Episode 200 - How To Overcome Procrastination
Leadership Today - Practical Tips For Leaders
Release Date: 09/08/2023
Leadership Today - Practical Tips For Leaders
Summary We each have mindsets that we bring to our leadership. In this final of a five part series, we explore Drive for Growth and the role it plays in The Leader’s Mindset. Transcript Hello and welcome to episode 225 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. In this final of a five part series, we explore Drive for Growth and the role it plays in The Leader’s Mindset. We are continuing to explore The Leader’s Mindset which has four elements: Goal Orientation, Optimistic Outlook, Options Thinking and Drive for Growth. I...
info_outline Episode 224 - The Leader’s Mindset - Part Four - Options ThinkingLeadership Today - Practical Tips For Leaders
Summary We each have mindsets that we bring to our leadership. In this fourth of a five part series, we explore Options Thinking and the role it plays in The Leader’s Mindset. Transcript Hello and welcome to episode 224 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. In this fourth of a five part series, we explore Options Thinking and the role it plays in The Leader’s Mindset. We are continuing to explore The Leader’s Mindset which has four elements: Goal Orientation, Optimistic Outlook, Options Thinking and Drive for Growth. I...
info_outline Episode 223 - The Leader’s Mindset - Part Three - Optimistic OutlookLeadership Today - Practical Tips For Leaders
Summary We each have mindsets that we bring to our leadership. In this third of a five part series, we explore Optimistic Outlook and the role it plays in The Leader’s Mindset. Transcript Hello and welcome to episode 223 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. In this third of a five part series, we explore Optimistic Outlook and the role it plays in The Leader’s Mindset. We are continuing to explore The Leader’s Mindset which has four elements: Goal Orientation, Optimistic Outlook, Options Thinking and Drive for Growth....
info_outline Episode 222 - The Leader’s Mindset - Part Two - Goal OrientationLeadership Today - Practical Tips For Leaders
Summary We each have mindsets that we bring to our leadership. In this second of a five part series, we explore Goal Orientation and the role it plays in The Leader’s Mindset. Transcript Hello and welcome to episode 222 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. In this second of a five part series, we explore Goal Orientation and the role it plays in The Leader’s Mindset. In the last episode we introduced The Leader’s Mindset which has four elements: Goal Orientation, Optimistic Outlook, Options Thinking and Drive for...
info_outline Episode 221 - The Leader's Mindset - Part One - IntroductionLeadership Today - Practical Tips For Leaders
Summary We each have mindsets that we bring to our leadership. In this first of a five part series, we introduce The Leader’s Mindset and how it will help you to lead more effectively in all areas of your life. This is part one of a five part series. Transcript Hello and welcome to episode 221 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. This week we are commencing a five part series on The Leader’s Mindset. As we start our series on The Leader’s Mindset, it’s important to step back and remind ourselves about what...
info_outline Interview - Alexa Chilcutt - Executive Communication and Public SpeakingLeadership Today - Practical Tips For Leaders
Summary In this conversation, Dr. Alexa Chilcutt ( discusses the importance of executive communication and public speaking skills. She explains that anxiety around public speaking stems from the fear of being judged and evaluated. However, she emphasises that with practice and a clear process, individuals can become more confident and effective communicators. Dr. Chilcutt also provides tips for structuring a message, including identifying the purpose, understanding the audience, and breaking the information into three main points. Additionally, she highlights the significance of executive...
info_outline Episode 220 - How To Bend The Rules With IntegrityLeadership Today - Practical Tips For Leaders
Summary Rules can be frustrating. It can be tempting to bend the rules or ignore them altogether, but this can lead to negative outcomes. This week we explore how to work around rules but maintain your integrity. Transcript Hello and welcome to episode 220 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. This week we explore how to work around rules but maintain your integrity. Lapses in integrity have ended many leaders’ careers. Breaking the rules is never a good idea. But we often need to be creative and flexible to get...
info_outline Episode 219 - How To Appear Less Nervous in Meetings and InterviewsLeadership Today - Practical Tips For Leaders
Summary Interviewers place a strong emphasis on perceptions of nervousness. But there are practical steps we can take to appear less nervous in meetings and interviews. Transcript Hello and welcome to episode 219 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. This week we work through ways to appear less nervous in meetings and interviews. Research demonstrates that anxious candidates perform worse at job interviews, even when their skills and experience align well with the role. Interviewers place an oversized importance to the...
info_outline Episode 218 - How To Boost First Impressions on ZoomLeadership Today - Practical Tips For Leaders
Summary Research demonstrates the background we choose for video calls has a significant impact on how trustworthy and competent we appear. This week we explore how to boost your first impressions on a video call in three simple ways. Transcript Hello and welcome to episode 218 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. This week we explore how to boost your first impressions on a video call in three simple ways. Your choice of background on a video call has a greater impact on how you’re perceived by others than you might...
info_outline Episode 217 - How to Be More Real on Video CallsLeadership Today - Practical Tips For Leaders
Summary Research demonstrates a risk of detachment and reduced connection on video calls. This week we explore ways to be more real when we’re not meeting in-person. Transcript Hello and welcome to episode 217 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. This week we look at how to be more real on video calls. We make rapid judgements about people based on visual and other information we receive. While this can lead to us making incorrect judgements when we meet people in-person, the risk is increased through video calls. Research...
info_outlineSummary
Procrastination has been described as “our favourite form of self-sabotage” (Alyce Cornyn-Selby). This week we explore how to overcome it.
Transcript
Hello and welcome to episode 200 of the Leadership Today podcast where each week we share practical tips to improve your leadership. Procrastination has been described as “our favourite form of self-sabotage” (Alyce Cornyn-Selby). This week we explore how to overcome it.
Most people experience procrastination from time to time. 25% of the population even have procrastination as a defining personality trait. Procrastination is associated with a range of negative aspects including low self-esteem, pessimism, anxiety, fatigue and detachment. It’s not only bad for performance - procrastination can wreak havoc on our well-being.
Procrastination can be defined as voluntarily delaying an intended task despite expecting to be worse off for doing so. This is a crucial element of procrastination - that we put things off even when we know we will be worse off as a result. So why do we procrastinate at all given it’s so bad for us? The function of procrastination is short-term mood repair. We procrastinate because it makes us feel better in the short term, even when that’s at the expense of achieving longer-term goals. Research even shows that the more negative our mood, the more time we spend procrastinating. So what can we do about procrastination?
A good place to start is to think about the opposite of procrastination. A flow state is the closest we experience to the opposite of procrastination. When we experience flow our attention is fully focused, we feel flexible and adaptable, our skills are challenged, we feel great and time flys by. So how do we achieve flow? Flow is assisted by clear goals, flexibility in pursuing those goals, lots of feedback, and an opportunity to stretch our skill set. So here are six practical approaches you can try to get into flow and overcome procrastination:
- Choose to be challenged in an area of interest: Boredom increases the risk of procrastination, so we want to focus our attention towards tasks that are interesting. Being guided by our interests can get us out of the procrastination rut and ready to tackle other more challenging areas.
- Set goals and deadlines to work towards: We prioritise and work harder to achieve tasks that have a deadline, so use that to your advantage.
- Boost your mood before you begin: Given procrastination is a technique to restore our mood, boosting our mood reduces the risk of procrastinating in the first place. Go for a walk around the block or undertake some other mood-boosting activity before you tackle a task that you typically put off.
- Minimise distractions: Turn off wifi or use settings to reduce notifications and access to distracting apps.
- Involve others: Gather people who can provide encouragement, mentoring and feedback. It’s harder to procrastinate when others are checking in and holding you accountable.
- Work in bursts: Set a timer for 15 minutes and start working. When the 15 minutes is up, assess whether you can put in an extra 15 minutes. The urge to procrastinate tends to fade away once we get started.
There’s no need to be plagued by procrastination. Give these practical tips a try and let me know how you go. If you want to dive into this topic in more detail, our Leadership Today subscription includes a recorded webinar called “A Procrastinator’s Guide” and also a five day Defeat Procrastination challenge. Go to www.learn.leadership.today for more information and use the promo code PODCAST at checkout for 25% off an annual subscription.
Leadership Today On-Demand Special Offer
We have a great deal for podcast listeners on our Leadership Today On-Demand subscription. Just go to www.learn.leadership.today and checkout using the promo code PODCAST for 25% off an annual subscription.
Leadership Today On-Demand is a video subscription service that allows you to work on your leadership in your own time and at your own pace. It is available online and through our Apple iOS and Android apps for phones and tablets. Our mission is to help you to become an even better leader.
Your subscription brings together all of our video content in one place including:
- Our annual conference including a range of leadership experts - valued at $450
- Five online courses with workbooks - valued at $250 each
- Five five-day challenges with workbooks - valued at $150 each
- Twenty five recorded webinars and Ask an Expert interviews - valued at $100 each
- A searchable library of 150+ "how to" quick videos on a range of leadership challenges - valued at $350
That's over $4,500 of content for less than the price of a single online course. And there are more videos added each week.
Get Connected
Find out ways to get connected here: https://leadership.today/connect