Procrastination: 1 of the 5 Habits of Highly Effective Slackers
February 15, 2008 by Phil Gerbyshak
Filed under Business
Guest article by K.P. Springfield, author of the 5 Habits of Highly Successful Slackers
A little about the book: America has become a “burnout nation” of corporate employees who can never escape the miserable grips of work. New technologies, excessive middle management and growing profitability pressures only scratch the surface of this developing social phenomenon which breeds mental, physical, and emotional sickness.
For many, over-working has gotten so bad that in order to keep one’s sanity, the only viable solution left is to slack off. The 5 Habits is the definitive guide on how to survive the corporate world through shirking useless responsibility, increasing leisure time, reducing stress, and improving quality of life all while receiving promotions, pay raises, and positive perception as a hard working and dedicated corporate employee.
The five habits of highly successful slackers are:
- Perception is Everything
- Whatever!
- The Team Player
- Procrastination
- Under the Radar
Today let’s take a closer look at Procrastination, as it is a trait both successful slackers and overachievers alike employed in the workplace.
There are many different ways to use procrastination for a successful slacker’s benefit. The obvious ones are enhanced free time and effective stall tactics.
A less obvious one is using procrastination to test the true importance of a task. In a work world rife with dunderheaded management who have an inflated sense of self-worth and importance, employees often get assigned useless and frivolous tasks which have an “ACTION REQUIRED” stipulation added to them. Yes, it’s in all CAPS so nobody can use the de-facto excuse, “Oh, I didn’t realize it was a required action”.
Instead of immediately responding to the task and completing it, successful slackers follow a flowchart entitled “ACTION REQUIRED – Not Really”.
It’s a three step process designed to test whether or not the action being assigned is truly required, so you don’t waste precious free time on useless assignments from people who think what they have to say is important.
Click here, and save it to your desktop. Print it out. Hang it on your wall. It’s my gift to you!
Unlike all your other “process”-oriented crap, the “ACTION REQUIRED – Not Really” flowchart might actually prove useful.
You can read more insights from K.P. Springfield at http://slackism.com
Procrastination is something I have always struggled with. Now, working for myself at home it becomes an even bigger challenge.
My favorite blog by James Brausch had a post where he talked about rationalizing procrastinating on starting an online business. He said that the rationalization was “I can’t put this online until it’s perfect.” or “This page isn’t laid out quite like I want it.” Those rationalizations keep many aspiring internet marketers from ever starting.
I have been known to fall into that same trap. Only when I take the Nike advice: Just do it, do I really find myself moving ahead.
I think procrastinating on making a decision even if it’s a decision to start an activity is in itself making a decision not to.
Great post, Thanks
-Scott
Indeed a great post. I also think that the pressure in corporate America on people to “act” makes it worse. Cultures that foster an environment where questioning is career limiting to say the least certainly have lots of room for the use of the chart you have passed along as a “gift.”
As a wise person once said — “why do today what you can put off to tomorrow!”
Actually, I think the most cutting and focusing question is — “what’s the next most valuable thing I can do?”
Thinking in terms of value delivered helps you stay out of the weeds and spending time on tangents.
This is really a mindset shift from backlog burndown to value delivered. Simply burning through a backlog of tasks is no guarantee of value and a little thoughtful deliberation can go a long way.
I think there are lots of great benefits to well planned procrastination. It allows one to focus on the important tasks, ensures tasks don’t take too long (for better of for worse), and acts as a great motivator as the deadline approaches.
If your interested, check out my essay on this from a while back:
http://www.enrock.net/wordpress/tags/procrastination/