AviMarcus.net » Procrastination

Manage Emotion About Your Goals, Not (Just) Yourself

Avi Marcus — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 09:15:59 +0000

If you want energy to work towards your goals – you have to feel good about them! Don’t worry so much about managing your own state, but rather the feeling you have when you think about your goal.
(Video, 3:45)

No video? View the video about managing emotion about your goals here.
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So How Do I Release / Let Go Of Negative Emotions?

Avi Marcus — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:49:15 +0000

Do you have negative feeling stored up about a certain topic? Are you procratinating on something? Let go of that negative emotion with the Sedona Method.
Using Methods 1 & 2, you can let go of those negative emotions that are holding you back.
(Video, 5:44)

No video? View the video about releasing here.

Summary of the questions:
Could you allow yourself to experience the current emotion?
Could you let it go? (If not, could you hold on to it?)
Would you let it go?
When?
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Procrastinating? Visualizing Not Working? Visualize AND Release it!

Avi Marcus — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:30:42 +0000

Just putting something on your to list doesn’t always work (or rarely works?). Visualizing may almost be painful… so release when you visualize!

No video? View the video about overcoming procrastination here.
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Essential Habit: Finish Things

Avi Marcus — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:19:01 +0000

Are there a lot of projects that you started, but haven’t gotten around to finishing? Sometimes, we start something and get interrupted. Life gets busy, and we just don’t have time to get back to the project.

Sometimes however, WE get in our own way!

I get excited when I have a great idea or see how great something (new) is. Often, I dive right in. It will become a focus for the next few days, taking up all my spare time. But often, the new project interrupts what I was working on. The first project was moving along. I wasn’t absorbed in it, but it was moving. That’s when the enthusiasm is a problem – I still think the old project is meaningful, but the enthusiasm is about something else! My spare time goes to the new project, and the original project drops off my radar. I start to forget my exact goal, and what exactly I wanted to accomplish next. Having to figure that out makes me NOT want to go back to the first project. But the longer I wait the worse it is!

Do yourself a favor: when something new comes up, put it on hold. The new stuff is always shiny and exciting, but if you let it keep grabbing you, you won’t finish the old stuff!

Try redirecting the enthusiasm to help you finish the current project, so you can start the new one sooner!

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Procrastination Hack: 10 Second Delay

Avi Marcus — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:01:56 +0000

In the morning, do you not want to get up? Taking a refreshing hot shower but don’t want to turn off the water? Have some work to do, but don’t feel like starting?

Try this: decide to start in 10 seconds. Then count to 10.

This works because we don’t want to get up right now – we know we have to get up eventually, though. Deciding to get up later gets you past the resistance. But when “later” is only 10 seconds away, you savor your last few moments as you prepare to take action. As I count down, I feel a sense of finality: I decided to do it; I have my word to stick to!

This technique can get you started (or finished) much quicker with much less fuss. Even if you don’t fully understand it – I don’t – it doesn’t stop you from using it. I doubt you really understand how everything on the computer works, but you still got this article. You only need to know how to use the principle for it to work, not the why.

Are you putting something off? Decide to start it in 10 seconds. One, two…

Note: Once you commit, you have to keep your mind on it – by counting. I don’t recommend anything longer than 10 seconds. It’s waaay too easy to lose track of time or get sucked into other activities with longer countdowns.

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How to Help Procrastinators

Avi Marcus — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:42:09 +0000

Have you asked your spouse or friend for something, but they never seem to get around to it? You keep asking again and again, afraid to bug them and afraid they will feel offended as they once again tell you that they didn’t do it yet.
What can you do?
Procrastination is not about laziness. Procrastination is a method to remove anxiety, explains Neil Fiore in The Now Habit. The book explains many methods – sometimes you need them all! – to remove the anxiety from work. If you are trying to get someone else to help you, then remove the anxiety causing aspects before from the work yourself. You will have much happier people helping you sooner!

Overwhelming. Tell them where to start. Use a reverse calendar – break the work into smaller steps with their own due date. Large projects seem overwhelming, but small pieces don’t.
Perfectionism. Many people view any fault in their work as a reflection off their faults. Tell them that it doesn’t need to be perfect – perhaps you just need a rough start.
Criticism. Everyone hates being criticized. If people are concerned about criticism, they will be anxious about the work and won’t be as creative or resourceful. Everyone loves sincere praise, so heap it on. Don’t criticize – if you must offer suggestions, praise them first and tell them how to make it even better.

Don’t just do this for others – notice what makes you anxious and apply these ideas!

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Impatient Because You Value Your Time? Prove It!

Avi Marcus — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:10:51 +0000

Stuck in traffic? Gosh, how long will this take? you ask yourself. You may start tapping your foot impatiently, as the minutes tick by without any movement.

We get impatient when things take too long. We want to be doing the next thing, not waiting for it to happen. We don’t like people wasting our time.

Yet, do we ever get impatient wasting our own time? Did you ever get impatient while procrastinating? If you ever sat down to watch some TV because you didn’t feel like doing other things, did you let yourself get sucked in and waste lots of time?
Impatience means you value your time. Unfortunately, we only remember that when we stop running around and take a look at how we are currently using our time. Let your impatience remind you that your time is precious. You may want to spend your waiting moments to see how to use your time better. What could you stop doing? What action would move that important project forward? What things are just a waste of time?
Don’t let impatience be negative. Let it remind you to use your time better. Keep the message with you by constantly asking “Am I being productive, or just keeping busy?”

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Four Benefits from Scheduling Play Time

Avi Marcus — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:26:43 +0000

You set time for work, but did you do the same for play?
When I refer to work, I don’t just mean your job but all things that aren’t done just for fun.
Usually, you end up spending more time working than scheduled. Things come up, deadlines have to be met, or you just get so caught up in the work you don’t end up with play at all.
So schedule your play time now, and get there benefits:

You can be positive that life isn’t all work. Work is only a part of your life, you have play scheduled! If you only have work scheduled, then life can seem like all spinach and no dessert. Even I like dessert.
Play recharges your batteries. When you get back to work, you can approach it with more energy. When you know that you have play interrupting the work week, its much easier to stay energetic and excited!
You form a positive feedback loop. It may seem like a paradox, but the better you play, the better you can work. When you finish your work and get to your play, you will be able to enjoy it because you put in time working. When you get back to work, you can approach it with more energy, which leads to enjoying your play even more – a very positive feedback loop! Scheduling your play FIRST, and make sure you stick to it. Yeah, I am asking you to stick to a schedule of play!
You get subconscious problem solving. When you get your mind off a topic and relax, your subconscious gets to work on whatever was bothering you. Your best ideas for work may come up while playing!

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Busy Work vs. Real Work

Avi Marcus — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:42:05 +0000

If you tally up your actual working time for the day, it will probably be a pretty solid number. Yet, you may be disappointed with what you accomplished.
How can you work so long, but be disappointed with the results?
It has to do with what you consider “work”. If you answered email, talked to coworkers about current projects, and handled some things that came up during the day – then you haven’t done things with substance.
You probably avoided doing the larger tasks or projects that really count long term (quadrant II). At some point during the day, you probably noticed something you SHOULD be working on, but didn’t put any time in. Spending time on THOSE things – it doesn’t need to be the whole day – helps you to feel that you accomplished something.

Constantly asking “Am I being productive, or just keeping busy?” will help you from getting caught up in busy work. Write it in a place you will see every day!

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Don’t Walk Away – Decide NOW!

Avi Marcus — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:24:43 +0000

Most things we do involve making many decisions. We often fear making a mistake or giving up an opportunity. When we need to make decisions, even small ones, we may get an urge to stop and walk away. Often, we just don’t want to deal with it.

However, you probably won’t want to sit back down to your work until you decide. You won’t want to spend the time getting back into the background info and all the options, weighing them all – again – in your head. The longer you push it off, the less certain you will feel – which will further prevent you from making a decision.

Here are some ideas that may help you decide:

Deciding To Walk Away Is A Decision!
“If you choose not to decide, you still have made a decision!”

Sometimes, It’s Not A Big Deal
How much difference is there between the options you are considering? We don’t get stuck considering a bad option vs a good option. We only get stuck if the options are both good! If the difference isn’t that big, just choose one and move on. It’s not worth your energy to worry about it.

Delaying Can Hurt
Often, if we can’t decide, the whole project needs to be put on hold. Is this decision large enough to warrant putting everything on hold? If not, just choose one and move on. Don’t let it break the momentum.

Get More Information
Call someone for some advice. Search online for how other people handled a similar thing. Write out the pros and cons of each option.

If you make it a habit to decide right away, you will save yourself lots of time and energy!

Note: For large decisions, you may legitimately want to sleep on it. But make sure to actually decide the next day, otherwise you will just be using this as an excuse to push off deciding!
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