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Procrastination can be a major roadblock to achieving one’s goals, and it’s a challenge that many professionals face. As such, overcoming chronic procrastination and becoming more focused are common objectives for coaching clients who hope to eliminate inertia and gain momentum in their careers.
Here, 14 Forbes Coaches Council members recommend strategies and techniques that can be used to identify the root causes of a client’s procrastination. Read on to learn how to help your clients overcome it and what they need to do to make lasting changes and achieve their goals.
1. ‘Chunking’ Their Workload
Because procrastination is often a reaction to feeling overwhelmed, it’s important to restore clarity and perspective. After ensuring the client has a baseline condition of calmness, I help them gain focus by “chunking”—parsing a project out into its component parts and designing a series of the smaller tasks as goals with completion dates. They can use this same strategy in the future. - Lisa Marie Platske, Upside Thinking, Inc.
2. Reinforcing Habits With A ‘Scoreboard’
Everyone wants to “win.” So for two weeks, I texted my client first thing in the morning to ask what his “Big 3” priorities were for that day. This reinforces two habits: Prioritizing important work tasks the night before and beginning the day with focus. Next, I asked how he would reward or penalize himself for doing, or not doing, the work. Seeing his “scoreboard” every day was motivation enough. - Adam Cubbage, Center Point Leadership Development
3. Leading With Honesty
The other day, a coach came to me sharing all the “to-dos” she had on her plate, all of which helped her avoid the one thing she hired me to help her do: sell her coaching. The one way I help clients overcome procrastination is to be honest with them and call out behavior that distracts them from their goals. When shared gently and thoughtfully, the truth is truly a gift and inspires action. - Michelle Rockwood, Unscripted Sales
4. Shifting Their Thoughts Toward Action
Procrastination is just a symptom of something in our thinking, something that we are telling ourselves about a situation, such as, “I’m not good enough; it won’t work. What if I fail?” This creates a negative feeling that moves us into nonaction or avoidance. Shifting the thought, belief or perspective about the situation will shift how the client feels, and in turn, will move them into action more consistently. - Cheryl Keates, PCC, Cheryl Keates
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5. Finding The Source Of Their Procrastination
I help clients clarify where their procrastination comes from and what thoughts are behind it. Are those thoughts rooted in perfectionism, a fear of failure, a need to control or something else? Moving from there, we discuss the birth of that thought, what procrastination is costing them and what would be different for them if they took action. Success comes when they commit to taking one step toward action. - Kathleen Shanley, Statice
6. Engaging In Priority Planning
Often, procrastination comes from uncertainty—uncertainty about what needs to be done, where to start or how to move forward. Priority planning is one of the best tools to beat procrastination. It allows for introspection with a goal of bigger projects being broken down into microtasks. Scheduling small tasks within a project timeline establishes a clear and easy-to-follow action plan. - Lindsay Miller, Reverie Organizational Development Specialists
7. Helping Them Break Free Of Perfectionism
We explored the habits of a client who had been struggling with procrastination and discovered that they were feeling overwhelmed because they were wanting things to be perfect, which made it difficult to focus and take action. We worked on strategies such as breaking down tasks into smaller steps, creating a routine, prioritizing the completion of each project and focusing less on them being done perfectly. - Ryan Stewman, Break Free Academy
8. Allowing Their Reason To Dictate The Resolution
When we can’t, don’t know how to or don’t want to do something, we can find ourselves procrastinating. Identifying the reason behind the behavior is the first step. If we can’t, or don’t know how, then we have a choice: learn or delegate. If we don’t want to, we need to find stronger conviction, more urgency or a clear and less overwhelming plan of action. The reason dictates the resolution. - Christy Charise, Strategic Advisor
9. Setting Short-Term Goals With Them Regularly
The first step is a discussion to identify the reasons behind the procrastination. Then, set short-term, attainable goals, with rewards along the way for every small accomplishment. Make sure to emphasize the importance of maintaining healthy habits, including getting proper sleep and eating healthy food, and setting short-term goals regularly. Follow up on time to increase the client’s sense of responsibility. - Alex Jones, National Leadership Association
10. Tackling Their Fear Of Failure
I remind them that their quest for perfection is really procrastination in disguise. They usually procrastinate because they’re afraid of failure. We need to change their association with failure by reminding them that it means nothing except the meaning they give to it. So, we change its meaning and, finally, remind them that success is progressive, and it doesn’t have to be perfect—it just has to be done. - Steve Harris, The Steve Harris Company
11. Encouraging Baby Steps
Delaying something that should be done may be due to many reasons: fear, difficulty, lack of energy or motivation. Instead of spending coaching time finding the root causes, I have observed that it is more fruitful to support my clients by encouraging baby steps. That will foster the test-and-feel attitude and their capacity to jump into action. - Catherine Tanneau, Activision Coaching Institute
12. Understanding Their Times Of Peak Energy
Individuals often procrastinate out of anxiety or a lack of time-management skills. They should reflect on the cause of their discomfort and consider setting small targets that ladder up to a broader goal. By doing that, they can break down larger, overwhelming projects into easily accomplished, bite-sized tasks, which can improve focus. Understanding when energy is at its peak to tackle these tasks is key as well. - Michael Timmes, Insperity
13. Making Time And Space For Big Tasks
Start with what is important, not with what is urgent. We tend to hide behind the small, urgent tasks because they make us feel productive, and then we keep postponing the big things that really challenge us. To my clients, I have suggested blocking big slots of two to three hours on their calendars for the important activity on their plate, then setting their phone to “do not disturb” so that they can enjoy giving it their undivided attention. - Alessandra Marazzi, Alessandra Marazzi GmbH
14. Identifying Small Things They Can Do To Make Progress
When we feel overwhelmed with too much to do, or that the steps to the result are too many, we often get paralyzed. I help leaders get focused and take action by first identifying what is most important to them and the reasons why, and then breaking the steps down into manageable tasks that could be accomplished in 15 to 60 minutes. Think about the small things that they can do today to make progress. - Katie Anderson, Katie Anderson Consulting
