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

double_mummy

UPDATE

ELEPHANT IS DEAD!!!!!!

I actually got it done just under 2 hours 3551 words later and I think I'm all done

will proof read tomorrow night when I am fresh to the material, quotes look good and have used a reasonable amount (a new one for me this prepping them first seems to be working)

have found a negative though - the upbeat music has made me really really awake ........................................ time for a treat wheres the wine smilie when I need it?!?!?!?!?

thanks for starting the thread and getting me going Pyxis

mavvymoo

I am the same and will always put everything off if I possibly can.

I went though a stage when I was late for everything and just couldn't bring myself to start anything.

I had a bit of a melt down as the thing with me I knew I would be late for everything but felt helpless to do anything about it.

Someone suggested I had hypnotherapy had 6 sessions and the difference was amazing. That was about 18 months ago and I now find I am slipping backwards again.
I can always find time to do what I want to do but always find I cant find or even fit in what I don't want to do.

My housework is now getting on top of me so I am getting a company in next week to spring clean my house and s*d the expense.Same with the garden and that is the only way I can deal with it.For me I think it is a mental health issue which I just have to cope with the best way I can.

Hope this make sense and I am not suggesting anyone else has issues I think all cases are different.
But I am amazed that so many people struggle like I do.
I do a weekly challenge on here called 'Get it done weekly challenge' I find this helps even though a lot of weeks I do none of my list and others I do all of it.But it helps to see it in black and white I suppose.

So good luck to all starting those Elephants or ants

Mav x

FatVonD

I use what I like to think of as the 'biscuit' approach where I nibble at the workload from the sides.

I do this at work, if I have something to design with loads of elements that seems really daunting I'll start by saying to myself, 'okay, I'll just get it on the page and style up the text', 'alright, I'll chop it up into sections and just roughly put them on the page', 'I'll call in the pics, just to have a look at them, mind' and before I know it the page is done.

Pyxis

(Think bubble): "Mmm. Biscuit sounds so much nicer than chunking.
Biscuit. Mmmm. Nibbling. Mmmm.
Think I'll just have a cup of tea, and maybe while I'm at it, I'll have an early lunch now, so then I'll have the whole afternoon to get stuck in."




(I'm not being facetious, this is how my mind works!)

Seriously, though, the 'nibble' approach is less daunting even than 'chunking', which still sounds like BIG bits.

Thank you.

FatVonD

I find I get much more done when my internet connection is down too :rotfl:

Pyxis

:T
Yeah, well, I wasn't going to say that finding MSE last month has been the biggest obstacle yet, bigger even than all those recorded programmes stacking up on my TVR's hard disc!:T


(And I only wanted a bit of financial advice!)

FatVonD

Indeedy, though I have just sprayed the weeds in the front garden (nibbling at the edges), I won't be digging them up any time soon but at least they will be dead by the time I get around to it

Yorkie1

marisco wrote: »

I'm of the mind set that procrastinating can sometimes be a good thing. Putting something off for a bit, gives you chance to mull things over. Better than rushing in, in an attempt to just get something done and out the way, only to not be completely satisfied with the end result. Yes the dread of getting started, and how you will go about completing something, can feel tedious and annoying. However there is nothing wrong with a few false starts to a task. Each time you attempt it and then give up, could mean that the approach you were going to take isn't quite right for you.

I tend to find that eventually I am ready to do something, and it ends up not being anywhere near as hard or taxing as I imagined it to be. Breaking an activity down into manageable chunks helps. Or setting a time limit on how long you will spend on it, can leave you feeling like you have accomplished something in a good time period. As an example I try to unload the dishwasher and reload it while my kids are watching a cartoon.

I agree that mulling something over can be important in a project; I've often spent a long time looking as though I'm doing nothing, whereas in fact I'm mentally planning stuff out or seeing which alternative options seem best to start with. On a course about advanced writing, we were taught to spend 50% of the time planning something before putting pen to paper. That % will differ according to the project, but it's a point worth remembering.

Of course, I still need to knuckle down to the 'thinking' part, rather than looking through old emails pointlessly instead

double_mummy wrote: »

UPDATE

ELEPHANT IS DEAD!!!!!!

I actually got it done just under 2 hours 3551 words later and I think I'm all done

Blimey, well done! Less than 12 hours after you first posted that you couldn't get round to starting it! :T

double_mummy

Yorkie1 wrote: »

Blimey, well done! Less than 12 hours after you first posted that you couldn't get round to starting it! :T

Thanks! and trust me it wasnt 12 hours lol that was only from posting but had been weeks for me lol

the post just was one of those that came up at the perfect time for me

so glad its done im going to proof read tonight after kids are in bed but instead of worrying about the assignment i have been in the garden with the kids in this gorgeous weather

Pyxis

That's great! It's amazing, isn't it, what can act as the spur to getting going!

Wish I could say the same! I put on my feelgood playlist, but it made me feel SO good that I wasn't at all worried about leaving the paperwork! 'Nah! I'll do it later...... want to do my moves to this great music right now!'

I did manage to clear out my porch, which had got into a state over the winter, but as far as the paperwork was concerned, I only shuffled a couple of bits of it about!

Is there any hope, do you think?:undecided:undecided