Sitting down in your sign shop office to an inbox full of unread or unanswered emails while the phone rings and the mail pile sits unopened next to your computer is a depressing, albeit common, way to start the day. When simple tasks mount up they can easily bond together to a mountain of overwhelming work. Being faced with a thousand things to do at your small business can most often be traced back to one fatal error: procrastination.
Unfortunately, the most common result to piles and piles of work is more procrastination. To nip this vicious cycle in the bud, you need to avoid putting things off all together, which is much easier said than done. If you find yourself to be a chronic procrastinator, try implementing these 5 tips designed to jump start you to work.
- Make a To-Do List. Rather than organizing the items on the list as they come to you, put the list in an order so that the quickest tasks are completed first so that the list gets shorter. There is nothing worse than a long To-Do list that never seems to get anything crossed off. Put even the most simple of items first, check it off, and keep moving.
- Break down large jobs. Time-consuming tasks are a lot less daunting when broken down into smaller parts. When you complete one section of the job you will feel like you made progress, rather than viewing the entire task as one unfinished project.
- Tackle a tough project. If you just bite the bullet and dive right into work, you are forced to stop procrastinating. If you leave a hard project for later in the day, you might end up just putting it off until the next day.
- Start with something easy. On the other hand, starting with an easy task can work like water priming a well - it gets the juices flowing and immediately takes one thing off of your plate.
- Reward yourself! Getting the job done shouldn't be without its rewards. Take a short break after completing a set task or number of tasks, or treat yourself to a nice lunch after a particularly tough task.
Everyone has days when they procrastinate. The key is to not let procrastination take over your sign making business. If you struggle with putting things off, what do you do to motivate yourself to get to work?Â
