Shout out to all the pros! How do you avoid procrastination?

jsaves

10 years ago

I pray for blessings and that works each and everytime!

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MValmont

10 years ago

I have built discipline over the years.

I never came easy to me. I struggled a lot to stay focused....

To me it all start with the morning. If I start my day the right way, I will be productive all day. So having a good morning routine is key for me.

You need to build good habits because willpower is limited and will run out of it quickly.

I recommend you to read this book:

http://www.lifefreedomuniversity.com...g-book-review/

Thanks
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Junaid khawaja

10 years ago

Originally Posted by MValmont

I have built discipline over the years.

I never came easy to me. I struggled a lot to stay focused....

To me it all start with the morning. If I start my day the right way, I will be productive all day. So having a good morning routine is key for me.

You need to build good habits because willpower is limited and will run out of it quickly.

I recommend you to read this book:

THE POWER OF HABIT - CHARLES DUHIGG BOOK REVIEW - Life Freedom University

Hi Valmont, that's a great tip. Early mornings are the most productive time of the day. Whenever I am overloaded with work, instead of going for an all nighter, I prefer to wake up early in the morning and do the most difficult tasks first. It has always worked well for me. Nice tip. May be I should start being an early bird, every day. Cheers!
Junaid

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Reimaru

10 years ago

Haha! Ok, I laughed. the video was good especially with the Procrastination monkey and the character who appears midway through it.

Anyway, like what most people said here, having a habit of what to do makes it easier. When writing articles in the morning is as automatic as brushing your teeth, it works. You just need to build that habit though, and the only way to do it is if you start and continue.

For everything else, there are ways to be more productive, like planning priorities, chunking down your tasks into easy steps, and DOING THEM. Taking breaks and resting is essential too.

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Junaid khawaja

10 years ago

Originally Posted by Reimaru

Haha! Ok, I laughed. the video was good especially with the Procrastination monkey and the character who appears midway through it.

Anyway, like what most people said here, having a habit of what to do makes it easier. When writing articles in the morning is as automatic as brushing your teeth, it works. You just need to build that habit though, and the only way to do it is if you start and continue.

For everything else, there are ways to be more productive, like planning priorities, chunking down your tasks into easy steps, and DOING THEM. Taking breaks and resting is essential too.

Hi Reimaru, these are all great tips. The only way to punch procrastination in the face is to break your habit gradually. As you pointed "The only way to do is start and continue.' Thanks for your suggestions! Cheers!
Junaid

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gingerninjas

10 years ago

Write down your to do list based on what MUST be done, what CAN be done and what NEEDS to be done soon, and most importantly if you know you're not going to meet a deadline be honest and contact your clients to discuss your progress and when client's should expect your work. Apps such as Insightly help me so much, as they are on my smartphone and on my laptop and constantly send reminders to me to keep me in check and organised.

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Junaid khawaja

10 years ago

Originally Posted by gingerninjas

Write down your to do list based on what MUST be done, what CAN be done and what NEEDS to be done soon, and most importantly if you know you're not going to meet a deadline be honest and contact your clients to discuss your progress and when client's should expect your work. Apps such as Insightly help me so much, as they are on my smartphone and on my laptop and constantly send reminders to me to keep me in check and organised.

Hi Ginger, I have heard about many such apps, but haven't tried any of them yet. Maybe I should now. However, I do craft time tables. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. The thing that I am failing to address is 'distractions'. Especially, when you are staring at a blank page, with a boring blinking cursor, even an irrelevant fb notification drives me crazy

I would love to know how you say "No" to distractions like social media, emails or friends even?! Thanks for your great tips!
Junaid

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wordsandthebees

10 years ago

Oh my goodness, I’m the worst procrastinator! The amount of time I’ve spent avoiding things that are only small jobs once I get going is ridiculous!!

I have really had to discipline myself since I started working from home earlier in the year otherwise I could put off tasks for days. Yes, set deadlines do help, however, I’d rather rely on myself than a client to get myself in order so I’ve had to put things into place myself.

To-do lists and timetables are great (sound a bit basic, but if you’re a true procrastinator you’ll see the value in this!) I’ve also had to treat my working from home day just like a day in the office with set start and break times. Now, while this might seem a bit like I’m taking away the benefit of working from home, it’s working for me for the time being.

I also start working on tasks with the later deadlines first, which encourages me to work faster knowing I still have upcoming deadlines to meet for future tasks – it might sound a bit backwards but it definitely helps me to get things done.

I’ve done a bit of research on this myself and there’s also a few apps that you can download. I’ve never used any of these myself as I’m a bit too wary of the consequences of not being able to procrastinate if I NEED to (!) but you might find these useful, and I’d love to know if you do?

Freedom – this cuts off your internet access during specific times and blocks access to email and other social media sites.

Write or Die – This gives you a set number of words to achieve per hour and starts messing with your typing if you don’t work fast enough!

There’s plenty of help out there and fellow procrastinators should unite! I’m really enjoying this thread and would love to hear some more suggestions of how you beat the procrastination.

Thanks
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Junaid khawaja

10 years ago

Originally Posted by wordsandthebees

Oh my goodness, I'm the worst procrastinator! The amount of time I've spent avoiding things that are only small jobs once I get going is ridiculous!!

I have really had to discipline myself since I started working from home earlier in the year otherwise I could put off tasks for days. Yes, set deadlines do help, however, I'd rather rely on myself than a client to get myself in order so I've had to put things into place myself.

To-do lists and timetables are great (sound a bit basic, but if you're a true procrastinator you'll see the value in this!) I've also had to treat my working from home day just like a day in the office with set start and break times. Now, while this might seem a bit like I'm taking away the benefit of working from home, it's working for me for the time being.

I also start working on tasks with the later deadlines first, which encourages me to work faster knowing I still have upcoming deadlines to meet for future tasks - it might sound a bit backwards but it definitely helps me to get things done.

I've done a bit of research on this myself and there's also a few apps that you can download. I've never used any of these myself as I'm a bit too wary of the consequences of not being able to procrastinate if I NEED to (!) but you might find these useful, and I'd love to know if you do?

Freedom - this cuts off your internet access during specific times and blocks access to email and other social media sites.

Write or Die - This gives you a set number of words to achieve per hour and starts messing with your typing if you don't work fast enough!

There's plenty of help out there and fellow procrastinators should unite! I'm really enjoying this thread and would love to hear some more suggestions of how you beat the procrastination.

Hi, nice to hear from you. Wow! I like the idea of Write or die. I should probably try this and see how it goes for me. Just want to add something here. Lately, I was reading an email from Danial D Piazza (he is a well-known blogger).

He narrated his story saying that he tried every God damn app available on market to beat down his procrastination -all in vain. Nothing was working for him. So, he decided to try something new. He hired a mentor, especially assigned to watch out for how is doing with his time. The mentor used to ask him, every now and then, about his progress towards his daily goals. Not only that, the mentor also went ahead and start throwing him a motivational email every day. This email was packed with valuable information on how to manage time and why time is so important for successful people.

Daniel says the approach of hiring a personal trainer who gave him a "personalized" push on how to beat procrastination was something that worked for him!

I liked Daniel approach. But maybe his procrastination was a lot severe than me (or us). I think we should try working around with these apps first, and then, if things don't work, we can think about hiring a virtual trainer! Thanks for your detailed input. Cheers!
Junaid

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wordsandthebees

10 years ago

Originally Posted by Junaid khawaja

Hi, nice to hear from you. Wow! I like the idea of Write or die. I should probably try this and see how it goes for me. Just want to add something here. Lately, I was reading an email from Danial D Piazza (he is a well-known blogger).

He narrated his story saying that he tried every God damn app available on market to beat down his procrastination -all in vain. Nothing was working for him. So, he decided to try something new. He hired a mentor, especially assigned to watch out for how is doing with his time. The mentor used to ask him, every now and then, about his progress towards his daily goals. Not only that, the mentor also went ahead and start throwing him a motivational email every day. This email was packed with valuable information on how to manage time and why time is so important for successful people.

Daniel says the approach of hiring a personal trainer who gave him a "personalized" push on how to beat procrastination was something that worked for him!

I liked Daniel approach. But maybe his procrastination was a lot severe than me (or us). I think we should try working around with these apps first, and then, if things don't work, we can think about hiring a virtual trainer! Thanks for your detailed input. Cheers!
Junaid

I do agree with Daniel in theory, and perhaps, like you say, his procrastination is a little worse than mine - mine extends to hanging out in forums when I should be writing articles (case in point!). I think the idea of getting a mentor/coach/someone to wrap you over the knuckles with a stick isn't really beating your procrastination habits though. Being held accountable by someone is a totally different scenario than being able to motivate yourself to do work that you know needs to be completed. Rightly or wrongly, I just see hiring a mentor as not really dealing with the cause of the problem. What happens when they're not around? There will be times when those motivational emails won't come and then you'll be left wondering, what do I do now?

Like anything, much as there are tools available to help, a lot of procrastination is to do with mindset.

When I was studying, my procrastination led to many late night cramming sessions which ended up leading to burnout. Once I decided to make my health a priority, which I knew meant getting a full night's sleep every night, I was much more motivated to start my studies earlier in the day.

But do let me know how you go with Write or Die (just the name of it scares me a bit!) I'm a writer full time now so something like that might be quite useful to have on my computer!!

Thanks

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MikeChrest

10 years ago

I try to work on the project a little bit everyday during the morning.
I made a habit to start my online marketing work at 5AM. Most of the time 'just starting the work' beats the procrastination.

There are some moments during the year however, when I find myself avoiding the work, oversleeping or watching so much tv like a procrastination pro! I see this as a sign that my mind NEEDS A BREAK FROM WORK.

I throw away the guilt and worry about procrastinating and tell myself I am having a vacation I deserve! =)

There is just so much sleeping or binge tv watching you can do that soon you are just so eager to get back to work, and won't have any problems about procrastination.