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Post by Nora on Jul 22, 2018 15:48:55 GMT
so today I did my 10 pages out of 70 i need to write today, and since i did the first 10 pages fairly quickly i now feel like i have conquered the world and have been procrastinating ever since. instead of writing the second 10 pages and feeling even better i chose to browse the interwebs and waste time and feel worse later. i wonder which wires in my head are crossed wrong.
is a lobotomy a solution??
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runefish
Sophomore
@runefish
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Post by runefish on Jul 22, 2018 16:08:52 GMT
i am retired from everything, i have women and servants and staff - ok i delegate stuff.
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Post by Nora on Jul 23, 2018 0:05:22 GMT
i am retired from everything, i have women and servants and staff - ok i delegate stuff. you live in my dream world. how can i get there?
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Post by dirtypillows on Jul 23, 2018 2:19:28 GMT
I am a big procrastinator. I usually do everything ten minutes before the deadline, when I am completely rushed, and hate myself for having procrastinated too long, but then I do the same thing again next time. 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…. Oh, this is such a thought-provoking and, I believe, very important topic. I am a terrible procrastinator. But at least I have become more aware of it and have started to take it somewhat seriously. 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.
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Post by movieliker on Jul 23, 2018 2:38:30 GMT
I think procrastination is good. The longer you wait to do stuff, the more information you have to use to your advantage.
I believe haste makes waste. I purposely wait to the last minute - within reason - to do stuff.
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runefish
Sophomore
@runefish
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Post by runefish on Jul 23, 2018 4:41:44 GMT
i am retired from everything, i have women and servants and staff - ok i delegate stuff. you live in my dream world. how can i get there? one hell of a lot ofhard work, self motivation and getting stuff done on time and quickly first . or failing that win the lottery
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Post by Nora on Jul 23, 2018 13:07:57 GMT
I am a big procrastinator. I usually do everything ten minutes before the deadline, when I am completely rushed, and hate myself for having procrastinated too long, but then I do the same thing again next time. I have several tools how to manage this, wondering if anyone has something helpful too? Oh, this is such a thought-provoking and, I believe, very important topic. I am a terrible procrastinator. But at least I have become more aware of it and have started to take it somewhat seriously. 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. glad you enjoy the topic. btw, I LOVE writing cover letters. Thats so strange to hear someone would hate that. I mean I get it, I understand it exists, but for me thats the fun part. But then again, I love writing pls I always feel like there is many things I wanna tell the company about why they should hire me or why i want to work for them… Anyway, it seems you have a quite methodical approach to dealing with procrastination. thats good. And it also seems that its mostly about how difficult a certain task is for you/in your eyes. My procrastination deals with that also sometimes, but much more often its pure laziness. Like I am not dreading doing the task and I know I can do it well/easily (like lets say wash the dishes) but I am just too lazy to do it so i postpone it and postpone it hoping the family of raccoons that by now lives in my kitchen will eventually lick the dishes dry. any tips on how to deal with That kind of procrastination?
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Post by Nora on Jul 23, 2018 13:13:00 GMT
you live in my dream world. how can i get there? one hell of a lot ofhard work, self motivation and getting stuff done on time and quickly first . or failing that win the lottery
oh you mean being in an executive position at work? well… yeah you can delegate a lot of stuff but you still need to do things. like delegate stuff. and bear responsibility etc. i would much prefer to win the lottery
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Post by Nora on Jul 23, 2018 13:14:53 GMT
You and Nora crack me up Mr. Dirty, with your droll and even self-deprecating sense of humor.
I am the worlds biggest procrastinator and get easily distracted. Today it was mundane cleaning tasks I had to perform, and there wasn't any mega pressure to get them done right away, but due to my procrastination, I ended up running out of a bit of time. The thing is, I wasn't under the thumb today. I can get the whip cracking on myself when I have an absolute deadline, but even then I may not go about the duty or chore wholeheartedly and my mind grumbles a lot with shit I don't really care to do, but need to do and what is the sense of complaining, when thre is no way around it but to do it. It is wasted energy.
I just have to tell myself to just do the darn thing and be freakin' grateful for a) at least having the ability to be able to do the task, b) that what I am doing is no worse than what billions of others are having to do as well and I am not being asked to do something they wouldn't not do themselves and c) once completed, it can give of an air of satisfaction and achievement for the contribution and effort put in, especially when it's helping out others.
wow, thats a REALLY good perspective. I think that can help me a lot. Thank you for sharing that. I should be more grateful for being able to live the life I live….including being able to wash my own dishes and write the 70 pages I had to write yesterday….
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Post by twothousandonemark on Jul 23, 2018 14:20:07 GMT
I prefer to just do things almost too immediately so I don't have to think about having to do it later. Which in itself is a curse not a gift. If I think about something that needs done, I am unable to not do it in the moment.
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runefish
Sophomore
@runefish
Posts: 154
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Post by runefish on Jul 23, 2018 17:06:00 GMT
one hell of a lot ofhard work, self motivation and getting stuff done on time and quickly first . or failing that win the lottery
oh you mean being in an executive position at work? well… yeah you can delegate a lot of stuff but you still need to do things. like delegate stuff. and bear responsibility etc. i would much prefer to win the lottery ----------------
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Post by ghostintheshell on Jul 23, 2018 17:10:13 GMT
I don't and it sucks.
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Post by Nora on Jul 23, 2018 17:25:20 GMT
I prefer to just do things almost too immediately so I don't have to think about having to do it later. Which in itself is a curse not a gift. If I think about something that needs done, I am unable to not do it in the moment. Its GIFT! Totally! I am so envious of it too! Cherish it!
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Post by twothousandonemark on Jul 23, 2018 17:27:26 GMT
I prefer to just do things almost too immediately so I don't have to think about having to do it later. Which in itself is a curse not a gift. If I think about something that needs done, I am unable to not do it in the moment. Its GIFT! Totally! I am so envious of it too! Cherish it! It does seem to translate really well at work, at home ppl are shy to ask me to do favours cuz I will not sit around waiting to do them. Tasks that will eventually require completion, some ppl would rather laze & have to accomplish it later... when later I'm lounging with a beer already done.
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Post by hi224 on Jul 23, 2018 20:43:57 GMT
Slapping.
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Post by deembastille on Jul 23, 2018 20:57:19 GMT
Important things like work related 'new work'(busy work as if teachers don't have enough shit to deal with) out of the way. If it is. Crap that needs to be done but can wait at day or whatever, i will give myself an incentive for it.
If is something emergency it gets taken cared of ion record time.
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Post by Nora on Jul 24, 2018 1:04:15 GMT
Its GIFT! Totally! I am so envious of it too! Cherish it! It does seem to translate really well at work, at home ppl are shy to ask me to do favours cuz I will not sit around waiting to do them. Tasks that will eventually require completion, some ppl would rather laze & have to accomplish it later... when later I'm lounging with a beer already done. so tell me more. were you always like this? and what is the inner voice telling you if you do try to delay a task. Lets reverse engineer this. i want what you have.
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Post by twothousandonemark on Jul 24, 2018 1:36:38 GMT
It does seem to translate really well at work, at home ppl are shy to ask me to do favours cuz I will not sit around waiting to do them. Tasks that will eventually require completion, some ppl would rather laze & have to accomplish it later... when later I'm lounging with a beer already done. so tell me more. were you always like this? and what is the inner voice telling you if you do try to delay a task. Lets reverse engineer this. i want what you have. I grew sick of having things weigh on my mind, even small tasks I know I could do in a heartbeat. Why fester on something when like I said, I could have it in the rearview & freed.
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Post by dirtypillows on Jul 24, 2018 3:09:12 GMT
Oh, this is such a thought-provoking and, I believe, very important topic. I am a terrible procrastinator. But at least I have become more aware of it and have started to take it somewhat seriously. 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. glad you enjoy the topic. btw, I LOVE writing cover letters. Thats so strange to hear someone would hate that. I mean I get it, I understand it exists, but for me thats the fun part. But then again, I love writing pls I always feel like there is many things I wanna tell the company about why they should hire me or why i want to work for them… Anyway, it seems you have a quite methodical approach to dealing with procrastination. thats good. And it also seems that its mostly about how difficult a certain task is for you/in your eyes. My procrastination deals with that also sometimes, but much more often its pure laziness. Like I am not dreading doing the task and I know I can do it well/easily (like lets say wash the dishes) but I am just too lazy to do it so i postpone it and postpone it hoping the family of raccoons that by now lives in my kitchen will eventually lick the dishes dry. any tips on how to deal with That kind of procrastination? Oh, no no no!!! I hate, no detest, no loathe, writing cover letters, and honestly I have never heard of anybody that did like writing the cover letter. So, good for you that you actually enjoy it. To me, it's like tooting your own horn and all the while acting like you're doing nothing of the kind. And the fact that all parties involved know intuitively that there is something inherently phony and false and disingenuous about the cover letter makes for an extremely uncomfortable and awkward premise for all parties involved, or rather I should say, for me... The cover letter I would LOVE to write would look something like this. "Dear Hiring Manager: I can perform the job duties as listed just fine. I am a pleasant person and I'm sure I would get along well with most of my co-workers. I promise never to be late unless it's an emergency, and then I would always call ahead of time. Please hire me because I need to work so I can earn money and pay the bills and the job description sounds okay. I really think I would like the job pretty well. Thank you." Now, that, to me, would be honest and forthright and genuine and sincere. (And if I were the one doing the hiring, THIS might just be the cover letter that would make me want to hire the person on the spot. It certainly would make a good impression on me.) I just can't think of any job where I could write the cover letter that would not be transparent and obvious. It's like you have to brag about yourself without sounding like you're bragging. Uggghhh..... Just for the sake of having some perverse fun, sometime I think I might just want to enumerate - literally - all my life accomplishments, beginning at the age of twelve and have that be my cover letter. I just have zero wherewithal in this area, and thank God I know this about myself. For me, the cover letter is nothing less than a minefield of desperation. I could never presume to write or say during the interview "You should hire me because I am absolutely the most qualified person for the job." Huh? What? Because unless there's a job out there where the primary qualification is knowledge of Oscar winners, pre-1985, or reciting dialogue verbatim from every episode of "Charlie's Angels", I know without a doubt that I am nowhere near the most qualified person for the job. The whole time I feel like "Oh, why are you asking me to pretend about all this?" And it would be such a relief to be able to say these things. Obviously your take on the cover letter is much different than mine, and I am genuinely happy for you that you enjoy it, but for me, I think of the cover letter as sanctioned lying. Like the question during the interview "Why should I hire you?" And I'm thinking to myself, "look, if you want to hire me, then hire me. That would be great and I'm sure I would do a satisfactory job. Just please don't ask me to try and compel you to hire me." I'd rather just go ahead and arm wrestle with the person and get it over with. The job interview - and by extension the cover letter - invokes a hostile environment from the very beginning. In every cover letter I write, it feels like every other word I put down a grenade might go off. It fills me with dread. It's a lucky thing that there are very, very few things in life that bother me as much. Whew, I feel so much better about life now that I said all that!
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Post by Nora on Jul 24, 2018 19:01:43 GMT
dirtypillows i think thats a really good cover letter and you should use it.
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