There is a quote, which is often attributed to Mark Twain, that goes something like this:

A person who doesn’t read has no advantage over one who can’t.

The truth is that most of us don’t read very much at all. And for those that do, a lot of that reading time is spent with newspapers, magazines or miscellaneous work-related papers and articles.

Most people don’t read books. Most business people don’t read enough books. Yet, if you ask them, they will admit that they should read more. Common reasons that business people will give are not having enough time, not knowing what books to read and not finding books that interest them.

I have noticed when talking to business people who do want to read more, who do want to find interesting books and who would like to learn more, that they have something of a blind spot to an option that can provide them with a lot of the benefits but with less of the hassle – audiobooks!

Virtually everyone I know in business has a CD player in their car. Very few use that CD player to listen to audiobooks. Most of us now have some form of digital audio player but only a few of us use them to listen to books. Are audiobooks one of life’s biggest hidden secrets?

I don’t have time! Really?

With busy lifestyles, it’s difficult to make time to sit down and read. It’s not impossible but it’s tough. However, there are many opportunities for us to listen to audiobooks every single day: while commuting, while walking/jogging and while doing household chores.

The technology is there. Pop a CD in the player. Turn on the iPod. Plug in the earphones.

If you want to learn how much time you have available, try listening to a 5-hour audiobook. Your initial reaction will be ‘Wow, five hours – that’ll take me a couple of weeks to get through’. Trust me, if you plug into the book every time you have a chance to listen, you will be shocked at how quickly you will get through it. We consistently underestimate how much time we spend, say, commuting. Some people I know would get through that book in a single day. But right now, they believe they don’t have time.

Why listening can sometimes trump reading.

More and more authors are now also narrating their own audiobooks. This can be good news for us, as in the case of authors like Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk. Their passion for the material and the particular emphasis that they give to particular words and points gives us extra value over the plain written word. I even find myself listening to books before reading them (books that I need to research quite deeply for purposes of work). And once you’ve heard the author’s unique interpretation of the words, you just can’t read the book any other way.

Sounds great. How do I start listening?

Most mainstream books now have an audio equivalent. There are many of ways of sourcing these but I would recommend two: Audible and iTunes. Audible was one of the first audiobook retaliers online and has become the #1 source. I personally use the US-based Audible.com. It has the greatest selection to choose from. But there is also a UK site – Audible.co.uk, which may well suit you better. You can purchase books individually or sign up to a plan which gives you a certain number of book credits per month. Apple’s iTunes is another easy way to access and download audiobooks. You may well have some iTunes credit waiting to be spent – check out the Audiobook category, you will be surprised at how many books are now available.

And if you’re still holding back on making the jump into iPods and mp3 players, then there are still a decent number of audiobooks available in CD format. Some of your bricks-and-mortar bookshops will have a CD section. Better yet, have a look at what’s available in your local library. You will see if there is a CD format available when you look at a book on Amazon.

Go for it. Let me know how you get on. If you’re already an audiobook listener, let me know which ones you would recommend to others.

Q1: How would you like to feel when your work is done today?

Got it?

Q2: What actions could you take now to maximise the likelihood of feeling like that?

The answer to Q2 will probably include stuff you don’t feel like doing now.

You have two choices: face up to what you need to do  & do it now OR think about it but do something else.

So, how do you think that latter option will make you feel?

For many people, procrastination is perceived as being the same as laziness. If you’re not getting things done, if you’re not meeting your commitments, people are quick to generate all manner of unpleasant labels:  sloppy, unreliable, useless, lazy.

But is this fair? Is it even true?

For me, laziness suggests an unwillingness to do anything. When I think of laziness, I think of apathy, inactivity and a lack of energy.

Wait a minute. Procrastination isn’t actually a passive or inactive process at all. It’s, in fact, a very active process. We choose to do something else rather than the thing we should/could/want to be doing. We substitute one activity for the one we are avoiding. So, for most of us, we are not apathetic, inactive or lazy when we are procrastinating.

I would even argue that using terms like laziness will only feed a negative mindset that will make your procrastination habit progressively worse. In our programmes and when coaching clients, I always say that you can’t criticise yourself out of procrastination. Breaking the habit has to begin with an acceptance of a positive outlook, a belief that it is possible for you to replace procrastination with production.

Just because you’re procrastinating on something does not mean you’re lazy.

What is it that causes us to delay action? What is it that causes us to procrastinate?

Steven Pressfield calls it Resistance. His wonderful book, ‘The War of Art’, explores this concept better than any other book I have found on the topic. It’s a book I use in the Smarter Egg Overcoming Procrastination programmes.

This quote captures the essence of the idea:

Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.

If you have ever wanted to do something new, exciting and rewarding but found yourself not quite getting there, then you have already met Resistance. As far as I can see, we all have.

I was intrigued to see recently that Seth Godin is now exploring this very topic in his new book, ‘Linchpin’. Seth suggests that there is a biological source for Resistance. He calls it ‘the lizard brain’. Of course, this proposes that everyone has it. And I think he’s right.

How do we defeat Resistance? Acknowledging that it’s there is a good start. Understanding how it affects us will make things clearer. But, we only succeed when we roll up our sleeves and take it on. Defeating Resistance, overcoming procrastination, making a start: these need to be active processes. Movement is required.

What’s your next step?

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One common misconception about procrastination is that we only tend to put off the things we hate to do. There are so many examples of tasks we would love to avoid: housework, going to the dentist, having a ‘difficult’ conversation etc. It’s easy to understand why we might choose to delay acting on those.

Would it surprise you to learn that we can be equally as bad at putting off tasks that bring us pleasure? At the simplest level, this can include our inability to redeem frequent flyer miles on time but can also extend to the point where we actually are deferring our capability to live happy lives.

In the ‘rat race’ paradigm, it’s normal to defer the lives we want to live until we achieve our goal, our promotion, our next big target. “When ‘the big thing’ happens, then I can start enjoying my life!”

This article from the New York Times explores research on why we respond better to tighter deadlines when redeeming gift vouchers. Some of us might shy away from deadlines as we see them as being ‘overly-controlled’. But, ask yourself, why would you postpone enjoying life?

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One of the keys to overcoming procrastination is to allow ourselves to build systems, structures and relationships that give us the means to overcome the impulse to procrastinate. This piece from the The Economist provides a great example of a ‘commitment contract’, using the example of one of the most common New Year Resolutions – the desire to quit smoking.

If you are already struggling to make progress with your New Year Resolutions, try to think about ways that you could change the definition of what you are trying to achieve. Try to focus more on what you might lose. Try to involve others so that you don’t want to let them down. Try to put some form of external stimulus in place that keeps you going when it might be easier to put things off.

New Year Resolutions aren’t easy to achieve. But they’re not quite as difficult or as hopeless as you might fear.

Even though I use a quote from Albert Einstein elsewhere on this site, this post is not an exploration of his theory of relativity!

In recent weeks I have experienced both the total relaxation of holidays and the hectic busyness of a very full work schedule. Every day that passed apparently had the same number of hours on the clock. But it certainly didn’t feel that way.

The clock ticks at the same pace all the time. Each day comes and goes. The sun rises and then sets. Newspapers land in the stores with a new date.  Yet, time can feel so elastic.

On some holidays, with days of unstructured relaxation lying ahead, time can appear to be infinite. And many of us will tend to act as if there is an unlimited supply of time. But the clock is ticking at the same pace.

When we are under pressure, facing a deadline, or have over-committed ourselves, it feels like time is in very short supply. We work to maximise the output of every single minute. Yet, the clock is ticking at the same pace.

From working closely with people in our ‘Overcoming Procrastination’ workshops, I have noticed that our varying perception of the value of time can lie at the root of many non-productive behaviours. Why do we treat our time as being precious and valuable one day, yet the following day act as if it is a commodity with an infinite supply?

Finding a more consistent or level balance on how we value our time can be hugely effective in helping us get into a productive mode and ultimately, achieve our targets and goals. If we can find our optimal ’sense of urgency’ and ensure that it is sustainable, then we will have developed a very productive habit.

The ’sense of urgency’ label may have become a cliche in many business circles but I think it accurately captures a critical point of human behaviour. Of course, it’s easy to abuse the concept, especially in corporate environments where ’sense of urgency’ is measured as a required competency. I have seen many expend a lot of energy in creating a storm of dust but ultimately achieving very little.

So, here’s a key question: what is the optimal level of urgency that gets you moving on what you need to do but doesn’t tire you too quickly?

In recent months, I have developed the habit of a daily reflection, mostly completed before I begin to work. At present, I reflect on four points under the heading of ’sense of urgency’:

1. My time is not infinite
2. Today will never come again
3. Now is the time to act
4. I am at my best when I move with purpose

What works for you when you work to arm yourself with your optimal sense of urgency?

The first Smarter Egg Overcoming Procrastination programme will commence on Wednesday, September 23rd at the Ambassador Hotel, Cork. The first session will run from 7pm to 9.30pm.

This will be the first of four sessions with the other dates reserved for September 30th and October 14th & 28th.

Places on this initial programme are strictly limited to just fifteen people. Already, almost half of the places are reserved so procrastination on signing up will likely lead to disappointment!

This programme will be a unique blend of different learning elements: interactive workshops, facilitated discussions, personal assignments with a special option of individual coaching in the area of procrastination.

If you would like to participate or would like to treat a spouse, family member or colleague to an innovative learning experience, then please contact us immediately to reserve your place.

Procrastination can have consequences. We can miss opportunities. Relationships can fade unnecessarily. Sometimes, we even face sanctions because of our failure to do something on time.

This story, from one of the better sources of inspiration on productivity online, is quite powerful. Procrastination has meant that a dream lies unfulfilled.

But there’s hope.

The powerful emotion of regret can act as a motivator.

I’ve turned my feeling of regret into a motivator. I don’t want to be upstaged or upset by my own inaction again. Put off and delay and prepare to pay.

It almost sounds like a mantra and maybe it’s a little trite. But it sticks. Put off and delay and prepare to pay.

I didn’t always know what that meant but for as long as I can remember, I’ve been good at putting things off. “I’ll get to that next week” or “Tomorrow would be a better time to do that” or “I’ll just do this first”: these are common thoughts that occur in my mind.

Some argue that procrastination isn’t a problem. Some argue that if we defer on tackling a certain task, then that’s a measure of how important it really is to us. I’m not so sure.

When I was growing up, I heard people talking about putting things on the long finger. There’s even an equivalent phrase in Irish – an mear fhada. I understood that to mean that people were choosing to do certain things at a later date.  But soon that concept got blurred. In my child-like mind, it was more like “let’s do good things now and push the bad things out to another time”.

It seems like a fun place to be. Let’s only do good things. Let’s only do easy things. Let’s only do things that don’t cause a fuss. But there are at least two problems with that line of thinking. Firstly, we don’t live in a bubble. The world deals us some tough breaks, as well as many extraordinary opportunities. We live in an interdependent world where other people might not care a lot about the rules within our special bubble. Secondly, if we stay in the bubble, we don’t grow. We don’t grow as people, as individuals, as unique human beings.

So, the world requires us to do things that we don’t initially want to do. Maybe we can start on those things tomorrow?

Procrastination can have unpleasant consequences. Especially when other people begin to judge us for our actions or, more appropriately, lack of them. You’re lazy! You’re sloppy! You’re useless! How many truly lazy, sloppy and useless people do you know? Really lazy, sloppy, and useless? At everything? You see, we tend to procrastinate on some things but not everything. And that’s why there’s hope.

Did I mention I was a recovering procrastinator?

I’m not sure if a normally functioning human being can be free of procrastination habits. I think the best we can do is grow our awareness of the problem and work consciously and deliberately to minimise the impact on our lives.

My awareness of my own procrastination was raised as I began to progress in my career and found that there could be ’serious’ consequences from my inaction. I began to get curious as to why I would immediately tackle certain problems or opportunities but actively avoid others. I began to look for some answers. I observed other people. I started to do some research. And it’s still going. I’ve read dozens of books on this topic. Listened to hundreds of hours of audiobooks and seminars. Spent thousands of hours trying out different techniques and systems and tools. A lot of that time was spent procrastinating. It’s time to share some of that experience.

As I became more experienced in the training of business people in recent years, I knew I’d like to work with people in the area of overcoming procrastination. I began to dream how I might create my own materials, my own workshops, my own programmes. I know it sounds corny, but I just haven’t got around to it. Until now.

The first Smarter Egg Overcoming Procrastination programme begins on September 23rd 2009 in Cork, Ireland. This programme will draw on all of my experiences and acquired skills in the area of presentation, facilitation and coaching. It is designed for business people who are frustrated with procrastination. It is designed to raise their awareness of how and why they procrastinate and to provide them with the means to tackle the problem.

There, I’ve said it. September 23rd is the date. I’m no longer procrastinating on launching this programme. (But I’m still in recovery).