Why, when and how great leaders procrastinate, mastering the art of deliberate procrastination
Procrastinating on purpose is a strategic advantage because then it enables the leader to keep pace with the fast-moving ever-dynamic world.
There are 3 words interrelated, interdependent and yet stand alone. These are important, urgent, and significant.
To understand the distinctive difference between these are valuable. Important is how much it matters, Urgent is how soon its needed to be done, and Significant is how long or whether it matters.
Great leaders prefer Significance over Important, all the time.
Many genuine and great leaders do not make rapid decisions and to some people it seems like weakness, in fact active procrastination is a strength to be nurtured when it is done with purpose and wisdom.
Great leaders know it's not just about today, they intentionally choose to complete one item out of their to-do list of 9, and they let other 8 get delayed. But the one they choose is the one that that creates a powerful significance in future.
When you delay because you know it is not the optimal time, is wisdom. Waiting because you're deciding to procrastinate on purpose can be considered a big virtue.
Waiting because you don't feel like doing it, is classic passive procrastination, and it creates mediocre life.
Why great people procrastinate or delay taking decision, it could be from the following reasons
1.The care about the consequence and the impact of the decisions on others, it is being a responsible leader
2.The other reason which is again not realized by many that by delaying decision and actions, they are creating opportunities for others take initiative and come to the front of leadership
3.Then it is part of situational leadership, where leaders create mass buy-in, build engagement among and with the stakeholders and make them partners to solve the problems together through collaboration
4.Then these leaders delay taking decision to fine-tune and arrive at
A.What should be eliminated
B.What should be automated
C.What should be delegated
D.What should be delayed and until when it can be delayed
5.Great leaders are not afraid to show humility and, in the right situation, they will delay making a decision to achieve genuine collaboration, cooperation and engagement before responding.
6.They do this in the knowledge that several brains are better than one, and a legitimate belief that a sustainable outcome is much more likely through collaboration than that which can be achieved by any single leader.
Making early decisions improves efficiency at the time of execution. This works only in cases of machines or software.
If you have to accommodate the complexities of human behavior, snap decisions can ruin lives.
Detailed planning ahead of time almost never provides the right solutions for the situations that actually develop. There are many favorite sayings about the role of planning.
Yet, it is the activity of planning that prepares us for whatever transpires. Planning ahead may be efficient, but it is not realistic in a variable, ever-changing world.
We will always have more things to do than we can possibly do, so we will always have to procrastinate or delay many things in life.
The question is not whether we are procrastinating, it is whether we are procrastinating well.
Active procrastination means you realize that you have not organized your desk or email folders, but only because you are doing something that is more valuable at that time.
Passive procrastination is just sitting around on your sofa not doing anything. That clearly is a psychological problem.
If you look beyond business to decision-making in sports, comedy, medicine, military strategy, even dating.
You would be shocked by what you find
Let us take a look at globally successful professional tennis player.
Most of us assume that they are better than the amateur players because they are so fast.
But, in fact, the studies of superfast athletes' show that they are better because they are slow. They have perfected their reflexes and strokes to free up as much time as possible between the actual service of the ball and the last possible millisecond when they have to return it.
In one of the dating service they tell you not look at photo of the person till you had spent time with them conversing, because photos lead you to make snap decisions that just take milliseconds, and in many-many cases are totally disastrous.
Benefits of procrastination
1.You Can Prioritize Things Better And Get More Work Done
2.It Enhances Your Decision-Making Skills
3.You Can Eliminate Irrelevant Tasks That Were Taking Too Much Time
4.It Brings Out The Creativity In You
5.You Become More Productive At Work
6.Procrastination shines light on what's most important to you
7.Procrastination makes you more creative
8.Procrastination helps you to make better decisions
9.Procrastination is helpful when
a)When You're Struggling To Prioritize
b)When You Want Unnecessary "To-Dos" To Disappear
c)When You're Weeding Through Good Vs. Bad Ideas
d)When You're Trying To Get Past A Lack Of Motivation
e)When Collaboration Will Benefit The Project
f)When You're Seeking Creativity
g)When You're Putting Together A Presentation
h)When You're Giving An Apology
i)When You've Allotted Enough Time For Procrastination
j)When You Know It's What Makes You Excel
12.Procrastination Helps to Prevent You from Burning Out - If you can't understand whether you have burnout or not, pay attention to the list of its symptoms. Read my blog on burnout
13.Creates Value Your Time and Efforts
14.Lets you Complete The Task on a Better Level
15.Give You Time to Getting Feedback
16.It Helps to Get More Things Done
17.You Feel Better and Happier
- It can channel your intuitive wisdom.
- It helps you resist peer pressure.
- It helps you manage pointless deadlines.
- You get to put off unpleasant tasks in favor of more enjoyable things
20.You can avoid the possibility of failure-or success
21.You get to avoid the discomfort of doing something you dread
22.You can avoid the anxiety you feel about the task
23.You end up happier when you "manage delays."
24.You end up learning new things.
25.You may experience less stress.
26.Procrastination leads to effective action.
27.You will almost always be less stressed than everyone else. Because 80% of your stress will come from 20% of the actual time you spend doing what you should be doing. Because you spent the other 80% of your time avoiding it, but in an actively thoughtful manner.
28.You have perfected the art of working smarter, not harder.
29.No one tries to burden you with any last-minute work knowing well that your last-minute work is reserved for your general work. No, last-minute work is reserved for the naïve souls who finish everything first.
30.You often solve problems by not thinking about the problem.
31.All things considered, you have excellent time management skills
32.You know how to delegate tasks to other people in subtle ways
33.You get to delay any negative emotions or experiences with doing something you don't like by constraining it to the least amount of time possible.
34.You always make time for the things that matter to you in life
35.Your procrastination often leads to you just keeping things simple
36.And you know that beauty exists in doing the simple things well
37.You might think of a great idea while doing something else
38.The stress of a looming deadline might trigger you to (eventually) create some brilliant work
39.You'll have less time to second-guess yourself and your work when you do get around to it
40.Procrastination breeds efficiency
41.It makes you a rebel, a unique person
42.You are open to more enjoyable things
43.Finally accomplishing the task gives an adrenaline rush
How to procrastinate effectively
1.Sleeping/taking nap
2.Catching up on your favorite shows
3.Shopping
4.Exercising
5.Dancing
6.Taking vacations
7.Going on a trek
8.Reading book
9.Playing an instrument
10.Lying in the bush , watching nature
11.Trying out new make-up, hairstyle, wardrobe
12.Eating at new joint
13.Cooking
14.Making your Bucket list
15.Day dreaming about your passion/dream
16.Surfing net to clarify your doubts or to find information you need
17.Catch up with friends
18.Throw the clutter, clean the garbage, do the laundry
19.Don't feel guilty about deliberate procrastination
20.Procrastinate with things you enjoy
21.Solve a small problem
22.Fix something that is broken
23.Do a random act of kindness
24.Get an accountability partner
25.Honor deadlines.
26.Procrastination is only useful for complex tasks
27.Simple tasks, do them the instant you have do them
28.Find a smaller task within the bigger task, outline it, Move on. Come back later.
29.PLAY a game
30.Complete small jobs you've been putting off.
31.Make someone's day