Well, Thomas Jefferson was wrong! Here are four times when it may pay to procrastinate if you’re an entrepreneur:

1. It may pay to push back your launch.
“Wait” is a viable option in many cases. While you wait, take a class. Get some experience in the industry. And check out The Entrepreneur Equation.

2. It may pay to delay your exit.
We’ll preface this by recognizing that many entrepreneurs wait too long to get out. They end up with a business that really doesn’t have any growth potential left.

But for the best businesses, why be in a hurry to sell? We have a friend who owns a business. He determined he would make as much in 2 years as he thought he could get for the business if he sold it. He’s getting his money now and later by delaying his exit!

3. Sometimes it pays to defer conversations.
It may be an employee or a customer. It could be your kid or your spouse. The point is somebody said or did something to upset you.

You want to fire back. You want to speak your mind. But it probably won’t be productive. You’ll probably say the wrong thing or at least say it the wrong way.

Get away. Take a break. Calm down. Get your head back so you can have a conversation, not a confrontation.

4. It may pay to postpone a major decision.
We can take a note from franchise law here. The law says a franchisor can’t accept your money for three days after you receive the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular.

You should be emotional about your business. But you shouldn’t base business decisions on emotions. Take a little time. Do some more analysis. Don’t spend the money today. Procrastinate for BIGG success!

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If you’re keeping an eye on the news, you see that a lot of large companies are cutting marketing and even customer service. They’re cutting jobs and even entire departments. They’re streamlining.

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And Mary-Lynn doesn’t fill it up enough … we spend money we don’t need to because we waste water and electricity.

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Well, we spend money when we have to wash the dishes again because some of them didn’t get washed in the overload.

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So now you see where we reach an impasse!

More importantly, this whole dishwasher discussion made us think about our schedules.

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My theory is that if you put too much into your schedule, just like the dishwasher, you can’t get it all done.

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I don’t disagree that you have to be careful about overloading your schedule. I may be guilty at times of doing that, just like I overload the dishwasher according to Mary-Lynn. But you know the old saying – if you want something done, give it to a busy person.

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It’s the old 80/20 rule – 80 percent of the work gets done in 20 percent of the time. It is true that when you’re super busy, it seems like you are more productive. However, when you get too overloaded, you may not achieve what you set out to do. The result – you get frustrated and discouraged. It can even paralyze you at times.

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4 ways to keep from being overloaded

#1 – Plan for reaction time

When I first started managing people, I often overbooked myself because I didn’t allow for time to respond to my employees. I’ve seen a lot of first-time managers make this same mistake. The closer you are to the front line, the more important this is. Allow time to react to customers and employees or you’ll find yourself with too much to do in too little time.

#2 – Understand your patterns 

George is more of a morning person … I’m more of an afternoon person. So we just don’t work together at all! Seriously, plan your schedule so you’re working on your most important activities when you’re at your best.

#3 – Work at human capacity

This is a tough one. My dad, who’s one of my heroes, always thought he could get done more in a day than he actually could. He taught me well! Make sure you’re not planning ten hours of work if you only have eight hours to do it. Realize that you’re human, too. There will be times when you need to slow down or take a break.

#4 – Sometimes it pays to procrastinate

A prime example is the post you’re reading. Yesterday, we were trying to get this show done and I just wasn’t feeling well. We felt like if we pressed on, our end product wouldn’t have been as good as what you’re reading now.

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So we decided to put it off for a day. There was no reason not to … and hopefully, you’ll agree that we did alright!

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Now if I can just get George to stop loading the dishwasher so full!

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That’s a great saying to remember to help you fight your inner perfectionist. When you’re working on something, you reach a point of diminishing returns. 

2 options
#1 – You can spend a whole bunch more time to get something a little bit better, or

#2 – You can spend the same time and get a whole bunch more done.

In most cases, you’re better off doing #1!

The 80 / 20 rule
Apply the old 80 / 20 rule – 80 percent of the things you do probably don’t need to be perfect; only 20 percent do.

If what you’re working on is really important, go for the marginal improvement you’ll get from spending the extra time on it. If it’s not that important, get it done and remind yourself that it’s good enough for who it’s for.

For example, Mary-Lynn said that she used to try to get her hair to look just right before she went to work. But she has a lot of hair, so it took some time. She found that if she kept fussing with it, she’d be late for work. She learned to just turn off that curling iron, pull the plug and say, “It’s good enough for who it’s for.”

George said he only wished he had enough hair to have that problem!

Perfectionism causes procrastination
Perfectionism can be a huge problem because it may cause you to procrastinate. Have you ever put off doing something because everything had to be perfect before you could start?

George said that when he had a report to write in college, he would never be satisfied with the research he had done. The house had to be immaculate before he could start. His desk had to be cleaned and organized. He finally learned to say, “It’s good enough for who it’s for!” Then he could get start writing the report!

Rebutting your inner perfectionist
There’s a well-known technique for fighting off your inner critic. Start a journal that records the conversation between the perfectionist in you and your more practical self. This helps you discover what is causing your need for perfection so you can rebut your inner perfectionist.

So, yes, we’re telling you to talk to yourself! But remember, you don’t need a perfect reply or a perfect question.

Our bigg quote today is a shortened version of a quote by John Updike:

So fight off your inner perfectionist with these simple words, “It’s good enough for who it’s for.”

Click on our Comment link below to share your thoughts  Click on the Share This button below to Digg, Stumble, Mixx, etc.

Next time, we’ll discuss how to increase your profit year after year. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

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Bigg Advice:
Don’t feel alone on this one, Dan. A lot of people face this problem or a similar one. It can be daunting, wondering how you’ll ever get it all done.

3 tips to help you get started on your next project

#1 – Break it down.
Don’t look at it as one bigg project. See it as a series of small ones. These small mini-projects won’t look so overwhelming. You can complete them relatively quickly and easily.

#2 – Just get started.
Start with something that plays to your strengths or that you think is easy. For example, look over the project and see what tasks require input from someone else. Then reach out to those people.

It’s relatively easy to do – just make a phone call or send an e-mail – and it gets the ball rolling.

Starting with the easy stuff gets the momentum going your way. As you check things off, you’ll feel good about the progress.

Then consider diving into those things that seem difficult. By front-loading, you’ll know that you’ll have it made as the project nears its completion.

#3 – Don’t overload your day.
You have a deadline for the whole project. In Point 1, you broke it down into mini-projects. Plan it out so each mini-project has its own deadline.

By doing this, the project won’t consume you. So you’ll look forward to it more, and you’ll be more likely to dive in each day and keep going.

Give yourself some fudge – time to react, to do things that are more fun, to have some downtime, and to work on something else.

Putting the puzzle together
Here’s an analogy to help simplify this process. Think of putting together a jigsaw puzzle. You have all the pieces on the table in front of you. It’s a mess! So where do you start?

Look for the corner pieces! They’re the easiest to find.

Then look for all the border pieces and put them together. You’ll have the framework in place for the rest of the puzzle.

Now, you can start working on the inside. With the picture of the completed puzzle in front of you, start finding pieces that fit into the border pieces and match each other. Keep going until you’re done.

Create a picture of your completed project in your mind. Then put the framework in place and fill it in. The next thing you know, your project will be done!

Thanks, Dan, for sharing your bigg challenge with us!

What's your bigg challenge, send it our way – bigginfo@biggsuccess.com

Our bigg quote today is by Calvin Coolidge, who said:

So to get started, don’t focus on everything, just work on something.

Next time, we’ll discuss why it pays to be late for work. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Related posts  

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(Image by dijani)

Bigg Advice:
Don’t feel alone on this one, Dan. A lot of people face this problem or a similar one. It can be daunting, wondering how you’ll ever get it all done.

3 tips to help you get started on your next project

#1 – Break it down.
Don’t look at it as one bigg project. See it as a series of small ones. These small mini-projects won’t look so overwhelming. You can complete them relatively quickly and easily.

#2 – Just get started.
Start with something that plays to your strengths or that you think is easy. For example, look over the project and see what tasks require input from someone else. Then reach out to those people.

It’s relatively easy to do – just make a phone call or send an e-mail – and it gets the ball rolling.

Starting with the easy stuff gets the momentum going your way. As you check things off, you’ll feel good about the progress.

Then consider diving into those things that seem difficult. By front-loading, you’ll know that you’ll have it made as the project nears its completion.

#3 – Don’t overload your day.
You have a deadline for the whole project. In Point 1, you broke it down into mini-projects. Plan it out so each mini-project has its own deadline.

By doing this, the project won’t consume you. So you’ll look forward to it more, and you’ll be more likely to dive in each day and keep going.

Give yourself some fudge – time to react, to do things that are more fun, to have some downtime, and to work on something else.

Putting the puzzle together
Here’s an analogy to help simplify this process. Think of putting together a jigsaw puzzle. You have all the pieces on the table in front of you. It’s a mess! So where do you start?

Look for the corner pieces! They’re the easiest to find.

Then look for all the border pieces and put them together. You’ll have the framework in place for the rest of the puzzle.

Now, you can start working on the inside. With the picture of the completed puzzle in front of you, start finding pieces that fit into the border pieces and match each other. Keep going until you’re done.

Create a picture of your completed project in your mind. Then put the framework in place and fill it in. The next thing you know, your project will be done!

Thanks, Dan, for sharing your bigg challenge with us!

What's your bigg challenge, send it our way – bigginfo@biggsuccess.com

Our bigg quote today is by Calvin Coolidge, who said:

So to get started, don’t focus on everything, just work on something.

Next time, we’ll discuss why it pays to be late for work. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Related posts  

Don’t Put Off Taking This Test

Success In One Week

Climbing The Stairway To Success

Change Your Scenery For A Change 

More Bigg Challenges 

(Image by dijani)