Because you asked: Beating procrastination

Laura Mae Martin, Google’s executive productivity advisor, answers your questions about how to work smarter with Google Workspace. Want to learn more about Laura's approach to productivity? Check out her book: Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity and Wellbeing.

Our question comes from Rosa, a marketing manager, who says, “I’ve always been a procrastinator. What are some steps I can take to change my ways?”

Why we procrastinate

We often procrastinate because we're not assigning the right time of day to the right type of work. Say you’re naturally a morning person with power hours before noon. If you slot in a work block from 3-5 PM, you may find yourself procrastinating during that time. And it’s no wonder: Your energy is simply not in the right place at that time!

Instead, when you schedule a task, ask yourself, "What is the BEST time of day to do this work?" Then block THAT time. You'll be less resistant and you’ll procrastinate less because you've aligned your tasks with your energy level.

Go for a quick win

Even with the right tasks assigned to the right time, you might feel resistant. When there’s no special reason you can’t get started, try these approaches to nudge yourself forward.

Align your mindset with your workload by assigning themes to certain days.

• Make Tuesdays and Thursdays “Sales Call Days” when you’ll power through sales-related calls, meetings, and emails. 

Act like your own assistant by setting the stage for “Future You.”

• If you’re making a presentation tomorrow, set the stage today. Open a set of new slides, then make just the title slide so you're ready to go.

Stop in the middle of something. When you know the next steps, it’s easier to pick back up instead of creating a new “starting point.”

• Stop midway through drafting a sales deck and leave the slide open on your computer. 

Assign a time to it so it’s harder to postpone.

• Say you expect the work to take 20 minutes. Those free 30 minutes before your next meeting make the perfect time slot!

Set a meeting with someone to keep yourself accountable.

• Have a standing appointment with the appropriate colleague to review your work right before your deadline.

Flip your mindset

When these tactics don’t work, there may be a bigger reason that you’re procrastinating. I’ve found one effective way to deal with my own procrastination is to figure out the reason for my delay, and then try to shift my approach.

Timothy A. Pychyl, author of Solving the Procrastination Puzzle: A Concise Guide to Strategies for Change, has said there are seven attributes of a task that make us more likely to procrastinate. The chart below (adapted from Uptime) lists these reasons — and ways to flip your mindset.

Perfect your approach

Experiment with different strategies until you find the best ones. Practicing this approach will help you build up your willpower muscle.

Does it feel like you just can’t find time in your schedule? Check out my recent post, “Achieving more with Google Workspace.”

If you’re already part of the Workspace Community Forum, submit your own questions at the Google Workspace Q&A.