Overcoming Procrastination

By Rhonda Brown

Mark Twain said "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow." Why, oh why, do I relate so well to that quote!? It seems like designing and delivering training is a never-ending challenge (one that I love!), but sometimes the projects and deadlines become almost too overwhelming. I have convinced myself that some days, the only solution is to change gears and work on something less important—like reviewing evaluation forms, answering emails, sharpening pencils, or feeding the fish. Is that procrastination, or not? The other day while I was surfing the 'Net, “procrastinating” writing this blog entry, I discovered at least one person who validates my methods! Check out his Web site at www.structuredprocrastination.com.

In my world, and I’m sure in yours, every day brings a big new training project, and I always feel like I’m playing catch up, running behind, and not working to my fullest potential. In fact, I’m ashamed to admit that I stayed up until 2 a.m. one morning last month, making sure that my presentation for the next day was extra dynamic—I’m an admitted perfectionist and a hopeless procrastinator! In the past, I have tried to tell myself that I’m a night person, that I work best under pressure, and that my projects are always successful, but the honest truth is, I’m not utilizing my brain to its fullest potential.

The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Training

By Rhonda Brown

Imagine this: you have been planning this big training event for your organization’s leadership team for weeks now. You are psyched! You’ve done your homework--everything is running smoothly, and you’re confident that it should go off without a hitch. The morning of the event, you arrive early to set up your equipment. But something’s wrong! You can’t get the laptop to synch with the projector. Time is ticking away, the participants are arriving and the pressure is building. Do you:

a)    Explode – yelling an angry tirade at everyone in your path, running around like crazy, blaming the equipment, until someone finally helps you figure it out...

b)   Internally berate and blame yourself – tell yourself that these things NEVER work out right for you! Call yourself every name in the book! If only you’d been more prepared! Even though the problem gets resolved, you never recover your composure and the workshop is a failure...

c)    Hang your head in shame and frustration--you’re positive that everyone is looking at you and laughing at your incompetence...

d)   Realize that you’re feeling out of control and about to go off the deep end (which is not productive), count to 10, take a deep breath--reassess the set up and find your mistake. The workshop is wildly successful!