The real reason why Recruitment Consultants procrastinate, how to stop yourself and what to do if you manage a team of procrastinators!

The real reason why Recruitment Consultants procrastinate, how to stop yourself and what to do if you manage a team of procrastinators!!

The definition of Procrastinate: ‘Postpone or delay action, put off something’

I don’t know about you, but I rarely heard the word ‘procrastinate’ until a few years ago, it’s definitely a word that seems to be used more frequently, maybe it’s just that we are living in a world full of procrastinators or maybe there’s another reason….

The myths!

Many people believe the main reasons behind procrastination are:

-Laziness

-People not wanting it enough

-Not having had enough training

-They just don’t like speaking on the phone

-People have short attention spans these days due to how we consume media

There may well be some truth in the reasons above, however, one theory growing in popularity is that procrastinators are simply perfectionists. We are living in online worlds through social media where all we see is perfectionism. This perfectionism is paralysing us, we don’t take action because we are frightened, we will get it wrong.

And who can blame us when too often our mistakes are highlighted on-line.  You have most likely seen posts where people shared a poorly written inbox message they have received.  Maybe colleagues you work with enjoy shaming other people’s mistakes. People are quick to write negative reviews online if they do not perceive their experience to be good enough. Our friends on social media seem to experience so much success and have it all together. 

If you procrastinate?

-Many of you will know the best way to deal with procrastination is to just do that job now! Do it now! Just do it! A great book to help with this is ‘Eat that frog’ by Brian Tracy

-Also, there’s a fantastic technique for preparing yourself for dealing with a difficult task by counting down ‘5-4-3-2-1’, then when you get to 1 you just have to go for it and make that call!

-Plan to do the jobs you are most likely to procrastinate on first, and ‘just do them!’ 

-If you feel that you are easily distracted by social media or that the perfection online negatively impacts you or makes you feel inferior, then give it a break for a while, or switch it off weekdays. Maybe set yourself a challenge to give it up for a week and see how much more productive you are and whether you feel happier in yourself.

So, what to do if you manage a team of procrastinators?

-With this theory in mind, allow your team to see your mistakes.

-Advise your team you expect them to make a mistake/forget to ask a question, it is part of human nature and the most important thing is making that call.

-Be aware of how you give constructive criticism

-But ultimately ‘you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink’, you can give them the tools and support, but you cannot do their job for them!

If you work in recruitment and tend to procrastinate then it is more important than ever to address this now!  Question yourself as to the real reasons you are putting off tasks. Identify what you allow yourself to be distracted by and remove these where possible. We are moving into a new world of recruitment, where I am afraid to say we are going to need to do more activity than ever to succeed. It is time to get rid of any demons in your mind that do not serve you and ‘just do it!’

By Victoria Shirley, Founder of Isabelle Williams – Recruiting Recruiters