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Procrastination and Business (Part 1)

March 1, 2011 Peter Zawistowski

Procrastination; call it delaying, stalling, postponing or just killing time. Gathering details is what I called it and procrastination resulted in this article. It was on my “To Do” list for days. There it remained until my discipline kicked in, and the writing began. Sort of, I had started two other articles, I could not finish until I worked on this particular one.
Procrastination is one of more unpredictable costs in business efficiency. What can you do to reduce procrastination? One of first items to try out is prioritize a “To Do” list. Every day, 7 days a week create a new daily list. Get used to making a list and checking items off the list (reward). Bipolar personalities prefer to receive a reward of some kind. Sometimes just drawing a line through the task is enough of a reward, it might be stopping to get a coffee or another predetermined reward.
One of the keys for a “To Do” list is discipline. The discipline to put your deadlines down in writing is the first step. Discipline to reward yourself for completing a task and maybe more important, the discipline to have a penalty for not completing a task. For those with bipolar or depression, motivation might be a better driving force than discipline. You may want a quick comparison of motivation and discipline. Getting up at a certain time every morning can be defined by either one. Motivation is having the knowledge that your tasks need to be done and you ready to get up and start the day. Discipline is getting up because it is time to do so. Some describe motivation as discipline with a reward, whether real or imaginary. It took discipline to start this article and finish this article. I personally prefer discipline, although motivation may be more effective for most people. Motivation is difficult with bipolar personalities, Fear of Failure (see my previous blog) is an irrational fear causing you not to start a project because you fear the project you are working on, will fail and drop you in a depressive or similar mood. Reticular Activation, the “little voice” within your brain, works like a tightly woven network. It has a lot of inputs, a lot of cause/effect and reasoning that all applying to create your little voice in your head. This inner voice is why just motivation may not work well with bipolar workers.
“To Do” lists have a problem, that is doing tasks that are worthwhile and productive but not necessarily what needs to be done. In my next blog I will cover “To Do” lists, their obstacles and commitments.

APA Reference
Zawistowski, P. (2011, March 1). Procrastination and Business (Part 1), HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, March 28 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/workandbipolarordepression/2011/03/procrastination-business-part-1



Author: Peter Zawistowski

business management
March, 4 2011 at 3:59 am

This continually is amazing to me exactly how Bloggers such as yourself can find enough time and also the commitment to carry on Producing exceptional discussions your site is wonderful and one of my personal need to read websites, I had been more than amazed with the blog post I simply want to say thanks and congratulations
Kind regards

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Peter Zawistowski
March, 4 2011 at 5:55 am

Thank you for all the kind words. Writing & blogging time does take its toll on a person. I really enjoy writing so that is a major benefit. Also having a freelance job in the video business helps. If there is something special you would like to have covered, send me a comment and I will see what I can do. Once again thanks.

Alistair McHarg
March, 2 2011 at 4:43 am

Good topic. I have found that perfectionism is a bear trap for depressed (bipolar) people. I had to learn to stop making "best be the enemy of good" - and just jump in.

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Peter Zawistowski
March, 3 2011 at 5:07 am

Perfectionism is a major "I can't start this now cause..." for bipolar as well as non-bipolar individuals. Getting started in difficult for all of us, the bipolar personality have much more difficulty in starting and finishing a task. Thanks for the comment.

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