11–20 of 158 posts
I read the whole thing, but knew from the get go that these tricks wouldn't work on me. Mostly because I know the source of my procrastination and it boils down to two things: 1. I've gotten away with a lot of stupid shit in the past. 2. Because of that I think too highly of my skills. I have no incentive to start preparing tasks or being organised because I've come to enjoy the thrill of doing everything in the last…
That said, the GTD stuff has helped me a lot - I’m not great yet on doing the most important things, but I’m at least doing more.
I started my first workday today and I prepped for tricking my procrastination skills. I can't post on how it worked out yet (I might do 2 months from now), but here is what I did to trick myself: - When in the shower, do one yoga stretch to get acquainted with yoga. I do this one [1], but then really really badly. I keep asking myself the question: what do I find fun about this? And relentlessly focus on that. It to…
A wise choice. Over years of trying different productivity hacks, I've learned that most of them have a lifetime of about 3 weeks for me (which is about how long it takes for the novelty to wear off), after which I regress to the mean. However, the rare trick that survives longer becomes a slight but permanent improvement.
Anyway, I wish you the best of luck with your new system!
Faster way is to just use Modafinil (barely addictive) or Adderall (very addictive).
However, for some things, I have systems to cope.
I make -very- simple unbreakable rules.
I got fat, decided I needed to fix it, so now I set an alarm at 6am every second day and go to the gym.
No excuses, no fighting, the only thing I -have- to do is run for 10 minutes and then I can go home, if I do that, then I'm fine. I allocated an hour for training. What I find is that after I've started, I can continue without a problem. It's just the getting started.
I have other rules, if there's 4 forks in the sink, I stop everything and wash the dishes. No postponement.
If the milk is 1 day to expire, I stop everything and go shopping, I take the trash with me. (part of the rule)
If there are six or more t-shirts in the laundry I will remove my bed-sheets do a laundry load.
If the day is Sunday and I am about to eat I water my plants.
When I want to go to bed, I have to write down the first thing I will do the next day.
Incredibly simple rules that stop me in my tracks is the only way I can kick my own arse into doing something, otherwise I'll just let things go.
The simple rules thing only works because I convince myself that I cannot break the chain that I have set in motion. "all those other times I did it, I can't break it now, how pathetic is that". (alternatively when I start one: "I only lasted a week, wow, that's terrible, I have to be better than that")
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caveat emptor: this does not work for my day job, because my job involves focus, and you might notice that most of my rules are about doing something mundane.
I'm a master procrastinator. Mostly because I have so many things I could do that I have this background feeling that I'm neglecting everything else if I focus on one thing. And I get distracted easily and I hate trying to come back in the middle of something. However, for some things, I have systems to cope. I make -very- simple unbreakable rules. I got fat, decided I needed to fix it, so now I set an alarm at 6am e…
For things that require focus, I do pomodoros. Knowing I have a break of X minutes coming up in Y minutes lets me focus on the task. It also provides a mini-deadline so I'm more likely to get the task done. Just before the break, I spend a minute or two deciding which micro-task I'm going to tackle during the next pomodoro, and do what I need to close up the current micro-task and prep for the next one so I can hit the ground running. This helps motivate me to start the next pomodoro at the end of those X minutes as well as make the best use of that time.
I'm a master procrastinator. Mostly because I have so many things I could do that I have this background feeling that I'm neglecting everything else if I focus on one thing. And I get distracted easily and I hate trying to come back in the middle of something. However, for some things, I have systems to cope. I make -very- simple unbreakable rules. I got fat, decided I needed to fix it, so now I set an alarm at 6am e…
I'm a master procrastinator. Mostly because I have so many things I could do that I have this background feeling that I'm neglecting everything else if I focus on one thing. And I get distracted easily and I hate trying to come back in the middle of something. However, for some things, I have systems to cope. I make -very- simple unbreakable rules. I got fat, decided I needed to fix it, so now I set an alarm at 6am e…
I have a lot of similar rules for mundane tasks and it shows when I've slacked. In addition, I also take time to verbalize how much I appreciate having (say) a clean kitchen, both immediately after the task, and whenever I actually appreciate it (like, say, first thing in the morning when I'm moving slow and just want some coffee). For things that require focus, I do pomodoros. Knowing I have a break of X minutes com…
I get the feeling that if pomodoros worked, then by the same logic knowing that I have a meeting in 30 minutes would aid my focus, but instead it's the complete opposite, I consider that I can't fill a 30minute window meaningfully and thus do nothing.
Maybe there's something there though, I can't really say I've tried it so I probably should, given how frequently it's mentioned as a solution to these kinds of issues.
Faster way is to just use Modafinil (barely addictive) or Adderall (very addictive).
Seriously. After 15 years of struggling with various self help programs, an ADHD-PI diagnosis and medication fixed 90% of my problems. I feel like that movie Limitless was inspired by someone who really needed ADHD medication and finally got it.