We procrastinate because we fear failure or because we fear dealing with certain people or taking on responsibility.  We put off the inevitable even when we know we should start and finish the job.

Here are four steps that will help you eliminate procrastination in your personal and professional life.

Clearly Define What Needs To Be Done
When you have a clear definition of what needs to be accomplished it makes it easier to begin the project.  Many times we put off starting a project because we do not have a full understanding of the scope of the project or the expectations of what we need to produce.  The more specific you can be in describing what needs to be done the less likely you will be in making excuses for not beginning the project.  The same concept applies when delegating a task to a team member.  Be sure to clearly define the expectations.

Know WHY You Are Doing Something
Everything comes down to “why.”  It’s the “why” that drives your actions and determines the decisions we all make.  The more important the “why” the more likely we are to want to begin the project.  Take the time to think about why you are doing something, what completing the project means to you and exactly what you stand to gain when you finish.  This information will motivate you to move forward.

Review the Consequences of Lack of Performance
What happens if you don’t meet you deadline or you put the project off so long it is impossible to have enough time to do a great job?  If the consequences are great enough, chances are you will want to get started sooner.  The greater the consequences of failure the higher the likelihood that you will push yourself to move forward.

Reward Yourself For Meeting or Exceeding Deadlines
Hey, we all like a present from time to time.  Set up check-points and deadlines for your projects.  Give yourself small rewards each time you meet a check-point and then something larger when you hit your overall deadline.  Some projects can seem overwhelming but when you break them into smaller, achievable elements you will feel comfortable beginning and ultimately finishing the project.

Eliminating procrastinating is a trait of highly accountable people and leads to greater results in your personal life and higher productivity in your professional life.  Great leaders are accountable leaders and eliminate procrastination.

We spoke to the manager, Claude. Claude wanted to serve us. I’m sure he realized that an extra 25 people during his lunch period would make his daily numbers look great! He expressed concern over being able to give us the outstanding service they were known for and at the same time not diminish the service to those patrons already in the restaurant. After checking with his staff Claude decided that he would be able to accommodate us.

Claude was fully aware of his strategic intent, to provide exceptional service and a positive dining experience to the guests that entered his restaurant. Claude also had a strategic intent based around volume and productivity. By being fully aware of his strategic intents and by making sure that one didn’t suffer because of the other, Claude was able to optimize his performance.

Do you take the time to determine your strategic intent? Do you ever let one goal get in the way of achieving something else you are committed to? Being accountable means assuring that your behaviors are congruent with your values. When we let a success in one area take away from another, it may be that we are not being accountable to the big picture and fall prey to short term gains.

Take the time to determine your strategic intent. Create your “right things” or tactical activities that, when performed consistently, will lead you to the achievement of your goals. By engaging in these activities you are showing a high level of accountability to your strategic intent.

I carried in the computer and asked where the help desk was. Micro Center conveniently has the desk off to the right as I entered the store. I signed in and Dave called my name. I explained the issues and that I wanted to completely install Windows from scratch. As soon as Dave heard what I needed he rolled into action.

Dave said that I needed a special driver in addition to the Windows install disk. He went to the Dell website, downloaded it and put it on a floppy disc. He then inserted both the floppy and the Windows install DVD and booted up the machine.

Dave was able to initiate the install process. He told me to feel free to look around the store and that he would monitor progress. After about 30 minutes I mentioned that I had a phone call I needed to make and Dave said to take my time and he would continue the installation. Well, my conference call lasted 45 minutes and when I returned Dave had completed the Windows installation, downloaded and installed all the necessary drivers for the many add-on boards that were in this computer and placed copies on the desktop of the two upgrade packages that I would need when I returned to my office. Dave was friendly, very knowledgeable and dedicated to great service.

The entire process took about two hours. When I asked Dave what the charge would be he said, “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad to get you back up and running.” I stood there in disbelief. Here was an out of warranty piece of equipment that I didn’t even purchase from Micro Center and they helped solved all of my problems at no charge.

This is a prime example of being accountable to contribute to your relationships. Yes, they do provide fee based services but if they can handle your problem at their help desk then many times they simply do not charge. By offering this level of service Micro Center is in essence contributing to important relationships. Micro Center is positioning themselves as a leader in the technology community and a leader in providing assistance to the community in which they serve.

How You Can Apply These Skills

What relationships do you have in your personal or professional life that you could be making contributions to? From an organizational standpoint, what relationships could you make contributions to? Create a list of six people whom you could contribute value to. Be accountable to contribute to your relationships and watch as people around you flourish. You never know where your new and enhanced relationships will go.

By the way, while I was looking around the store I found this nifty device that allows me to back up all my files and then provide me access to them from anywhere in the world via the internet. Guess who is now a loyal Micro Center customer?!

Hope is what drives all action and without action nothing happens. With hope we believe that something is possible. Once we believe it is possible we will work through the challenges to find the solutions and figure out how to make it happen.

When people don’t believe, they don’t take action, they betray their potential and eventually they give up.

Accountable leaders recognize the value of hope and work to instill hope in everyone with whom they come in contact. When we instill hope in others they have the opportunity to fulfill their vision and achieve everything they deserve. When we instill hope in others they remember that we took the time to believe in them, pat them on the back and encourage them on to success, and maybe more importantly, significance.

Look around you and see in whom you can instill hope, a dream and the possibility of reaching higher and achieving more. We all win in the presence of hope.

Learn three important questions that will help you determine if you have established the right expectations and set high quality goals. Sometimes we need to change direction in order to move forward and sometimes we need to be more persistent.

Some times we need to decide what to eliminate from our life so that we can create more “space” or time to achieve what it is we really desire and what will give us the greatest return in our life.

Effective management of our space will create opportunities for growth and allow us to reach our full potential.