How much do you procrastinate when it comes to work tasks?

Our reader poll today asks: How much do you procrastinate when it comes to work tasks?

• Not at all: I jump on tasks and never put anything off 10.5%
• Somewhat: I’ll put off a few small things occasionally 61.93%
• A lot: I put off most things until time becomes critical 22.24%
• A ton: I’ll answer this poll later… 5.33%

Beware the avalanche. It’s easy to procrastinate. A small task here. A little job there. In isolation, they seem pretty easy to catch up on. And 90% of you admit to putting off those small things from time to time (or more frequently). But then the storm hits. An unexpected event. A large, unforeseen project. An illness. A coworker leaves and you have their responsibilities. That’s when the payment is due – all those small tasks you’ve been putting off now reach critical mass and they all start slipping. That’s when things fall off the table or quality drops. To save yourself the stress of these times, invest in your time management skills. Maintain rigorous task lists and track progress. And when the temptation comes along to say “I’ll just do it later” ask yourself if you can afford to wait and what’s stopping you from doing it now.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 240,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.