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| Sketch inspired by today's random word— "Awful" |
Today's efforts were supposed to be dedicated to reading and implementing Step #2 of Adams' Staying Committed Strategy. A closer look however revealed that both steps 2 and 3 are no different from what Paul J. Silvia very beautifully explained in his priceless book "How to Write a Lot".
I already have a daily- as well as long-term plan with deadlines and all that ciabatta, so best move on to something new.
The thing that's poking at my brain at the moment is how bored I got while reading steps 2 and 3. I continuously paused and stared at things around me, at myself, my dogs, and thought about the last time I ate (multiple times). I started procrastinating. The more I distracted myself with random things the more boring "work" seemed. And then came a yawn, "the" yawn.
This called for a much needed search— "How to stop procrastinating". My favorite result was a post written by Scott H. Young titled:
20 Procratination Hacks
I really liked hack #3— The 10-minute rule. A hack my dad once told me about (long ago). It never fails, but getting through the first 3 or 4 minute can be tough.
If a task seems overwhelming, tell yourself that you’re only going to do it for 10 minutes. There’s nothing intimidating about 10 minutes. And more often than not, you end up doing more than 10 minutes after that initial hurdle of getting started is overcome.
I also liked hack #6— "30-10".
This is one of my favorites. I set a timer for 30 minutes, and then work like mad until the timer goes off. Then I set the timer for 10 minutes, and do something that I really want to do (email and feeds for me, maybe Twitter or Digg for you). Repeat as often as necessary. The key is sticking to your timer — don’t stop while the 30 minutes is still going, and don’t go beyond your 10-minute break.I really didn't think this one would work, but I tried and it actually does! I however did not go on Facebook or do anything WoW related, I followed a tip from one of the other pages I skimmed though— Go outside for a quick change of scenery. The dogs loved it!
If it happens to be raining, however, I think I'll follow yet another interesting tip found on a post by Sam Harrison that is worth mentioning— Force yourself to be curious:
“My boredom is usually the loss of curiosity,” Steve Gordon, director of RDQLUS Creative Arts and Marketing, told me recently. “If I catch myself bored with a project, I’ll stop to read magazines or watch a film, even in the middle of the day. I search for something far away from work, yet linked to the same battery crucial to that work.”
Back to Scott Young's wisdom, hack #11 might be helpful— Change to an “abundance mentality”.
Instead of thinking about the problems and difficulty and obstacles, think about the possibilities and opportunities presented by this task or project. By thinking of it in this way, you are more likely to want to do something, knowing the reward and benefits that come from actually getting it done.
Hack #15— Track your time.
Want to see just how much time you’re wasting? Track it. Just do a time log, even for one day. It will be enlightening, and it will make you much more aware of what you’re actually doing and what your time-wasters are. This is a sure way to get your procrastination under control.But would I really want to spend time tracking the time that I've already wasted? Might be worth it to teach myself a lesson. Yeah.
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