Post by dirtypillows on Jul 23, 2018 2:19:28 GMT
I have several tools how to manage this, wondering if anyone has something helpful too?
Mine is:
1. "everything horrible only takes like 10 minutes" i often realize that the worst part of having to do something is the first part of it. and that i often over estimate the time needed for things. so i try to remind myself that its not going to take so long and i can certainly do ten minutes of whatever boring thing i dont wanna do. this helps a lot.
2. i reward my self by procrastinating before, during and after, but limit it to only a few tasks. like :i will check the imdb board and then go do the thing: and I will limit myself and not do more than i tell myself.
3. i go by the "dont be a c-nt rule. when i am really failing all my rules and about to miss my goals or about to do something stupid i tell myself "dont be a c-nt"" (to yourself and sabotage yourself) and I will actually say it out loud. A few times. Somehow the level of the crassness of it and saying it out loud helps.
What do you do to manage procrastination? any helpful tips?
PS - I created this thread to postpone having to work….
Your first two methods of dealing with it I can relate to, especially the second one. If I have gone ahead and started to do some dreaded task, I soften the horrific sense of urgency that inevitably goes with it by giving myself mini-rewards and mini-breaks, like you said, before, during and after. Doing this manages to disarm how intimidating said task may be.
Another thing I do is I prioritize those dreaded tasks. I rate them and rank them, and say there are seven things that really need to get done in the next five days. Rather than attempting to take on the number one, most intimidating and dreaded task of responsibility, I will scroll down and take on something lesser, say the third or fifth most daunting task. Which, of course, makes me breathe a sigh of relief because, compared to number one, number four is practically a piece of cake, and I can get something important done without being bound up by nerves, and usually I can get that task done faster and better, simply by virtue of the fact that I wasn't nervous about doing it. In fact, I even play this mind game with myself and allow myself to think that I am getting away with procrastinating (because I'm NOT doing that scary thing at the top of my list of "scary things to do") when, in fact, I am actually being productive by doing something that is two or three places further down on my list, but still needs to get done.
This also has the happy effect of gathering momentum and boosting my morale, because once I see that I have completed dreaded tasks #3, #4, #6 and #7, then, all of a sudden, dreaded task #2 doesn't look so bad. I have gotten myself to step up to the plate and do some things that needed to be done and I've done a good job and all this gives me confidence (because accomplishing something, anything ALWAYS results in a boost in self-confidence) and nasty number two, I am now almost eager to do!
Also, while all this is going on and I am successfully playing a trick on myself, I can, in my mind, go over and mentally rehearse how I am going to approach the things that feel the most urgent and intimidating. Like Shirley Partridge once told Danny "A person can never do a good job, if they're scared." How true, Shirley!
And, along with these little mental rehearsals, sometimes I am able to break up a particularly unpleasant or daunting responsibility into smaller, more manageable parts. For instance, I am currently looking for a better job. And I think it is safe to say that many, if not most, people would say that job-hunting is just a thoroughly unpleasant and painstaking process. So, I break it down. And for example...
1. Fill out job application in one block of time. Stop. Go about with the rest of your day.
2. End of the day. Look over resume. Make adjustments, if necessary. Submit resume. (or hold onto it if you're going to submit a cover letter (which is a whole other thing ) in tandem) Stop.
3. Next day, work on cover letter. (Cover letters are the worst of the worst!) Write rough draft. Put that away for now and stop. Start thinking about references. Write down two or three or four names of possible references. Even one name is okay, because one name is better than zero. I remind myself of this ALL the time. Woody Allen said "showing up is 90%" and coming up with one name is a good example of doing something, which is better than doing nothing, i.e., "showing up"
4. Next day. Go with the easier thing, which, for me, would be getting in touch with the people, asking them if they would be a reference for me. Then, when I have done this part, which is one, important component of the bigger deal, I might go back and look at my cover letter rough draft, then go back and it give it a polish, then I can submit the cover letter.
If I make myself aware of the fact that whatever it is that I am putting off can be managed so much more easily and so much more effectively if I break it up into smaller tasks, then suddenly procrastination becomes less attractive. And all of this does have this kind of magical domino effect. Productivity generates self-confidence and self-confidence generates productivity.
Also, I remind myself all the time that the more I procrastinate, the bigger the dread becomes, until I am almost paralyzed with this irrational fear. I am hoping that I have gotten better about not letting it get to this point, but when in doubt, I can always start with doing the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink.
Excellent topic! I am going to have to read what other people have suggested.
