Procrastination - Tips, please, on how to get stuck in.

Brighton_belle

I like the ants and elephants analogy - really good.


I default to procrastination at the drop of a hat. The methods I use are lists - highlighting the urgent/important and using the 15 minute alarm method. I also use my diary to make the lists and write in deadlines. At work I use the online livemail calendar to keep on top of the ant and elephant jobs.


Paperwork is an every growing mountain for many people - I keep a very simple filing system and try and tackle/chuck things as soon as they come in and then file straight away.
I have 3 shallow plastic lidded boxes, one labelled household bills & insurances, one 'car' and the other income (covers work stuff/tax/pension etc) and things just get dropped in there: each time a new utility/council tax bill /insurance cert comes in, I remove the previous one.


Open your post by your recycling box and chuck everything you can straight away: be realistic over what you won't ever do.
Doing these sorts of things straight away helps prevent a procrastination issue building up. Though sometimes procrastination does weed out the unimportant though!

Primrose

I always try to get the worst, most hated jobs done first thing in the morning immediately after breakfast. That stops the remainder of the day being spoiled fretting about them and once they are done, the rest of the day can ride on the s,ought crest of a wave, knowing the worst is over. There is only one job I really procrastinate over and that is getting my annual tax return completed and filed, mainly because however hard I try to keep the paperwork up to date , there is always one item missing at the last moment which screws everything up!

Tropez

Pyxis wrote: »

Exercise first. Yes, good idea, providing I don't get a bit 'tired' and then use that as an excuse to defer starting, again! But the high tempo music thing is a good alternative. Perhaps I should put on one of what I call my über-super-hyper-feelgood playlists first thing, to provide a metaphorical firework up the metaphorical nether region!

I keep the exercise light because it's usually a morning thing, after breakfast. I'm one of those who would quite happily snooze most of the day if given half the chance so the exercise generally wakes me up as opposed to making me feel tired.

The playlists thing is a good idea. I tend to listen to different songs depending on what it is I need to do. I find different songs are better for focusing the mind.

double_mummy

okay i have my playlist

everything else that needed to be done is done

i have drinks and snacks and everything else i could possibly need to get up for

i have some select quotes ready (with the referencing pre-done ready to copy and paste)

i have cleared the desk off

unplugged the TV so i would have to get up to turn it on

hubby is leaving for work in 5 minutes

just finishing sharpening my spear - lets kill an elephant!!!

minerva_windsong

Similar to the 'You can do anything for 15 minutes', I use something called the Pomodoro Technique: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique Essentially it involves you focusing on a task for 20-25 minutes, then taking a five minute break. I found it worked well for me because, at the risk of sounding like a dog, the prospect of a 'reward' motivates me.

I also think a lot of it is about retraining your brain - I recently read about breaking the habit of procrastination by saying, 'I'll write a sentence for work' every time you're tempted to go on Facebook, for instance. Often that sentence then becomes another 5 or 10, and before you know if you're working away. I've only been doing it for a few days but so far it seems to be working.

skintchick

Similar to the ants and elephants thing, I make lists and prioritise tasks, and then do the ones that really need doing (urgent and important) then work down the list. THe priorities I use are:

Both urgent and important
Urgent but not important
Important but not urgent
Neither urgent nor important.

I also have a small diary which i use aas a to do book - I write things in spread out over teh week, including phone calls to be made etc., and then it's easier to manage and I don;t feel so overwhelmed.

HAving said that, some taks just roll on from week to week! I have about seven assignments to do but they are not finally due till June so they are not so pressing. They will take days to do all at once but I have lots of other things higher up the importance list so they have to wait, and I don;t stress cos I know they can wait.

Brighton_belle

I'd be genuinely grateful if someone could give an example of "urgent but not important". Because surely if it is urgent, it must be important? I ask because I have come across this system before but I always struggle to put everything under the right heading.

Yorkie1

The other thing at work which can get overwhelming is the email inbox.

I am naturally a bit obsessive about having lots of folders relating to each project, file etc. But I also have 2 other folders called 'Next steps' and 'Waiting for someone else'.

When an email comes in, if I can deal with it immediately then I do so, and file it appropriately. If it's part of a longer email chain, and contains the rest of the email chain / attachments, then I also delete the previous emails so as to reduce the size of my overall mailbox and the number of emails in any one folder.

If the new email needs a bit of thought, or if I'm working my way through 2 weeks-worth of emails after leave, then I'll move those requiring thought or action to the 'Next steps' folder.

Once I've actioned an email with a reply, I'll either file it in the relevant folder or in the 'Waiting for someone else' folder.

TBH, I tend to forget to look back in the Waiting folder. But I use the Next steps one to remind me of task prioritisation. The risk is that that folder just gets bigger and bigger, so the older ones just drop off...

Yorkie1

Brighton_belle wrote: »

I'd be genuinely grateful if someone could give an example of "urgent but not important". Because surely if it is urgent, it must be important? I ask because I have come across this system before but I always struggle to put everything under the right heading.

Usually when someone else asks you to do something which really doesn't matter whether it gets done at that moment - but they're too impatient to wait!

skintchick

Brighton_belle wrote: »

I'd be genuinely grateful if someone could give an example of "urgent but not important". Because surely if it is urgent, it must be important? I ask because I have come across this system before but I always struggle to put everything under the right heading.

I have loads of this kind of task. Write cheque for DD's ballet, for example. Not urgent because the teacher is relaxed about when she gets paid each term, but urgent because I need to get it done so we can balance money.

Or weedkill the weeds on the drive. Only urgent because otherwise the weeds will get a really good hold and grow massive, but not really important.

Or perhaps one of my assignments when we get near the due in date. Not really important cos if I lose marks it's not the end of the world (non-academic course I'm doing for personal reasons) but urgent because of the timeframe.

So it's things that are urgent because they are time-sensitive, but not important because the world will not stop revolving if they are not done.