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Procrastination

  • Thread starter Scottish Business Owner
  • Start date
Scottish Business Owner

Scottish Business Owner

New Member
OK, i'm probably one of the worlds biggest procrastinators and I hate myself for it but how do you overcome something like this.

Example's include sometimes having issues with getting up really early but knowing it would be better for me if i did.

Wanting to do things but finding other things to do to avoid it and also not doing things that I actually know need to be done :blink:

This is maybe a bit of a rant and maybe some of you think I need a doctor but how do you all keep focussed? Maybe I'm just too busy ???
 
Power Lunch Club

Power Lunch Club

New Member
OK, i'm probably one of the worlds biggest procrastinators and I hate myself for it but how do you overcome something like this.

Example's include sometimes having issues with getting up really early but knowing it would be better for me if i did.

Wanting to do things but finding other things to do to avoid it and also not doing things that I actually know need to be done :blink:

This is maybe a bit of a rant and maybe some of you think I need a doctor but how do you all keep focussed? Maybe I'm just too busy ???

I thought you were describing me then!!! The main thing is to see in your mind what and where you want to be and keep those thoughts at the front of your mind.

It is about what's inside your head. Bu66ering up my arm knocked my thought paterns and I have slipped back into bad habits....things like not eating properly or getting my son nursery an hour later than I should.

Gordon
 
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Scottish Business Owner

Scottish Business Owner

New Member
Can I get back to you on this tomorrow?

Very Good Jim :thumbup:

I guess everyone suffers from it time to time but it kind of goes back to a few chats i've had about keeping disciplined and being accountable. When you run your own business who are you actually accountable to?

I actually think having some form of accountability would actually push me forward. How do others keep their discipline and motivation?
 
Tim Barlow

Tim Barlow

New Member
I am terrible at this too but some thoughts:
  • a bad decision is usually better than no decision
  • switch off e-mail until lunch time
  • write down two must do tasks for tomorrow before leaving the office. Do nothing else until they are done.
 
Gordon N

Gordon N

New Member
write down two must do tasks for tomorrow before leaving the office. Do nothing else until they are done.

I would struggle with that one, I need at least two mugs of coffee before I start anything in the morning! :lol:
 
D

Dizzydiza

New Member
To be focused I have to switch the computer off unless it is something like updating the website. Then I have to resist the internet and forums to stay focused on that. Right now I am in the middle of re doing the layout of my website and its what I should be working on now but that little naughty Firefox button beckoned me...so here I am. I have quite a few orders to complete but the fact that the weddings are not until august or september is putting me off working on them :001_rolleyes:
 
polr

polr

New Member
To focus I write lists of everything and I mean EVERYTHING. I write down all I have to do that day so I can have the pleasure of scoring items off. Between me and this forum, I smetimes cheat and add to my list the task I am in the middle of so I know it will be scored off soon! I realise this makes me sound like a maniac but it keeps me in order and that's what counts! ;-)
 
johnthesearcher

johnthesearcher

New Member
Hi .........I don't think you need to call the 'doctor' just yet! Put it off till tomorrow.

I think everyone suffers from procrastination as even the most organised amongst us suffer from the usual family and business juggling which often change the time priorities for our plans for the day but that said...... persevere was the advice I was given many years ago.

I agree with Lynne above about making 'to do' lists for the priority items.

One other thing I learned was that we should handle every piece of correspondence only once.......either do it! delegate it! or ditch it!

To delegate stuff - I keep a day 1 - 31 set of hanging files and if I can't deal with it I file into a couple of days before I will NEED to attend to it and every morning when I get started my first task is to check that particular days hanging file to see what I need to do first.......(after coffee that is)

I have added some sound advice from one of the leading experts in Time Management

Four Rules of Time By: Brian Tracy

There are four rules of time.

The first is that time is perishable. This means that it cannot be saved. In fact, time can only be spent. Because time is perishable, the only thing you can do with it is to spend it differently, to reallocate your time away from activities of low value and toward activities of higher value. But once it is gone, it is gone forever.

Time Is Indispensable

The second rule of time is that time is indispensable. All work requires time. No matter what it is you want to do in life, even looking out a window or sleeping in for a few extra minutes, it requires a certain amount of time. And according to the 10/90 Rule, the 10% of time that you take to plan your activities carefully in advance will save you 90% of the effort involved in achieving your goals later. The very act of thinking through and planning your work in advance will dramatically reduce the amount of time that it takes you to do the actual job.

The Currency of the Future

The third rule of time is that time is irreplaceable. Nothing else will do, especially in relationships. Time is the only currency that means anything in your relationships with the members of your family, your friends, colleagues, customers and coworkers. Truly effective people give a lot of thought to creating blocks of time that they can then spend, without interruption, with the important people in their lives.

The Key to Goal-Achievement

The fourth rule is that time is essential for accomplishment. Every goal you want to achieve, everything you want to accomplish, requires time. In fact, one of the smartest things you ever do, when you set a goal, is to sit down and allocate the exact amount of time that you are going to have to invest to achieve that goal. The failure to do this almost always leaves the goal unaccomplished.

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:

First, decide today to redirect and reallocate your time away from low-value tasks and toward high-value activities.

Second, make a plan to spend more time face-to-face with the most important people in your life. The more you think about the use of your time, the better you will become.

Apologies for the length of the reply but I hope it helps?

John
 
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Gordon N

Gordon N

New Member
Some very good advice there, thanks John (and Brian Tracy!).
 
M

Mark Lister

New Member
One really big driver of procrastination is that feeling of being overwhelmed. There's so much to do, where do I start? What's the point anyway since there's an apparently infinite To Do List in front of me? It's very disempowering.

We think of dealing with procrastination as being about stopping putting things off. Paradoxically, it's more about knowing what to put off and till when.

• As things come in, schedule when they're to be done. It's all too easy to feel you have to react to everything as it comes in, but few things are that urgent.

• Most "things to do" are actually MULTIPLE things to do - eg "Do Tax Return" is actually "complete bookkeeping for year, get tax form, find paperwork, check for other things I need to include, chase up more bits of paper, fill in form, stick completed form in post". Break it down into individual tasks, rather than trying to do everything at once. Then you don't don't have that "trying to get an elephant through the door sideways" feeling.

• Have a "To Don't" list. Each day, have a list of three things you're definitely NOT going to do today. You're free of them for 24 hours.

• Keep an overall picture of everything that's going on - that makes it a lot easier to say "That, that and that are all pretty urgent, but I'm going to do that first, and the others actually CAN wait for a few hours." Keeping an eye on a point in the future when it'll all be done helps keep perspective.

• Accountability is very powerful. Here’s some stats from the American Society for Training and Development that show the likelihood of a person completing a goal in what you might call differing levels of commitment:

Hear an idea - 10%
Consciously decide to adopt an idea - 25%
Decide when they will do it - 40%
Plan how they will do it - 50%
Commit to someone else that they’ll do it - 65%
And when they have a specific accountability appointment with the person they have committed to – 95% actually complete the goal

So having someone to hold you accountable is clearly very helpful.

Lastly, another book recommendation - Getting Things Done, by David Allen.
 
Gordon N

Gordon N

New Member
I suppose that comes down to self discipline really, good tip!
 
Needhelp

Needhelp

Active Member
I have found a new technique:-

Do something for a customer then something for yourself, then a customer, etc
Give yourself 2 specific things to do each day

In the past I have often left work until the last minute thinking I work best under pressure, even though I know this is not true lol Why do we do this to ourselves lol
 
poliq

poliq

All is well
Meditation.

A couple of years ago, I was a guest on Tim Phycyl's podcast. He's the world's top procrastination researcher.

He described the most common form of procrastination as short term mood repair. Essentially, you have a small amount of anxiety and in order to reduce the anxiety you go into an avoidance pattern.

When he says small, he means really small. The problem is that we normally aren't very aware of our anxieties. They sit right below our conscious thoughts. If we try, we can identify them. But for most of the day they're popping up and driving our decisions without our being aware at all.
 
KilaMila

KilaMila

New Member
Sometimes I can't concentrate just because I can often get distracted by something.
For example to drink water, go to the toilet. check my phone, eat something or something like that.
I get embarrassed about this very often(
 
Bayartry

Bayartry

New Member
Recently, I read on the Internet, in an article by a fairly popular self-development and motivation coach, that a frequent or long search for information on how to deal with procrastination is exactly the same procrastination. There is no other cure for this than to start and take at least a step towards the fulfillment of what you need / intended.
 
Okdar

Okdar

New Member
I suppose that comes down to self discipline really, good tip
 
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