This expression applies to an obvious problem or risk no one wants to discuss. It is based on the idea that an elephant being in a room would be impossible to overlook, hence the greatest stealer of time - procrastination.

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A study from a YouGov survey of 2,000 adults revealed that we spend on average 55 days procrastinating each year. Employees spend 43 minutes daily doing non-work-related activities like making tea or surfing the web.

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​With more staff working from home, you may struggle to motivate yourself. We all have elements of a job that we do not like or feel overwhelming, and  we sometimes will do anything not to do that task.

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When this recently happened to me I:

- Re-designed training to make more workshops appropriate for Zoom.

- Wrote this article and considered other marketing ideas.

- Cleaned the kitchen floor!

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Anything other than the job sitting beside me - the elephant in my room.

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Some tips on dealing with procrastination:

- Realistically prioritise what needs to be done – make a list.

- Baby steps - if it is a big task, break it down into manageable chunks.

- Create a productive environment - maybe turn off your phone or email
notifications and try to remove distractions.

- Ascertain when you are most productive - when energy levels are high,
you complete tasks quicker and more efficiently.

- Treat yourself - allocate time to do things you enjoy, for example; when I’ve
done this, I will have a cup of coffee’.

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And finally think about why you are procrastinating - Don’t over think it, but
recognising behaviours enables us to do something about it.