13 tips for financial advisors to overcome procrastination

Faced with a thousand and one things to do, it is not unusual for many advisors to put off for tomorrow what they can do today. But as many successful people know, procrastination left unchecked can lower productivity, limit career growth, and create missed opportunities to achieve higher levels of professional success. Three professionals recently shared some practical steps that advisors can take to tackle their procrastination problems head on and do what they have to do right now.

Why people procrastinate

According to Bob Arzt, president of Polaris One and Insurance Coach U, people who procrastinate subconsciously look for distractions like checking their email messages, doing paperwork, or spending time on nonproductive activities. Most of the literature about procrastination states that fear of failure is on the top of the list of the most likely causes of procrastination, explained Arzt, who coaches financial services and business professionals who want to achieve more in their business and personal lives.
Arzt said that other reasons for procrastination include:

• The task seems hard or difficult to do.
• It will take too long to complete.
• They do not know how to do the task.
• They believe it must be done perfectly.

Overcoming procrastination

So, how can advisors overcome procrastination? Arzt shared the following suggestions, which, he said, have worked for some of the advisors he has coached over the years:

1. Have realistic expectations of yourself and the task at hand.

2. Don't under- or overestimate how much time a task will take. When in doubt, allow more time, not less.

3. Start by blocking out a specific amount of time that you will work on the task or project.

4. Don’t worry about “finishing it” right now—just focus on “starting it.”

5. Break the task down into a series of smaller tasks or steps.

6. Track your progress. “Each step you mark off as completed will give you a sense of satisfaction and the encouragement to continue,” Arzt said.

7. Reward yourself for putting in the incremental time to work on the task. “Even just a pat on the back is enough,” he said.

8. Delegate tasks wherever possible. Only do those tasks that only you can do and delegate the rest.

9. Ask a trusted friend or associate to help keep you on track by checking your progress. “Being accountable to someone else goes a long way in helping to get things done,” he said.

The more tasks that are put off, the less of a chance there is to complete them, Arzt added. “Realize that procrastination is caused by some pain or unpleasantness that is associated with the task at hand. Turn that pain into pleasure by rewarding yourself for beginning the task,” he said.

Take charge of your energy

Eric Croak, accredited wealth-management advisor, and the president of Croak Capital, said that as a financial planner, he has observed that having difficult conversations is one of the main reasons financial professionals procrastinate. “The thing is, no one wants to tell their clients that they might not be able to reach their financial goals or that they might get divorced later in life,” he explained. “Some people put off these talks because they are afraid of how their client will react or because they think the problem will go away on its own. But we all know that putting off a talk makes it harder to do it.”

Croak then shared this tip that he has used to help him combat procrastination:

10. Take charge of your energy, not your time. When you're managing your time, he said, it's important to remember that you should also be managing your energy. “It doesn't matter how focused you are as a financial advisor—some days you'll get a lot done, and some days, you won't. In the same way, there are times during the day when you are the most productive, and times when you are the least productive. Whenever I've worked hard for a while, I like to take a break and recharge by either sleeping, going for a walk, or talking to other people.”

Croak has also made the dull financial aspects of the job more fun, the hard tasks easier, and has given it his own structure, meaning, and benefits.

Finally, Croak suggested that advisors stop thinking too much and stop making excuses. “Just do what needs to be done,” he said. “This can be hard, especially if you tend to put things off, but you can get better at it with practice. Talking yourself out of doing something is not helpful. Stop thinking and do something.”

The importance of prioritizing

There are several methods that financial advisors can use to eliminate procrastination, added Scott Lieberman, founder of Touchdown Money. Among his top tips:

11. Schedule your day. At the beginning of each workday, schedule the tasks that need to be accomplished that day and the time you need to devote to each task, and monitor it throughout the day.
12. Prioritize tasks. At the beginning of each day or week, note the tasks that need to be done and the timeline for when they need to be finished, Lieberman said. “Prioritize them according to their deadlines. Allow time in your schedule for interruptions, such as phone calls or unexpected visits from clients.”
13. Eliminate all distractions. Focus on the tasks and your time schedule each day, he said. Schedule breaks when you can regroup, process what you have done, and focus on what tasks still need to be done that day.

Ayo Mseka has more than 30 years of experience reporting on the financial services industry. She formerly served as editor-in-chief of NAIFA’s Advisor Today magazine. Contact her at amseka@INNfeedback.com. 

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