How Leaders Can Stop Procrastinating Today

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Ever found yourself putting off an important task—only to scramble at the last minute?

Procrastination isn’t just about being lazy. It’s a deeply ingrained habit fueled by brain chemistry, energy, and even our personal values. And if you’re in a leadership role, the stakes are even higher.

In this episode of One Simple Thing, we break down:

✔️ Why procrastination happens (it’s not what you think!)

✔️ How our brains trick us into avoiding important work

✔️ What Enjoyment-Performance Theory reveals about our motivation

✔️ Four simple strategies to take back control

✔️ Why managing procrastination isn’t just about time management

Curious?

🎧 Listen now—and stop putting things off for later.

What are you waiting for? 😉

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to Leading People with me, gerry Marais,
this week.
It's One Simple Thing, where,in each episode, I share a quick
, actionable tip to help youbring out the best in yourself
and others the best in yourselfand others.
One simple thing is created foryoung leaders, but hey, us

(00:33):
older folks can still learn athing or two.
Ask my dog he's learned a fewnew tricks recently.
Here's a question for you haveyou ever put off an important
task only to scramble at thelast minute to get it done?
How does this happen?
Well, you check your inboxinstead of starting that report.

(00:57):
A colleague needs just a second, which turns into 20 minutes.
Oh, let me just see what'shappening on Facebook.
Let me just see what'shappening on Facebook, which
turns into half an hour and,before you know it, deadline,
panic, stress.

(01:21):
We call it procrastination, butlet's be honest, it can be a
real leadership challenge.
Great leaders often don't havethe luxury of waiting until they
feel like it.
So how do you stop puttingthings off and actually get
stuff done?
Let's explore why weprocrastinate.
Procrastination isn't justlaziness, it's habit, it's

(01:50):
chemistry chemistry and itsenergy.
Our brains are wired forpatterns and when we avoid a
task, we get instant relief andwe can actually experience a
dopamine hit.
And your brain likes this.
So next time we face a similartask, guess what?
We repeat the pattern to getthe dopamine hit.
But if leaders are to maintaintheir own performance levels and

(02:13):
motivate their teams, theycan't really afford to develop
these habits.
And here's where it getsinteresting.
We don't just procrastinatebecause something is hard.
We procrastinate because it'sboring, so we lack motivation.

(02:34):
Or it's a challenge, so we fearfailing, or it's of low value
to us, so we push it aside.
It's of low value to us, so wepush it aside.
And here's where it gets evenmore interesting.
According to enjoymentperformance theory, we tend to
invest our energy into things weenjoy, which makes us better at

(02:59):
them.
But when we don't enjoysomething, we tend to avoid it.
We don't practice, we don'tinvest our energy and, guess
what?
We never get good at it, so weavoid it even more.
So how do you break the cycle?

(03:21):
Here are four yes, four simplethings you can test out.
Number one reframe the task.
Make it meaningful to youInstead of saying, oh, I have to
do this.
Link it to a bigger purpose,for example, instead of saying,

(03:53):
oh, I have to prep this meeting.
Think this is my chance toinfluence senior leadership.
Number two invest your energywisely.
Follow your values.
If a task aligns with what'simportant to you, motivation
follows.
Ask yourself why does this taskmatter to me?
Number three block your timeand start small.

(04:16):
Chunk the task down to get pastthe first hurdle.
Procrastination feeds onopen-ended timeframes, so set a
10-minute timer and just start.
Momentum will kick in andsuddenly you're on a roll.
And number four delegatestrategically.

(04:40):
Not everything should bedelegated A Not your strength,
or B Not worth your energy, or CBetter done by someone else.
Then hand it off.
Great leaders know when to letgo and the person you delegate

(05:02):
it to can benefit from anopportunity to learn, grow and
develop.
Remember, procrastination isn'treally about time management.
It's about where you choose toinvest your energy and focus.
So test out this one simplething this week Reframe the task

(05:26):
.
Invest your energy wisely.
Task, invest your energy wisely.
Start small and delegate whenit makes sense and watch how
fast things change.
And that's another one simplething.
Thanks for tuning in.

(05:48):
Remember, small steps can leadto big changes.
Test out this one simple thingand notice how it transforms
your day.
Let me know how you get on,reach, reach out on LinkedIn and
connect with me.
Mention the podcast and ifyou'd like to learn more One

(06:14):
Simple Things, then subscribe tothis podcast on your favorite
podcast channel and follow ourLinkedIn Leading People page.
In our next episode of OneSimple Thing, we'll explore
another easy way to be a greatleader by bringing out the best

(06:35):
in yourself and those around you.
And in between, you can checkout one of my longer
conversations with leadingpeople about yes, you've guessed
it, leading people.
So until then, keep exploringand stay curious.