Maybe it's because the new year traditionally brings new goals for people and organisations to reach for, but I've noticed several articles on the internet recently on procrastination. They've made me reflect upon my own personal tools for getting things done. Not all of them work for me all of the time, but some of them do and that's good enough for me:
- Focus on the small things. I've found that focussing on the ultimate goal debilitates and makes me too intimidated to actually tackle it. So once I've strategised a project and worked out the smaller steps I need to take to complete it, I disassociate myself from the longterm goal and hone in on the smaller ones.
- Don't sweat it. Perfectionism always prevents me from starting something, so I try and remember that most things can be fixed after completion.
- Get organised. Before I leave the office, I try and set my desk up with all the things I need to get the next day's tasks done. This includes a project's to-do list, but also books and documents I will need to consult, and lists of people I will need to contact (including email addresses and phone numbers). I'll also try and remember to shortcut the files I will be working on to my computer's desktop so they're the first things I see when I log on.
- Don't be a completist. By this I mean, there's no need for me to finish something by the end of the day if I don't have to. I find it easier to begin my day with an on-going task than start a new one fresh. This also allows my subsonscious a chance to work on it while I'm doing something completely different in the evening.
- Get rid of distractions. That means keeping my Glamour and .Net magazines in the bottom drawer, along with articles I've printed out that will help me on another step of the project but not this one. It also means, wherever possible, keeping my personal and work emails separate so that the first thing I do in the morning is not to plan my social life but to get stuck in to work. I'll also switch off my Outlook for an hour or two.
- Pre-schedule fun time. I work faster and better knowing I've got something to look forward to that night. Thanks Pavlov!
- Pre-schedule slack time. If I know I can go for a walk, browse the internet or do some shopping during lunch or mid-afternoon break, then I'm less likely to do it during work time.
- 30 minute rule. If I can't get started on something, I coax myself into working on it for just 30 minutes. More often than not, I don't even realise the 30 minutes have passed. If I do, then no matter - at least I got 30 minutes of work on the task done.
Here's a funny movie to distract you:
Tales of mere existence: Procrastination (Quicktime movie)
Great productivity tips:
+ Getting back to work: A personal productivity toolkit by Mark Taw. "Often distractions are things you want to do some time in the future. To get rid of these, just write them down. I always carry a notebook with me that I can write these things down in. The notebook also serves to focus my thoughts when I have a spare moment and need to figure out what to do next. By keeping everything in here, any part of my brain that was worried about what I have to do goes away. The guarantee that I will look at the notebook and do what I wrote down keeps me from having to think about it."
+ Overcoming procrastination. "Don't worry about finishing anything. Just focus on what you can start now. If you do this enough times, you'll eventually be starting on the final piece of the task, and that will lead to finishing."
+ How to get more done in less time. "Studies have shown that the average office worker does only 1.5 hours of actual work per day. The rest of the time is spent socializing, taking coffee breaks, eating, engaging in non-business communication, shuffling papers, and doing lots of other non-work tasks. The average full-time office worker doesn't even start doing real work until 11:00am and begins to wind down around 3:30pm." Yikes!
Procrastination is a habit, and so is productivity.
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