With the current situation with the Coronavirus, more and more people are doing Home Office. But for most people, including myself, home is very distracting. There is a big TV in the living room, a PlayStation waiting to be played, a couch waiting for me to lie on and it is hard for me to avoid procrastinating. So I decided to change a few things around, and prepare a fruitful environment so that I can continue to be productive, even while doing Home Office.
For me, the points that needed dealing were two, keeping motivation high and avoiding procrastination. But when thinking about it, the two terms are basically antonyms of each other. While motivation is the willingness I have to do work, procrastination is basically the inverse; it is pushing the task further and further.
Going a bit deeper, there are 4 actions which I find to be the key points to helping me keep myself productive. When starting to do something, a high morale is very important. I need to have a high success expectancy, so that I need to succeed to complete the task in hand. I also need to enjoy the task itself, and know that the reward when this task is completed needs to have value. But, as I said, I live in an environment with a lot of things fighting for my attention, so I need to lower these distractions to the minimum. And finally, It is very easy to procrastinate when I believe that this is a task that I can very easily take care of later, so I need to bring the delay very close.
So in theory, it is very easy to understand what I need to do. I need to keep high expectancy and value, and bring to a minimum distractions and delay. There is actually a formula by Piers Steel, which sums up these perfectly:
For more, visit https://procrastinus.com/
But here comes the fun part, fighting against procrastination.So let's start from the beginning and see what I can do to improve it.
High expectancy
The easiest way to keep expectancy high, is to keep things easy.If you have a task to do and it seems hard, it is very likely that if you split it into smaller and easier steps that together complete the task. Sometimes, even though it is an easy task to do, it is hard to start on a blank paper. To tackle this, I would suggest using something like the pomodoro technique, where you push yourself to go into something for 25 minutes. Most of the cases, you will do much more work because you get into the flow and do not want to stop. I can also set the bar low, in this way the goal is something that I’m confident I can achieve easily.
High value
To maintain a high value for a certain task, the most important thing to do is to understand its importance in the general picture. Once you have understood its importance, you can also picture the reward for completing this task, hence adding value to it. But, it is not just the reward that is important here, experience is also key. As the reward is just a small part of the work, the time spent completing the has a major role. So, I should stimulate myself so that the flow of the work goes smoothly. I can do this through music or treats, but make sure that I receive the rewards only once the task is completed.
Distractions
Avoiding distractions are something very hard to manage, as I am surrounded by things that fight for my attention. Will power is important but is something that fades through time, so I need to take more drastic measures. The first and most important thing, in my perspective, is to turn on Do Not Disturb on both my phone and my workstation in order to not receive even sounds of tweets, emails or any other notifications. I will focus and keep open only one task and enter full screen on the specific application needed. I will also avoid digital note keeping apps, to avoid myself from clicking places and use a regular pen & paper.
Delays
Said simply, the idea that I can do something easily at a later time, will break even the most productive individuals. I should stimulate myself to an artificial deadline and a “let’s do it now” mindset. Have a great and easy idea, great, let's do it. Parkison’s law says: “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”. Essentially, the longer I have to complete something, the longer it will take me to complete it. To break out of the loop, I just need to put a deadline that is short enough for me to put myself into focus and complete it.
Finally, the most important thing is to understand and take care of yourself. Not two people are alike, and just because Elon Musk has a 5 minute agenda, it does not mean you should use it too. Get to know yourself, and adapt according to what you are and not what you want to do, not following some rules and expecting results. Take care of your who you are and not what you do.
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