Procrastination is a common issue that I encounter when working with solopreneurs and people running small businesses.  Procrastination can be defined as “putting off a pending task because of laziness, lack of interest” or different prioritization about what should be done.  Without a precise and well defined mechanism of accountability we choose tasks we like and keep delaying the ones we like less, and this can become a dangerous habit.  The effects of procrastination on many of my clients to date was initially to affect their performance at work then, increasingly, it was producing stress and other related diseases that eventually affected the physical health of some of them.

When clients are complaining to me about how procrastination is affecting their performance and ultimately their well being I am some times attempted to tell them to just get on with the pending tasks they are procrastinating.  That would be logical and easy but then, as a coach, I must (and I do) use a questioning methodology that is helping the clients’ thinking process and it helps them to see a way forward and commit toward the necessary actions.

Here are some of the questions that I use in these situations:

• Is the completion of this pending task affecting other activities?
• How often do you think about this pending task?
• Is the completion of this pending task affecting other people?
• How would you feel if you could tick this pending task off your list?
• Do you feel guilty when you think about this pending task?
• Is something stopping you from completing this pending task?
• How much time per day/week do you spend thinking about this pending task?
• Would you behave differently if you promised to complete this pending task to a colleague, client or supplier?
• How can I help your thinking toward the best outcome for you?

The questions above are not in random order: there is no logical priority in using one before the other and I never needed to use more than 2 or 3 of them to move the client toward a commitment of completion by the following session.  I would usually choose the questions following the content of the conversation that led to the procrastination topic.

Next time you are procrastinating try reading the above questions and see whether they can help you complete your pending task(s) by tackling procrastination head on.

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Massimo Gaetani during the workshop

The workshop “Coaching Skills for Business and Life” (CSBL), organised by MaGa Coaching,  was held on the 2 December at the David Lloyd Leisure Centre and once more it exceeded the original expectations of both organisers and delegates.

CSBL was developed, targeting owners of SME and professionals, to cover three main areas:

• essential coaching tools and techniques to address typical hurdles that can affect your smooth day to day business and can seriously hinder your performance at work.
• hints about maintaining focus and motivation high, both in yourself and the people you are managing
• basic understanding of how stress, frustration and anxiety develop and a hints about avoiding them

A total of 7 entrepreneurs from business as diverse as software development, electrical services and low power computer manufacturing attended CSBL.  They all had the opportunity, throughout the workshop, to share their key topics and address different aspects of their work. They all managed to learn some valuable methodologies to assess and improve the way they run their businesses.

The workshop was delivered by Massimo Gaetani, Business and Executive Coach and Managing Director for MaGa coaching. Massimo was once more very impressed by the motivation and determination that was driving the group: the level of participation to the workshop and the exchange of ideas was stunning throughout the whole duration of the workshop. He commented:

“we delivered dense and fast paced content, offering broad variety of concepts that for most people were totally new: given their responses and feedback all delegates received key information that will have a strong impact on the way they run their respective companies. Given the success of this workshop we are now planning others in 2010.  Once more we had the proof that these workshops are excellent tools to connect and engage in highly targeted conversations with our audience, while helping them to boost the way they run their businesses”.

Maga Coaching offers qualified expert coaching services in Cambridge, nationally and internationally: whether you are a solopreneur, a professional or manager in a SME you will benefit of the top quality expertise and bespoke service offered by MaGa Coaching.

Please have a look at the video with some of the testimonials:

Posted under Events, News, Testimonials, Video

The Make More Money While Working Less (MMMWWL) workshop was held on the 11 November at the David Lloyd Leisure Centre and once more it exceeded the original expectations of both organisers and delegates.

MMMWWL was developed, targeting owners of SME and professionals, to cover two main areas:

• essential business management tools to better understand and quantify how one’s company is doing, offering several alternatives about how to improve profitability and reduce working hours at the same time;
• essential coaching tools and techniques to address typical hurdles that can affect the smooth day to day business and can seriously hinder one’s performance at work.

A total of 7 entrepreneurs from business as diverse as graphic design, car finance and building attended the workshop. The various delegates had the opportunity, throughout the workshop, to share their key topics and address different aspects of their work.  They all managed to learn some valuable methodologies to assess and improve the way they run their businesses.

The workshop was delivered by Massimo Gaetani, Business and Executive Coach and Managing Director for MaGa coaching. Massimo was once more very impressed by the motivation and determination that was driving the group: the level of participation to the workshop and the exchange of ideas was very high for the whole duration of the workshop.  He commented:

“the content we delivered was dense and fast paced, offering broad variety of concepts: although each person arrived with a clear starting point for their own business they all received key information that will have a strong impact on the way they run their respective companies.  Given the success of this workshop we are now planning others in 2010 while we are still collecting participants for the next one planned for December.   Once more we had a proof that these workshops are an excellent tool to connect and engage in highly targeted conversations with our audience, while helping them to boost the way they run their businesses”.

Maga Coaching offers qualified expert coaching services in Cambridge, nationally and internationally: whether you are a solopreneur, a professional or manager in a SME you will benefit of the top quality expertise and bespoke service offered by MaGa Coaching.

Please have a look at the video with some of the testimonials:

Posted under Events, News, Testimonials, Video

Testimonial left re: the workshop Make More Money While Working Less, October 2009:

Recently I attended MaGa Coaching’s workshop ‘Make More Money While Working Less’ and it was time well spent. Massimo clearly has a lot of knowledge on how to run a business and came up with very useful ideas and suggestions, presented in a fun and explanatory manner. Highly recommended for those who have just set up on their own and for those who have been going for a while.

Anthonine Art-Zetteler – Estate Planning Consultant

If interested in participating to our next workshops please have a look at our Events page.

Posted under Testimonials

Please join us at the David Lloyd Leisure Centre on the 11 Nov 2009 and 2 Dec 2009 between 9:30 and 1:00pm for these exclusive workshops.  Each workshop will have a maximum of 12 participants so please book your place a.s.a.p. to avoid disappointment:

• Make More Money While Working Less to address specific issues about how to better run a business and increase your profitability
• Coaching Skills for Business and Life to learn how to better deal with various issues like motivation, procrastination, focus and direction.

MaGa workshops offer to all delegates the possibility of gaining hands-on experience on a broad range of topics.  The formula used by all of our workshops is to coach people toward the various topics explained rather being trained or lectured.

Please check our events page for more details book your place here.

Posted under Events, News