I've overcome procrastination by doing the following: 1) Never make a long TODO list. Having a long list makes choosing something on it overwhelming because you're simultaneously not choosing the other things. Often the path of least resistance is to choose nothing from the list. So keep short lists. After all anything that's really important will get done whether it's on a list or not. 2) When sitting down at your computer do a tiny bit of work first. Do this before surfing the net, checking email, etc. Often times this tiny bit of initial work will make doing more work easy. 3) Simply don't surf the net on 50% of days. Getting things done really comes down to choosing your project over, say, learning things by reading HN.
Ask Entrepreneurs: Productivity tips for a chronic procrastinator?
51–60 of 64 posts
Re: Ask Entrepreneurs: Productivity tips for a chronic procrastinator?
#52My advice isn't for procrastination in general (e.g. putting off paying bills or mowing the lawn), but for that special kind of procrastination that stops you from getting a business or important project going.
Read "The War of Art" by Steven Pressman and internalize its message. You can finish it in a day. In a nutshell, the book describes procrastination and some other vices as embodiments of Resistance, an evil spirit that plagues anyone who tries to do anything worthwhile.
The strategy Pressman outlines for fighting Resistance dovetails nicely with the techniques described in the other book I'd recommend, which is "The Creative Habit" by Twyla Tharp. With respect to procrastination, Tharp talks about recognizing (1) that creative work is still work and (2) the importance of developing solid daily routines and rituals so that you stop treating your work as something you do only when you're "inspired." She more or less adds details to the Pressman's description of the "hard hat mentality" necessary to get anything done.
The hard hat mentality is that you don't procrastinate on your job or wait until you "want" to do it, you just put the hard hat on every day and do the work so that you can get paid (whatever "paid" means for you). You're doing it not because you're inspired or motivated; you're doing it because it's your job. Period.
http://www.amazon.com/War-Art-Through-Creative-Battles/dp/04...
http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Habit-Learn-Use-Life/dp/07432...
Re: Ask Entrepreneurs: Productivity tips for a chronic procrastinator?
#53I've come to believe that online distractions are legitimately addictive in the same way that gambling is addictive. I.e. a behavior that becomes all-encompassing to the point where it negatively affects the rest of your life.
I say this because I used to think I was a major procrastinator and looked for all manner of tips and tricks to solve the problem. But I was trying to solve the wrong problem. if I turn off the internet entirely, I have no problem at all doing what I want to do during the day.
However, if the internet is on, i can get into states where I not only don't do any of the work I need to do, I don't leave the house, I don't hang out with friends, I forget to eat, etc.
I realized my online behavior was a bigger issue when I started screwing up dates because I was doing something on the internet. Blowing off a boring work task to watch youtube videos is one thing, but when I started missing out on getting laid because I was refreshing HN and getting sucked into a Wikipedia vortex, it realized I had a real problem.
So, maybe you're not really procrastinating, maybe you're addicted to the internet. Maybe not, but it is something to consider.
Re: Ask Entrepreneurs: Productivity tips for a chronic procrastinator?
#54Well, I have had a similar problem. I haven't beaten it but here are some things I have found helps:
1) Exercise: spending time going running or cycling helps relax and really makes you feel like you have more energy for other things.
2) Being Organised: When you are organised you know what has to be done by when and what you can start working on right now. I find this lowers the amount of energy required to get started. A TODO list plus calender are probably enough but more high powered systems like GTD also might be worth considering.
3) Embrace your fears, create safety: In my experience this is the root cause of procrastination. In my case it is the fear of failure, so we try to avoid the experience temporarily be engaging in other activities that don't remind us of our fear. This is covered in "The Now Habit", in which is called "creating safety". You might also might consider looking at something called "Acceptance and Commitment Therapy" which provides strategies for accepting which is aimed at overcoming "experiential avoidance". There is a good self help workbook "Get out of your mind and into your life".
4) Internet blocker: I was unhappy with with Leechblock as its approach was a bit authoritarian. I wrote a firefox extention that made me type in "this browsing is for the purpose of completing my degree" or "i have worked hard and deserve a break", which unlocks the internet for 20 minutes. I can still browse the internet as much as I want but this helps remind me that some sorts of browsing can wait. It helps but I still don't win constantly (right now for instance).
5) Time off, sharpen the saw, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. You could combine this with 1) and take up a sport, running, cycling, yoga, tai chi, etc. "The Now Habit" recommends scheduling free time to look forward to after your work is done.
Re: Ask Entrepreneurs: Productivity tips for a chronic procrastinator?
#55Read "The Path of Least Resistance." It's not about procrastination, but I assure you, it will change your life, in a small but critical way.
The other books scratch the surface, vainly trying to solve the problem at the level of the behavior. They're like slapping bandaids on a stab wound.
But the Path attacks it at the next lower level, just like that quote from Einstein: "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it."
Re: Ask Entrepreneurs: Productivity tips for a chronic procrastinator?
#56In early high school, I was a chronic procrastinator. I became really freaking good at it too.
Then I got to college and had to start doing work. Not because college is hard (it's actually easier than my high school), but because I'm much busier now.
To help balance things, I did a number of things. For one, I started putting everything into The Hit List. This works great and it helps me stay sane. Everything gets out of my head, which is important. The second was that I began practicing a process known as gatekeeping. Basically, you have to start making conscious decisions about what you allow into your work flow. (Shameless plug here: I wrote about gatekeeping on an introductory level here: http://loganleger.com/effective-gatekeeper/) This really helped me get down to business and focus.
Re: Ask Entrepreneurs: Productivity tips for a chronic procrastinator?
#57Instead of aiming to do 1 thing and failing to do it, aim to do 20 things and accept that 5 of them will slip. Do that and basically shift to whatever you feel like doing at the time (with the only caveat that it should be relatively productive stuff - ie. not "play WoW", more like "write a blog post" or "design a new homepage"). You probably will still get stuff done just before the deadline when it has a hard deadl…
Funny, that's exactly the opposite of what I would suggest: Work on only the most important thing and nothing else. It's helped me maintain focus no matter how crazy things get. pg says it much better here: http://www.paulgraham.com/procrastination.html "What's the best thing you could be working on, and why aren't you?" Just goes to show you: Ask 2 hackers a question and get 3 answers. You'll just have to figure out…
I think the way to "solve" the problem of procrastination is to let delight pull you instead of making a to-do list push you. Work on an ambitious project you really enjoy, and sail as close to the wind as you can, and you'll leave the right things undone.
Does making a to-do list for my problem/project count as procrastination?
I'm actually working on a simple to-do/task list manager right now as a final project for this PHP class I'm taking, but upon reading pg's article I almost feel as if I'm contributing to the problem of procrastination rather than solving it...
pg sorts tasks according to value, (a) nothing, (b) something less important, or (c) something more important, rather than your typical formulation, according to state (1)do, (2)doing, (3)done...aren't the two formulations of task interdependent [with maybe the exception of nothing]?
Re: Ask Entrepreneurs: Productivity tips for a chronic procrastinator?
#58Just starting makes the task 50% done. That gave me motivation to start.
Re: Ask Entrepreneurs: Productivity tips for a chronic procrastinator?
#59This worked pretty well for me:
http://www.43folders.com/2005/09/08/kick-procrastinations-as...
Re: Ask Entrepreneurs: Productivity tips for a chronic procrastinator?
#60I've overcome procrastination by doing the following: 1) Never make a long TODO list. Having a long list makes choosing something on it overwhelming because you're simultaneously not choosing the other things. Often the path of least resistance is to choose nothing from the list. So keep short lists. After all anything that's really important will get done whether it's on a list or not. 2) When sitting down at your c…
I have started making TODO lists which deal with what I have to do the next day instead of writing long lists for the entire week or month. I review my list before I go to sleep and write down the tasks for the next day.
I find this helps a lot.