As a leadership coach, I talk to clients every day who say they are in the middle of a cycle of procrastination, and they crave free time to do what they love doing. So, I usually coach them on things such as time blocking, managing priorities, handling interruptions and of course, how to break the cycle of procrastination.

It’s quite easy to tell people to “stop procrastinating”, but to stop it is not the easiest thing to do. You see…every person procrastinates about something. And, at the root of procrastination is usually a fear, dread, frustration or doubt.

As an example, I hate folding laundry, and I let clean clothes pile up. The reason? I know that once I fold and put the clothes away, they will be back in the laundry room again in 2 days…how frustrating! I have learned to bust this up by getting Mike (my husband) to help me fold (I give him the socks, which is my worst part of folding laundry…trying to find all the mates, most of which have disappeared into the mo-fo zone…the name we have given to the place all socks go when they disappear in the dryer.)

So, today, I reached out to the people in my life who I know are super productive…as a matter of fact, they make the energizer bunny look like he’s running on dead batteries…to ask them what they procrastinate about, why they procrastinate about this one thing and how they break through the dreadful cycle. Here is what they said:

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Christy Geiger of Synergy Strategies:

1) What do you procrastinate about? Administration things i.e. developing trainings, Billing, database updates, etc.

2) Why do you procrastinate about this one thing? I just don’t like to do it. Takes time to figure out what I am doing. Feels overwhelming until I am “into” it.

3) What do you usually do to break through the procrastination? I clear my desk so there is nothing to distract me. Get close to a deadline or end of the “window” of time I have budgeted for this and get focused. Sometimes turning on music, get drink and “dig in”. These are structures I try to use to help me, but usually what does it is a deadline (someone is expecting it).

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Lorraine Lane of Lane Business Consulting

1) What do you procrastinate about? I procrastinate about cleaning my office.

2) Why do you procrastinate about this one thing? I procrastinate about this because I don’t like to file ( I put all the paid bills, etc. that need to be filed in a basket that is always overflowing) and putting stuff away requires sorting and making decisions about what to keep and what to throw out. And, I find that this “job” requires lots of time to sort and file, etc.

Also…If my desk is clean, I am fearful that I won’t be aware of what tasks need my attention. It also feels like a waste of time – I could be ‘working’ on something useful instead of picking up my messes.

3) What do you do to break away from the procrastination cycle? I break through the procrastination when company is coming and I don’t want family and friends to see how messy my office is. So, if I want a cleaned office, I invite guests!

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Roger Dewitt of Coaching NYC and Zapprocrastination.com

1) What do you procrastinate about? Doing mundane work that I find dull like gathering everything for taxes or “data entry” kinds of jobs. I also procrastinate about making decisions that feel like I have to pick “the right” choice.

2) Why do you procrastinate about this one thing? I find repetitive tasks dull. As for decisions, I am a Libra and we have trouble deciding which restaurant to eat at. When there feels like I have to decide on a “right course of action” — like deciding which info product to create — I roll it around in my head and try to learn more and more until I feel like I know “enough.”

3) What do you usually do to break through the procrastination? Procrastination is a “thinking problem.” The way we represent something in our mind reflects how we will act on it and what we will feel like while we do. If we really feel like something is going to be dull, we have predisposed ourselves to it being dull before hand. Avoidance naturally follows. The quickest way to break through procrastination is to change the framework of how we see a task. To risk a “Mary Poppins” reference, “a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down.” Pairing somethin g we dread or fear with something that has meaning and we love helps to re-wire our perception and makes the job effortless. For example… if you love competition, make laundry folding / put away a race with a family member. If you want more romance with your partner and the laundry needs to be folded, have a romantic evening of role playing as “the butler” and “the maid” that ends with passionate… well… you get what I mean. As silly as it sounds, it really works and we feel better doing it. We predispose ourselves to our experience of a task by what we think about that task before hand. Want to have a better experience, change the thoughts.

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Sue Publicover of Writers of the Round Table

1) What do you procrastinate about? I procrastinate about organizing my mail. Even though I pay my bills on time, I just toss everything in a pile to be organized “later”.

2) Why do you procrastinate about this one thing? It’s boring. There’s nothing satisfying about filing.

3) What do you usually do to break through the procrastination? I leave the pile in a place where I have to look at it regularly. When it bothers me enough, I dive in. Then, I feel so great that I wonder why I don’t do it regularly!

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Scott Bradley of Networking Effectively

1) What do you procrastinate about? I procrastinate about organizing paperwork.

2) Why do you procrastinate about this one thing? I procrastinate about this one thing because in my mind I tell myself “It only takes 1 minute to organize…so I will spend time doing other things.

3) What do you do to break through the procrastination? I say to myself, “Ok Scott…it’s time to clean it up and start fresh.”

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Corey Blake of Writers of the Round Table

1) What do you procrastinate about? I procrastinate on making tough decisions.

2) Why do you procrastinate about this one thing? Fear of conflict.

3) What do you usually do to break through the procrastination? Unfortunately, I often wait until I’m backed into a corner so I feel like I have a more legitimate excuse to act.

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Carol Dickson Carr of Managing Personal Resources

1) What do you procrastinate about? On the days that I don’t have to be anywhere until the afternoon, sometimes I put off exercising as soon as I get up.

2) Why do you procrastinate about this one thing? Lying in bed or checking email and the social networks seems more appealing.

3) What do you usually do to break through the procrastination?
Remind myself that I always have more energy in the morning on an empty stomach (besides green tea!) when I work out and put forth a lot more effort into the workout than when I wait until the afternoon after I’ve had a couple of meals. I also remind myself of the high blood pressure on both sides of my family and getting it over with also gives me more energy throughout the day.

EDGE! A Leadership Story

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Penelope Trunk has a great post from yesterday with a few tips on productivity, and I have a few comments to make.

Her post mentions that a study from Robert Half International shows that we are most productive on Tuesday. One thing I want to mention about this is that I usually have more people show up for my teleclasses on Tuesday, and I have more readers to my blog on Tuesdays. So…this study might be true, and Tuesday may be the best day to market. I know that I usually send out press releases on Tuesday. If I send them on Monday, I miss the people who away for a long holiday, and if I send it later in the week, people are already checked out (I know I am.)

On the subject of decision making…she’s got that one nailed. I find that when I don’t go ahead in making a decision that my mind keeps going through a revolving door. “Should I do this? Should I not?” That question usually results in my spending time online for an hour or talking with people about the decision, and of course, we start talking about other things in the process. I recently decided to hire a company to help pitch me to some national radio stations, and I estimate that I spent 11 hours thinking about this darn decision when it should have been a no-brainer. Hmmm…I could have been lying in the bathtub, watching movies or filing my nails during that time.

On the subject of going to church. My grandmother went to church every Sunday of her life. I loved going with her, because I loved being with her and watching her being so happy about being at church (and we also would walk to a little cafe after church and buy cokes from the bottle…now I am dating myself). But…you know what…my grandmother was the most upbeat, optimistic person I knew (she sang and played the piano constantly), and she would always make something major on Monday…a dress, a great cake, a beautiful flower arrangement or something of beauty. I have to admit that I fight going to church. I would much rather lie in bed or go out to eat (my favorite hobby), but I also must admit that I am in a much better mood when I do go to church (which is about one time per month). My minister is a fabulous speaker, and I always run into someone I haven’t seen in a while, and I just feel better during the day. So, again…this one is probably true.

Treadmill in the office. Good suggestion there…if I just had room. I am an exercise nut. I go to the gym every day (to work off all of the eating out I do.) But really…I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am more productive when I work out. Blood flow and oxygen to the brain can really clear out my cobwebs, and I just move more quickly and get er done!

So…thanks Penelope for the great food for thought.