A few years ago, I wanted to do so much, but I just didn't. Instead, I did that thing called procrastination.
Otherwise known as “making excuses t...
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Thanks for the article!
One thing tho: point no. 7 doesn't work for everyone. For me, it's the opposite. Telling everyone my plans actually takes me away from doing it.
Yes, this is because we get satisfaction from others knowing what we're working on (whether we finished it or not). They don't need to know the whole story for us to get a good dose of dopamine from telling them how awesome we are [maybe going to be]...
Strange. I strongly agree with that point in article. If I already told somebody about what I'm gonna do and when I will have it done, it is much more motivation for me as I don't wanna be seen like some looser and idiot :D
What's strange for you may be normal for me and vice versa :)
Yes its said by people that if you announce to someone that gives you a feeling of accomplishment just by telling them and you end up not doing that.
I'll read it later 😛
What is wrong with the procrastination?
My very important rule is "If you don't know what to do, do nothing."
It makes my life much more peaceful and less stressful. And I am still not burned out for more than 35 years work in programming.
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Have you tried to find something like an accountability buddy?
(accountability buddy—a person who has similar goals or interests, and you’d be both happy to see each other succeed, and you’d meet with that person to discuss each other’s progress on your long-term goals periodically)
Whenever I’m procrastinating, it tends to be centered around planning and thinking about everything involved in the upcoming process. That generally leads to believing that I’ll have more time tomorrow to accomplish such a task.
But, if I just focus on starting the process it helps overcome the want to put it off until later. I always make it something simple. For example, if I need to put up a new fan in the house, I’ll tell myself to just get the box into the room and read the instructions.
This usually leads to me pulling everything out and beginning work, since I’ve already started. Before I know it, the fan is up and going and the feeling of accomplishment is there.
I like to think of a little twig fire, and the way it grows and grows
I'll read it tomorrow.
The part of "Award yourselfe" I do like most :D, is probably the reason to make me start doing stuff.
Eventhough there are 1000+ articles in the net, it's nice to be remebered with some nice new article once in a time.
Thanks Ilona.
Don't multitask is the biggest one for me. I think I'm doing so much in the moment, and then an hour later I look back and realize 'there are a bunch of legos on the ground and now I have to pick them up.' The other is telling people my plan, I find it better to just DO... even when people you care about are asking.
Wonderful post with some great tips.
Same for me. I juggle 5 things and it takes 5x longer than if I just focused on one at a time.
There's actually research to back this. Researchers found that the brain equates telling people with actually doing the thing, thus killing the motivation to actually do it.
Thanks for you article, it's a very good reflection!
I would just note that you may be missing out emotional part, though it's covered a bit in points 5 and 6. "Debugging" your motivation and all sources, influencing your emotional state, is as important as setting up a productivity routine.
Another big source of procrastination are fears and limiting beliefs we have (I've just posted an article here on dev.to on that topic). They may be ingrained in our thinking process and implicit at the beginning, but this is what can be uncovered with awareness and mindful introspection.
A good starting point for such a debugging would be this service: whydoiprocrastinate.com/
How to handle unfinished task when the deadline is up? For e.g., I set a small task of 20 minutes, and failed to complete it, should I push out all scheduled tasks and complete this? Or, I should set aside the task and moved on, only revisit the task later on?
Thank you -- nice article -- helpful points!
I have the same feeling about talking about my ambitions -- that it can drain the drive of action. And it's nice to save that satisfaction of showing others (rather than telling them) as its own sort of reward. But I do have one close friend in particular with whom I share.. well, everything.. and when I tell them about a commitment, it feels somewhat sacred that I follow through with it. And they hold me accountable in a casual way that I usually find tolerable.
What an awesome article, Thank you🤗.
On point 7, I don't think you have to announce your plans cause personally on my side it has the opposite effect.
I believe you shouldn’t entirely share your goals and plans simply for the fact of avoiding negative energies coming your way from people who are either skeptical or don’t wish you success, people with negative envy towards other people success.
However, if it works for anyone then do what you have to do.
I found it a good idea to have a person or a few people who will hold you accountable actively by asking you how’s that plan going on, and maybe even doing a proper retrospective every few weeks.
Those are exactly the thing I do to get things done. Lucky me, I realized that I was procrastinating early in my career, so things didn't end like a mess, I stopped before.
Thanks for sharing this insights Ilona!
Nice and very easy solution I will try to follow in my coming days..
I will be using these tips to come up with a project completion plan. One that not only includes deadlines, but one that also highlights my reason for wanting to complete said project.
Thanks for this.
Is it ironic that I'm reading (and commenting on) this right now because I have something I could be working on but am not...
I'll read this later
Reading this article feels ironic :)
Thank you! This a great read with awesome advice.
Great Article! First we create habits and then habits create us... This is what my personal and professional life experience.
Cheers
Aniket Mhala
The struggle is so real.
Thanks for the tips, point 1 is from the book "the 5 second rule" by the way.
Hi, is the quote "Life is about being happy, and to be happy, we have to be progressing." yours? I want to save it but I dont want to miss attribute it. Thanks!
Thank you!