raise or promotion if the subjects come up.

Overall, what you will experience is fewer options for what could go well. Being clear about what you want and planning out how it will happen hold a higher probability of accomplishing positive results. Let’s look at what you get if you are well prepared for an interview. You:

• Feel confident and relaxed.
• Can respond to tough questions more completely.
• Are more likely able to field tangential questions.
• Sound like you are a great fit for the position and the organization.
• Get an offer!

When you prepare in advance for a performance evaluation, you:

• Feel confident and relaxed.
• Can fully present information about your specific accomplishments.
• Are more likely able to field tangential questions.
• Are able to justify a raise or promotion.

When you deliver projects on time, you:

• Feel confident, relaxed and successful.
• Allow others to do what they need to do.
• Show that you are competent and capable.
• Build trust, respect and confidence in your work.
• Develop a portfolio that supports a raise, promotion or referrals to new business.

Overall, aren’t these outcomes reason enough to start thinking through what you really want and make much more of an effort to get there? And wouldn’t you want to start doing that now?