Any tips against procrastinating?

Question

oh! cmon guys be serious :(

Answer 1

Actually your question is urgent, practical, real and important. Mike N.D has already given a very practical reply. I definitely agree that you should make a list of what has to be done. I also think you should assess your real needs and sort out what is extraneous. Of course that takes time for all of us to learn.

If you have too many extraneous needs the mind will be quickly overwhelmed. Nobody can do everything.

Be sure to guage order of difficulty. A task that is difficult may be urgent. You have to prepare psychologically for difficult, dangerous, unpleasant tasks. But you also must not cave in and evade them. Face it as it is, not only as you wish it was. That wastes valuable energy. Many of us have to do many difficult tasks ourselves. That's where the trick of living lies.

By the same token don't let little tasks that are easy pile up. Don't procrastinate just because they are easy. Write down the easy tasks as well. So you need to mark down easy and difficult. Do the easy ones promptly. It makes you feel much better psychologically. But don't bite off more than you can chew at any given time or you will grow to hate even the little things.

It also helps to share tasks with others. If you do not have a willing partner that can be a problem by itself. Then you have to take the lead until you find a partner, or if the partner you have complains and procrastinates as well.

You have to know what means the most to you. What do you really love to do? Edit out a lot of the extraneous stuff. Face up to the unpleasant but necessary stuff immediately. Leave it, and often it only gets worse. If you know what you really love, it is easier to bear the brunt of tasks you hate. If you cannot stand the task then you will have to change your circumstances. Some tasks, however, cannot be eliminated. They are part of life. They must be faced. Sometimes it helps to know that fulfulling a task also benefits others. This makes many things more rewarding. Be generous with yourself and others, but not so generous that you throw yourself away.

If you can get ahead of certain tasks, like maintenance issues, happiness is the immediate reward. It is very satisfying to get ahead of tasks So on your list you can also mark down tasks that are easy to get ahead of.

Keep the list in a place that you respect. Like an empty drawer or a special cabinet or table. It has to be clean and friendly. The list should not become your enemy - only your ally - even when it is reminding you that there are some unpleasant tasks to be performed.

Be sure to grade the tasks for difficulty, timing, unpleasantness, dread-factor, fun factor, etc. Life is largely maintenance. So you have to make these tedious, repetitive things a bit more fun. This is not necessarily stoicism. You can always change your circumstances. But psychologically you can be inventive and help make unpleasant tasks more fun. Order can be useful. It can also make the heart lighter. The human heart loves order - both physical and mental. It also likes emotional order.

To repeat: make a list. You can always put it away or place it right on your desk. Design it so that it can be constantly modified. It is a creative and pratical dialogue with life, not just a dreadful taskmaster. The energy that accumulates with procrastination makes everything seem harder than it is. It also breeds excessive and extraneous behavior such as guilt, paranoia, defensiveness, scapegoatism, meanness, frustation, and endless excuse-making, etc. Better to use the energy on the tasks themselves rather than squander it on a list of excuses that has no end.

Try to find out what really matters to you so that you can get basic tasks done promptly.Try to share the grunt work with others. If you do this you will find you actually have more free and quality time than you ever imagined. If you procrastinate you become preoccupied, both consciously and unconsciously, with what you have not done instead of enjoying what you have done.

I respect your question enormously. It looks small and straightforward, but it isn't. It's big and offers a big challenge.

B. Lyons

Answer 2

Procrastinating over what? House chores or work or going places or everything?

There are many people who will do that for something that they really do not like to do. But the rest of their life is normal. Then there are those that need a swift kick in the pants just to get them off the sofa...

But in general what I have found to cure that is for everyone else to NOT do anything. Then that procrastinator has to get up and do it or it just doesn't get done.

:o)
Jerry

Answer 3

Try the following:
1) sit and start writing down the things you want to accomplish;
2) on each assignment, write beside it how would you like them done;
3) schedule a time of completion for each assignment;
4) start deciding when you should commence the first assignment; and finally
5) leave it on your desk and take a nap so you'll be refreshed to rethink the schedule and see if it's really doable.

Answer 4

Pick one thing you've been putting off and just do it. Force yourself.

I'm a procrastinator, and I find that once I've done that *first* thing it's easier to start on the next thing, and the thing after that.

Of course, the first thing can be a bear. Sometimes I'll promise myself a reward for completing something I've been putting off -- then defer the reward until I've done the next thing on the list.

Answer 5

Make a schedule and force yourself to do it! Trust me, it works. I'm notorious for procrastinating too but that really helps me.

Answer 6

leave it for now,...there is time to do everything whenm you feel right to do so..your mind tells that there is something wrfong with doing something so it is better find the right time to do it.

Answer 7

I have a fool proof method. It worked for me.
I'll have to tell you about it sometime.

Answer 8

I'll look for them later and get back to you soon.

Answer 9

MYB

(stands for move your butt)

Answer 10

what do you want to know