Business Procrastination: Stop Putting Off the Jobs That Matter
Business owners are rarely short of work.
There are customers to look after, employees to manage, emails to answer, sales to make and problems to solve.
It is perfectly possible to spend an entire day working hard and still avoid the one job that actually needs your attention.
That is the problem with business procrastination.
We naturally gravitate towards the parts of our work that we are comfortable with. Meanwhile, the paperwork, difficult conversations, financial reviews or awkward decisions can remain on the list for another day.
Then another.
And another.
The task normally does not disappear.
It simply becomes older, more urgent and potentially more difficult to resolve.
The short answer
If there is a business task you repeatedly postpone, make it visible.
Write it down, understand why you are avoiding it and give yourself a specific time to deal with it.
You do not need to clear every uncomfortable task in one day.
The objective is to stop carrying the same unresolved problems from one week into the next.
Prefer to watch?
This article expands on one of our latest Merranti videos, where Jason discusses business procrastination and why owners should deal with the jobs they naturally prefer to avoid.
Watch more practical business and accounting videos from Merranti on TikTok.
Why do business owners procrastinate?
Procrastination is not necessarily a sign that somebody is lazy.
Quite often, the opposite is true.
A business owner can be extremely busy while still procrastinating.
The reason is simple: we naturally spend more time doing the work we enjoy or feel confident doing.
A salesperson may happily spend all day talking to customers but repeatedly postpone their administration.
A technically minded business owner may enjoy delivering work but avoid reviewing the company’s finances.
Someone who enjoys developing the business may keep delaying a difficult staffing conversation.
The working day still feels productive.
Plenty gets done.
But the uncomfortable task remains.
That is why procrastination can be difficult to spot in a busy business.
Which job keeps moving to tomorrow?
Look at your current to-do list.
Which job has been sitting there the longest?
Which task gets moved every time something more appealing comes along?
It could be:
- Reviewing overdue invoices
- Completing paperwork
- Looking properly at cash flow
- Sending information to your accountant
- Speaking to an employee about an issue
- Reviewing a supplier
- Making a pricing decision
- Cancelling an unnecessary cost
- Dealing with an unhappy customer
- Making a decision you know the business needs
There is usually a reason that particular task keeps being avoided.
The important thing is to identify it.
Make the difficult jobs visible
Keeping everything in your head makes procrastination easier.
A written list creates accountability.
Start by listing the jobs you know need dealing with — including the ones you would normally prefer not to think about.
Then ask three questions:
What happens if I do nothing?
Will this become more difficult if I wait?
What is the first action required?
You may discover that the job itself is much smaller than you have built it up to be.
A difficult task might begin with one phone call.
A financial issue might begin with reviewing one report.
An administrative problem might begin with sending one email.
Starting is usually the hardest part.
Deal with a small number consistently
Another mistake is creating such a large list that it becomes overwhelming.
If you have 30 jobs you have been avoiding, attempting to clear everything immediately may simply create another excuse to delay starting.
Instead, build consistency.
Identify one or two uncomfortable tasks and deal with them.
Then repeat the process.
You could deliberately set aside time each week for jobs that would otherwise be ignored.
The exact system matters less than establishing the habit.
You are trying to stop difficult tasks repeatedly rolling into the following week.
Financial procrastination can become expensive
Financial jobs are particularly easy to postpone because there is not always an immediate consequence.
Bookkeeping falls behind.
Invoices are not chased.
Management information is not reviewed.
Cash-flow forecasts are not updated.
Information is not sent to the accountant.
For a while, the business can continue operating.
But eventually the lack of information can begin affecting decisions.
If invoices are not being chased, cash can become unnecessarily tight.
If the bookkeeping is several months behind, the owner may not know how profitable the business currently is.
If financial information reaches the accountant late, there may be less time available to plan ahead.
Merranti’s accountancy services are designed to combine the accounting requirements of a business with practical financial and business support.
Merranti’s own internal material describes its approach as going beyond compliance through practical financial advice, proactive planning and strategic support for business owners.
Difficult conversations are another common source of procrastination
Not every avoided task involves numbers.
Some of the hardest jobs involve people.
Perhaps an employee’s performance needs addressing.
A supplier needs challenging.
A customer needs to be told something they may not want to hear.
Or there is a decision that will affect somebody else.
These conversations are rarely enjoyable.
That makes postponing them tempting.
But delay can make the situation worse.
The issue continues.
Expectations remain unclear.
Frustration builds.
And the conversation you eventually need to have can become considerably harder.
Once you know that a conversation is necessary, repeatedly avoiding it is rarely a solution.
Is the task the problem — or is the system the problem?
If you repeatedly procrastinate over the same type of work, there may be a bigger issue.
For example, if the bookkeeping is always behind, perhaps the business needs a better bookkeeping process rather than another reminder.
If you constantly delay financial reviews, perhaps you need clearer and more accessible management information.
If employee issues are regularly avoided, responsibilities within the business may not be clear enough.
If every difficult decision lands back on the owner, the company may be too dependent on one person.
Sometimes the answer is not simply to become more disciplined.
Sometimes the way the business operates needs to change.
Do not confuse urgent work with important work
Urgent work is very good at demanding attention.
A customer calls.
An employee asks a question.
An email arrives.
Something needs dealing with immediately.
Important work can be much quieter.
Planning.
Forecasting.
Reviewing performance.
Improving processes.
Having a difficult conversation.
Looking ahead.
Because there is no immediate crisis, these jobs are easier to postpone.
But today’s important work can prevent tomorrow’s urgent problem.
That is why good business management needs space for both.
Put it in the diary
If something repeatedly gets moved, stop treating it as a vague intention.
Give it a time.
Instead of:
“Review cash flow.”
Use:
“Review the next 13 weeks of cash receipts and payments at 9am on Wednesday.”
Instead of:
“Deal with the paperwork.”
Use:
“Spend 30 minutes clearing outstanding paperwork on Friday morning.”
Specific actions are much easier to begin than vague objectives.
What if you have already left something too long?
Do not waste another week worrying about when you should have dealt with it.
Start with the current position.
Ask:
What needs to happen now?
What is the immediate risk?
Who needs to be involved?
What is the first action I can take?
Then take that first step.
If the issue involves your accounts, tax position, cash flow or financial information and you are unsure where to begin, speak to your accountant.
You do not need to have everything perfectly organised before asking for help.
Build a business that deals with problems earlier
Every business will have difficult jobs.
The objective is not to eliminate them.
It is to create a business that identifies and deals with problems before they become unnecessarily large.
That requires good systems, reliable financial information, clear responsibilities and a willingness to deal with uncomfortable issues.
So look at the jobs currently sitting on your list.
Which one have you moved the most?
Which task are you hoping will quietly disappear?
Which decision are you avoiding?
Start there.
Because the job you least want to deal with today could be the one that causes the biggest problem if it is still sitting there next month.
Need help getting on top of your business finances?
If accounts, financial admin or understanding your numbers are among the jobs you keep postponing, Merranti can help you establish where things stand and what needs to happen next.
Watch more from Merranti
For more straightforward videos covering business, accounting, tax and financial management, watch more from the Merranti team on TikTok.
Written by Jason Fudge
Managing Director, Merranti
Jason works with business owners on commercial strategy, financial challenges and business development, helping clients identify problems and find practical ways to move their businesses forward.
