Posted by llrrrpp on September 7, 2006, at 21:43:16
I recently read a few chapters from a book that deals with procrastination. "Eat that Frog"
Well, I feel like I have learned a lot of skills from that book, and I've been practicing one of them for the last 3 weeks. It's been working pretty well for me. It helps my self-esteem too, because procrastination begets anxiety begets depression begets self-hatred and start this all over again with more procrastination.
I even hired a "productivity consultant". Well, I asked someone who's an expert in all of this business management stuff to evaluate what I'm doing and give me suggestions. He's my brother.
I'm going to tell you what I've been doing, and how it's been helping my self-esteem.
thank you for your patience :)
First of all, I make a list of things I want to get done this week, this month, this year and another list for my major project: the dreaded dissertation.
I don't edit it too much at first. I kind of sleep on it. I put some dumb stuff on there. Then I go back and cross off the dumb stuff and try to figure out a way to break down big yearly goals into monthly goals, into weekly goals. If it cannot reasonably be done, then the goal is not realistic, and you're going to feel guilty and loserly for not doing it. cross it off, and revise your expectations.
Every morning, I wake up, and one of the first things I do is I ask myself- what kind of day is today? I usually know. I know if I'm tired, or super anxious, depressed, or nauseated, or cognitively impaired. If I have to meet with annoying people all afternoon, or if my friend is in some kind of crisis. Well, I try to think about these things before I get too far along.
Then I make a list. Some really bad days, my list goes like this:
Wash my hair and put lotion on my hand.
Nap.
Eat Breakfast.
Call Husband.
Call assistant to cancel appointments today.
Sleep.
Take vitamins.
Drink water.
Use the bathroom.Other days, I'm full of pep (like today!!!) looks like this:
Thursday
Iced coffee with frequent buyer points
Analyse one DVD of data for 1 hour
Chat with friend in am 15 mins, and pm 15 mins
Finish reading 4 papers, take notes on procedure, methodology, and compare results (2 hours max)
Ask X about setting up a meeting. Email or stop by X's office
Lunch with friend. Ask about her mood swings
Empty top 3 slots of desk organizer
Set up a slot for my current project
Play on psycho-babble & internet for 30 minutes during lunch, and until bedtime.
Do 1 load color laundry
Throw away old dead tomatoes
Indian food in microwave and cook rice
Grey's Anatomy, check time
Bed @ 10pm, read until 10:30
No more phone minutes- don't call your parents until Saturday!!
Email coworker, I have her jacket
Call salon about cut and highlights. price? appointment availability?It's really really addictive to cross things off. And the goal is to feed the addiction by putting things on your list that are manageable. Don't create some fantasy- it will be counterproductive. See list #1. See list # 2. They are both addictive, but only when applied to the correct llrrrpp!
It's not hi-tech. I keep it in a little memo book. kind of messy looking. but it's small enough for my bag, or my purse. I can write in shopping lists, and packing lists too.
The main thing is: when you have a bad feeling like: I NEED to do something. I MUST do something, but you feel terrified and paralysed--
If you don't know what "it" is, just look on your list. pick something. anything. do it. cross it off. Feed the addiction!!
If you start to panic about some deadline or thing that you MUST do:
Just write it down. Something like Must Finish Dissertation goes into the major projects or yearly goals. Something like "clean my place" can go into the weekly goals. And if you feel bad because you didn't get to something, it's okay. you can write it in for tomorrow, or move it to the weekly goals, and figure out a way to break it into tiny bite-sized pieces.It's also good, because you can use the notepad to get rid of your mental clutter. Boy, having to keep all of these little things in my head sure does not help keep my thoughts clear. Be specific as you can. How long will something take? and then double it (or triple it, on my distractable days) Those of us on psych meds or with active illnesses may need every fan we can get to cool off our overheated processors.
If it's on the paper, it's out of your mind.
And when you get good at this, you can start giving them categories
A must do today
B should do today
C like to do today
D nice to do anyday, I hope today's the day!etc.
Let me know how it works for you
:)lurpsiedturd
poster:llrrrpp
thread:684100
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/esteem/20060827/msgs/684100.html