Break your procrastination habit
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THE BLUE TREE
Personal
Productivity
CEFR B2
Upper
Intermediate
warm up
- Do you have a problem with procrastination?
- Why is it hard to complete some tasks on time sometimes?
- Do you organize your work tasks according to priority or difficulty?
LISTENING
Listen to the audio. What is the main message of this HBR Management Tip?
reading
Break Your 1. Procrastination Habit |
| Do you keep 2. postponing work you need to do? Most of us procrastinate from time to time. Rather than feeling guilty about it, or 3. beating yourself up, try these strategies to break the habit. Schedule your deep work. It’s easier to put off work that requires concentration. So build time in your daily calendar to focus on your most important long-term project. Having a regular pattern each day will make it less challenging and help make progress feel automatic, rather than 4. cumbersome. Learn to accept demanding work. Don’t make the mistake of 5. equating easy work with productivity. The more tolerant you become of demanding tasks, the less you’ll procrastinate. This takes practice; commit to 6.tackling 90 minutes of at least one demanding task each day — not just busy work. Create a system for starting new tasks. You’ll be less likely to delay 7. novel tasks if you have a system for approaching them. Have consistent steps you take when you 8. encounter something new to reduce decision 9. fatigue about how to start. Use self-compassion. We tend to avoid tasks that stir up negative emotions. Try to identify what you’re feeling exactly, so you can address the emotion 10.head on. Sometimes the negative feelings about a task are driven by a prior experience. You can heal these wounds with compassionate self-talk. Tell yourself, “It’s normal to be disappointed in my past performance. I’m learning through experience.” |
| This tip is adapted from “How to Stop Procrastinating,” by Alice Boyes |
odkładać zadania na ostatnią chwilę
zwlekać, odkładać, przekładać (na później)
obwiniać się
nieporęczny (np. styl), nieudolny (np. o przeprosinach)
stawiać znak równości pomiędzy
uporać się (z czymś), stawiać czoło (problemom)
nowy, nieznany
napotkać, natknąć się (na coś)
zmęczenie
bezpośrednio, z determinacją
COMPREHENSION
- How common is the habit of procrastinating?
- What do some people do when they procrastinate?
- Why should we schedule time for deep work?
- How does it help to have a regular pattern for deep work?
- What mistake do some people make as regards productivity?
- What do we have to learn to tolerate?
- What can we do to approach difficult tasks easier?
- What tasks do we tend to avoid more often?
- How can compassionate self-talk help us?
COMMENTS
What is your method of dealing with procrastination? How do you make yourself do difficult tasks?
Share your views and experience here.