Focus, Procrastination and frustration

by birdman87

Posted: 12 years ago 16 replies

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Hi guys

I'm having one of those realllly reallllly bad nights tonight. I need to vent my frustration in a place where there are people who might understand.

Why does it sometimes seem to take me 6 hours to do half an hours work?

Sometimes i can spend two hours doing work and feel like i've done enough and had a really productive day. Other times, like tonight, I felt like I hadn't got enough done. My girlfriend went to sleep and I went to the computer to do a half hours more work. It gets to two in the morning and I have done nothing!!!

ARGHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I feel like I'm fighting myself sometimes. The thing is, what I'm doing right now shouldn't even feel like work, but it does. I dunno if it's self sabotage or what but my mind sometimes just rebels against whatever I want it to do. If I say "time to relax now Dave, spend the next two hours relaxing and unwinding" I suddenly feel inspired to do work and can't relax because I want stimulating things.

When it's the other way round, sometimes I seem to find everything else to do besides what I actually should be doing. I'm at a point in my life now where I've got a better opportunity and more time to get this stuff done than I ever have done before. I know I WILL be kicking myself so hard in the future.

Honestly, i love IM, but sometimes just the endless battles with myself make my body a horrible place to live. I end up going to sleep feeling angry. I never feel like I've done enough work lol. If I was in "the zone" for five hours a day monday to friday that would be more than enough.

Sometimes I realise that if I just stopped thinking about what I needed to do and just did it things would be fine. People always tell me I'm bad with managing my time and having a routine but having a routine just feels like a battle with my very nature.

Any tips of how to be self-disciplined without feeling the urge to pull your hair out all day? Perhaps I'm ADHD or something.

Any feedback about how you guys manage it would be massively appreciated.

Thanks a lot!!!!

Dave

#focus #frustration #procrastination

medxpower 12 years ago

I have gone through the same situation it is difficult but possible make your schedule for the day and try to achieve at least 60-70% this will make you habits to finished your task on time. If you forget ask your best friends, family member to give you gentile remind for the same.
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- Report Card 12 years ago
  
  I'm not sure where you're at with time management, but two things did wonders for me...
  
  One...WRITE IT DOWN. I know this sounds silly, and I used to be the BIGGEST advocate of this thought, but it's very real.
  
  It seems that the most successful people always write it down. You can't escape it or blow it off, once it's on paper.
  
  And two...tell someone who will make you accountable for your list.
  
  If it's written down, and someone else not only knows about it, but will hold you accountable...it really worked wonders for me.
  
  I would write the list and put it on the fridge. Then if I didn't complete my list...I was "in trouble"
  
  Nick
  
  Thanks
  
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Hardcoremarketing 12 years ago

Sometimes, you just gotta walk away for an hour and let your thoughts clear. Some of my best work comes after these breaks. Fighting the frustration only seems to make more frustration.
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icegin 12 years ago

Writing down a "To Do List" would probably be a good idea. Another suggestion is to set out a schedule e.g. at x:xx am/pm work hard for 40 min, take a break for 20 min

Maybe try giving yourself a deadline. If you have a particularly big project or just one that is pretty time-consuming, divide the work load and set mini deadlines for each.

"Divide and conquer" can be a very effective approach, and can help you focus
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Daystar11 12 years ago

I feel your pain, I know just what you mean! This happens to me, too. I'm wondering if maybe you need to organize your projects, whittle the list down- have a back burner list and put most of the stuff on it; then have a much smaller list of current projects; then pick ONE project from the current list to do and focus on. Just focus on one at a time.
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Simon Ashari 12 years ago

As has been mentioned above, you need to write things down.

Write down everything you need to do (to get it out of your mind and off your chest).

Then pick 3 things to do today... do them.

Writing everything down will clear your mind (you aren't worried that you haven't gotten around to doing something).

That doesn't mean you are going to do everything on your 'to do' list all at once (and overwhelm yourself).

One tactic I have is to find all the things that can be done quickly and easily and cross them off. I then feel good seeing that I had say 10 things to do and 6 have been crossed off immediately.

Purchase a $10 A4 diary. Best investment you'll have made for your productivity.

Regards

-Simon
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automedix1 12 years ago

I have the same problem. I own an automotive repair business. I work 8-10 hours per day on that. It is difficult to re-focus my drive to IM after that. If you want to get where you have never been and desire to be, then you must do what you have never done. I am 39(almost 40).I have an upside down mortgage, and $100000 in debt. I am working towards paying it all down and starting with a clean slate.

If I can do this anyone can.......if you persist!
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GT 12 years ago

Originally Posted by birdman87

Hi guys

Why does it sometimes seem to take me 6 hours to do half an hours work?

Dave

Hi, Dave: If I read you right, one of the problems you are experiencing is simply being creatively productive. The ideas are not flowing. You have to drag every coherent thought out from the hidden recesses of your mind. What you DO produce just doesn't feel "right".

I have that problem sometimes, too. I operate best on creative inspiration, and there is no way to "make it happen" or force it to happen. You can schedule and time-manage all you want, but if creative inspiration isn't there when you are, forget it. You could be looking at hours of unfulfilling effort.

When you ARE in the creative zone, you can produce amazing results in record time and it - feels - right!

When you are not in the creative zone, there's no use trying to force it. Instead, either walk away and do something entirely different for a while, or find something to do that is still productive and beneficial for your business, but doesn't take creative effort to do.

Sometimes, when you do something else, suddenly, you've got inspiration for the thing you had been working on and you can go back to it and produce amazing results in record time!

Hang in there.

GT
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ericbryant 12 years ago

Two things. As mentioned above, write down everything. Then you can forget about it for the moment and come back to it later. Try this free tool, Evernote. Another thing to try when you're stepping away to take a break or to refresh your mind is to do something physical, like pump out a few sets on your weight bench. changing your physiology is a much more quick and powerful way to change your feelings and thinking.
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- birdman87 12 years ago
  
  thanks gfuys i really appreciate this.
  
  can't do a full reply as i've only just got home and i made a commitment to myself last night to never use the computer after quarter past ten in the evening lol!
  
  some really good food for thought from anyone and i will be taking it all on board. appreciate the help and knowing other people get this as well. feeling a lot better today.
  
  cheers guys x
  
  Thanks
  
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KarimPPC 12 years ago

I get that too, a lot.

Use the pomodoro technique to essentially put the proverbial "gun to your head" to get the work. Noawdays when I start the pomodor, I just work flat out.

The only times when I hesitate is right before starting my days work. It feels like a drain, there are 101 other things I'd "prefer" to do like play video games, login to networks to check earnings etc.

Starting the work seems dreadful. But the great thing is once you start the work you really enjoy it.

It's odd, I'm a bit of a forum junkie, and I can write posts like this all day long. But I don't know why I can't write blog posts or do other necessary daily tasks.
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Master Blake 8 years ago

If You're Scared...

Don't leave church.

If you get the wheels spinning, there will be no room for that dreaded word:

Procrastination.

Which means you are a pro at crying.

Do whatever rubs your Buddha, enjoy the heck out of it
and leverage by all means possible. Higher and higher
'till you reach the top. Just don't stop. Now that will
give you a 'natural high' to the point that's under your
skin. You will pop out vibes that are magnetic.
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Surge Calls 8 years ago

Having an organized list of things to do the next morning is a must because it keeps you accountable. The feeling your having now is good because you have a raw sense of energy to work, it just has to be organized and pointed towards specific tasks.

A personal tip I like is to write down the things that you are working for. Sure extrinsic things like money is great but have some other intrinsic motivational factors as well. It can be things like you want to make a better life for your family, knowing that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to, becoming a better person, bringing value into someone else's life. Print this list out. These are all great things and every time you feel like you want to take a break take a good hard look at that list and it will give you that extra push.

Good Luck.
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- elconiner 8 years ago
  
  Great post. I'm in the same boat, trying to get an opportunity off the ground and feels like I get no real results out of 4 to 5 hours on the laptop. Getting distracted or frustrated only to push the real work to the next day, but then there's a full time job, gym, family time, or just plain old being tired and not in the mood. But I come to find out that opportunity only comes so often so if you find yourself with one do all you can to take advantage of it. At the end of the day it really feels good to check things off your to do list and is a great way to get results. Stay on the grind.
  
  Thanks
  
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Believe In You 8 years ago

Thanks Master, I found myself in perpetual trance. I don't know if that's you but anyways I love your musings.
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LouisMcknight 8 years ago

I use the rule of five. I have five things that I do every day for my business of course there is far more then that most of the time but these five things are key points I have to do. Not everything in that list is online. I could very well have just done everything online but I did not because some times it helps just to be out there doing offline marketing to. I do offline stuff because first of all I make money with it. The second point is when you are just sitting at a computer trying to work it becomes more about getting to work then doing the work. My point is you have to find some sort of balance that is going to work for you or your just going to feel like your wasting your time.
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