Time Management Archives

procrastination
Dean Caporella asked:

Ever wondered if there is a trick on how to use time effectively? The main problem with those people trying to achieve in their lives is while they appear to be busy, the results are not on the board. Sound familiar?

The Importance Of Time Management

The trick is concentrating on the end result rather than appearing to be busy. This achieves nothing and more often than not you’ll end up running around in circles chasing your tail! No one can control time but the secret is how well and how productively you use it.

For those in business, particularly the work-from-homers, the toughest part is getting going. No one is looking over their shoulders and the only person they are accountable to is themselves. This is a real problem. It’s a breeding ground for the biggest killer of people trying to use time effectively…procrastination.

How To Beat Procrastination

Using my case history as an example, as a writer, procrastination hampered my time management efforts to the point of sheer frustration. Don’t get me wrong, I love to write and have written thousands upon thousands of words.

My problem was, when I had a project to complete without a deadline attached to it, I’d get into a comfort zone and any good time management principles would fly out the window! This was bad, particularly being on my own with no one to account to.

Even though the money was good, for some reason it still wasn’t enough incentive to start punching away on my keyboard. I’d sit at my computer and surf the net or, I’d look up at the ceiling and count the vents or, I’d look out the window and try to guess what make and model car would zoom by next…frustrating!

It was procrastination at it’s worst. Other procrastination issues facing people include fear of failure, waiting for the right time, no set goals, being perfectionists or simply being overwhelmed by the task at hand. Is this you? Let’s examine some ways you can use your time effectively and bury procrastination once and for all.

Tips To Beat Procrastination

Try these time management exercises on for size!

1. Firstly, confessing to yourself you are procrastinating is vital. Simple fact is, most people know deep down they are but are still not driven enough to do something about it.

2. Appoint someone you respect enough or even fear in some respects to be accountable to. What better way than to self motivate than out of fear.

3. Check your list of things to do and prioritize. Urgent tasks go to the top. If nothing is extremely urgent, then start with something quick and small but make your next task the most unpleasant and difficult on the list. It’s like exercise. You do a short warm up to get the stiffness out of your muscles before you begin your main workout.

4. Set yourself rewards. This is a great way to use time effectively. Set small rewards during the day and one major reward at the end. I break my task into time blocks. If it’s a three hour writing job, then I’ll take a short break every hour. Also, compete against yourself in your own mind. A three hour job completed in two hours fifty minutes means you’ve got a little extra time to play with.

5. Do one more thing before you retire for the night that will give you a sense of accomplishment. You go to bed in a positive frame of mind and it’s one less task you have to do tomorrow. Be careful not to get complacent though.

6. Finally, have your accountability partner call you before the start of each work day to check you’ve completed each of your listed tasks. You’ll probably **** him/her by the end of the month but check your productivity levels and see what a difference it’s made!

Good time management is a combination of several factors but unless you have the desire to achieve deep down, then it will probably take a little more than just these time management exercises to get you going!

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procrastination
Abhishek Agarwal asked:

Is making excuses is your first thing when you lose deadlines?

- Will you reason out your failure, rather than trying to finish the project?

- Was your failure in finishing the job unavoidable?

- Do you think finishing the job is important?

- Is a plan put down to finish a job really soon?

You should start taking responsibility for your failures. If you ever think of giving a excuse again, think about the great American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s saying about predicament procrastinators get in: “It takes less time to do a thing right than explain why you did it wrong.”

Are you finding yourself victimized by circumstance and events? Do you excel others in complaining? What you plan to do when you postpone your work? How is your time spent when you postpone a job which should be done? Are you really trying to change? Are the causes for your procrastination hidden which is yet to be discovered?

Procrastinators will find it easy to get a reason not to start. To take charge of life, you should taking responsibility for everything which happens in your project. If you do fail, try a self analysis and check if you could produce a better result by trying something different. This will help you to complete your next project successfully, you will be eager to get started with the project as soon as you can. Try to find out the needs and the perfect starting circumstance will never come.

Asking hard questions is the only way out of procrastination’s vicious circle. Circumstances do not victimize us. You can do what is to be done. You should learn to prioritize things, and separate things which should be done immediately and things which can wait. If you thinking to delay a project ask the following questions:

- Is there much benefit in the delay?

- Is the reason justifiable for postponing the job?

- Will I like to live with the consequence of delaying this project?

Get in front of a mirror and question yourself if the reason for your delay is quite justifiable. Scan your reasons for your want to delay this project, with a microscope; think of the possibility if the reasons are just excuses delaying the start of this project. Try to recollect what happened when your last project got delayed which is something similar to this. What are the possible benefits expected to come from this delay? Note down them. Now question your self how the project is coming up. Does the project get any kind of benefits from this delay?

Is it just excuses or is it actually a justifiable reason? What could have possibly happened if you moved on with the project without a delay? Always keep in mind the saying of Napoleon Hill on waiting: “Do not wait. The time will never be just right.”

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procrastination
Abhishek Agarwal asked:


Mark Twain can say something about almost any topic you can think off. When asked about the subject of avoiding procrastination, he replied, “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.” The humor in his statement can be relished by all. But at the same time, the inlaid procrastination’s danger is quite painfully true

The initial step to a more fulfilling life is to take up defeating procrastination more seriously. The war takes place at you mind, so you lose or win only there. To defeat procrastination, you should have a change in attitude. When you approach a job with the positive side to see, your chance at completion is better, this is the secret of success to many people.

- You have a choice in attitude. Many people postpone jobs mainly due to their thinking that they will be more successful by waiting for the best circumstance to show itself before starting a project. In the path of success, you should make decisions and do something whatever the circumstance of it may be.

- The attitude defines the productivity of you work. The natural abilities or high IQ is hardly of any matter in the path of successful people. People who are always successful in whatever they do have the positive attitude- believes that you can successfully complete the job.

- Nothing can be done about the past, so leave it behind. Analyzing how you could have a different response to a problem of past is an important preparation inn problem solving of today. Chalk up your experience and then leave it behind.

The following question will assist you in identifying areas to start working on. Say “yes” to what shows you.

1. I need not wait for the best circumstance to start a task, getting it perfect is almost impossible.

2. If given best effort, any project I take will give success.

3. I don’t blame failure on my surrounding factor; I analyze myself of what can be done differently, to get the different end.

4. I will not think about decisions once it is made, I will concentrate on what I am doing currently.

5. I should when to end a project- spending more time is only an excuse to postpone the start of next job.

If “no” has been an answer for any of the statements, get started today on the corrective action. Do something upon it one by one. Keep working on it till you can really answer is a “yes” to that statement before you proceed to the next statement. . “Be not the slave of your own past,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson. Free yourself from the procrastination chain and start a richer life.



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procrastination
Abhishek Agarwal asked:


According to Benjamin Franklin, an expert in conquering procrastination himself, “by failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.” What is the way to plan your work? In case you do not plan, how can you realize if you’re achieving your goals? This is the time to figure it out.

At work, list out everything you’ve been postponing. That is, the big things as well as the small things. Similarly at home, list out all the large as well as small tasks you’ve been postponing so far. In case you aren’t able to think of anything immediately, walk around your house. And walk through your yard. It isn’t going to be hard for you to fill up a page with all the projects that you’ve only talked about.

Also list out the things you’ve been postponing that are concerned with your personal relationships. This should include emails, phone calls, letters, vacations, visits and family trips. Then list out everything you’ve been postponing doing for yourself-starting an exercise program, eliminating a bad habit or joining a class you wanted to take up.

Don’t worry about prioritizing. Just let your juices flow and put down everything you can think off on paper. Though it’s difficult to get started, ideas will start pouring easily once you start. As you keep writing, it will amaze you how one idea triggers the next. You will see words flowing onto your computer screen or paper.

The purpose of this exercise is pretty simple. First thing is, you have probably been postponing a lot more than you would’ve imagined. That’s the initial step you must take to defeat procrastination-recognize it as a setback. Procrastinators often have ridiculous excuses for being unable to take action. So the first step to overcome procrastination is to accept that it’s a major problem.

Second, I hope that this exercise would have taught you how important it is to get started. Failing to take action makes you doubt yourself which gnaws your self-confidence, increasing your indecision. The end result is paralysis-the dangerous circle of inactivity continues. Once you recognize the threat that procrastination poses, next you should focus on the things that you have been putting off. Take one of the things that you’ve been postponing and act on it. You started with one thing on your list; it will lead to another. Acting on one thing will trigger you to act on another.

Question yourself on the amount of time you waste every day. Keep track of the different ways you spend time. How can you plan and work so that you van easily meet your deadlines? Don’t forget to ask yourself if you need to do the work at all. Research findings have shown that we spend around 80% of our time doing things that do not help us to succeed in the projects we take up-many people take up a lot of unnecessary work which can be justifiably postponed. All successful people believe that: If you’re failing to plan, you’re planning to fail.



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procrastination
Michael Porteous asked:

Overcoming procrastination is never and easy thing as the reasons we continue to put things off, find reasons to not take an action and in short to waste time and procrastinate are issues within our self that need addressing. A Plan to overcome procrastination therefore is not just about rolling your sleeves up and getting stuck into some work you continually procrastinate over (though it is better than nothing!). Instead you must approach overcoming your shortfalls in a positive way and with a plan to deal with it!

To make a lasting impression on the way you approach tasks in your life you must first acknowledge you have flaws that need to be fixed and view this as a positive thing, too many people either refuse to admit flaws or when they do think they cannot change or become despondent and beat themselves up over it. This is not helpful as everyone has flaws even very successful people who look like they live a perfect life, the truth is life is a journey of self discovery and positive changes if you want it to be and each change in your life for the better should be celebrated! So first be positive if you are trying to change your life and overcome procrastination!

If you embrace this then you can set a plan to follow that can lead to better time management and greater energy to get things done.

1. Discover

The first step is to find the core reason for your procrastination which can be more than just laziness or not wanting to do a task. The reasons can be many and varied but a few examples of common problems are as such.

* Fear of failure

* Fear of success

* Poor time management skills

* Lack of direction

* Lack of priorities

* laziness

here may be many other reasons but in the spirit of being positive do not feel bad about this just be honest and think of the benefits of overcoming these flaws can be. IF you are reading this then you want to change so don’t feel bad about any of it!

2. Plan

Once you nail down some reasons for your procrastination then you must make a plan to overcome this which fits into your life and the way you work best. How you approach this should be tailored t o your situation but the experiences of others should always be taken into account. Start small and win some success in overcoming small obstacles at a time which is good for morale and shows you can beat this problem even if it looks too large to start with.

3. Action

This is the hardest bit, as any procrastinator does it can all go well until it is time for action and actually implementing your plans. Nothing can take the place of the drive to get up and just DO something. If you have been honest with yourself and have a good plan in place and you can see the positive benefits from all of this then you should have enough fuel to energies you to get out there and achieve!

As always a positive approach is a must to this, try not to get down and if it all feels too much take this 3 step plan and break down the existing problem into a few smaller problems and beat them first. Rinse and repeat and overcome procrastination!

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