I'm going to admit the irony right up front with posting this while I should be doing an assignment this very minute. But my supreme lack of getting anything done this long weekend has made me put together an action plan for beating the procrastination demon.
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| What I should be doing, and what I am doing |
1. Break it down
Things can seem pretty overwhelming if you just focus on the great big whole, and that's enough to make anyone run away and hide with 3 seasons of Buffy. If you break your task down into it's smaller components it becomes more manageable to tackle each step one at a time.2. Make a plan
Following on from breaking your task up the next step is list all those things you want to achieve in your time frame (I usually just do 1 day) and most importantly, make it realistic. Don't expect yourself to work for 8 hours solid, because it just isn't going to happen. But having a check-list of things to do gives yourself tangible aims and when you cross those off it feels damn fine.3. Plan in procrastination
It's going to happen, you need to take breaks. The best way to overcome the "I just spent 4 hours watching television and I don't know how I got there," is to plan specific amounts of break time. You could give yourself one episode of a TV show, one chapter of a book, the time it takes to make a batch of biscuits. It doesn't really matter what, just as long as it's something that has a finite time attached to it so it doesn't vague into the entire day.
4. Commit your goal to someone else
There's been research that shows that if you vocalise your goals to someone else you are more likely to stick with them. Basically it's because you're not just breaking a promise to yourself (which is easy to justify) but to someone else who can hold you accountable. It's harder to back out of a commitment when there's someone else you are letting down by doing so.
There's loads of tips out there on this (but don't procrastinate by looking for procrastination tips). Here's a few that I found helpful.
Good luck on your goals everybody. If you have any winning procrastination tips I'd love to hear about them.
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