Fighting Procrastination Effectively
Procrastination is something that all of us face at some points, whether it is starting that big project for work or school or staying consistent with a passion project or habit. Because procrastination is such a common phenomenon in today's world, I wanted to take a look into why procrastination occurs to explain why it is so common, the different types of procrastination, and most importantly how to prevent and fight it.
Although I have written about this topic previously, I think it is valuable to do a refresh and it is hopefully a topic that will be of use to you as well.
I hope you can gain something useful out of today's post and please share it with anyone else if it has in some way helped you out.
WHY DO WE DO IT?
Procrastination is an interesting yet irrational phenomenon which is shared among all of us, because when we procrastinate we consciously do something else other than what we are supposed to, knowing that this avoidance is in the long term not good for us, yet we still do it.
So whats the real reason behind it?
Researchers (Lieberman, 2019) have suggested that procrastination occurs not because of our poor ability to manage our time but instead as a way of coping with challenging and negative emotions and moods in the moment that have been induced by certain tasks. Emotions which we like to ignore and instead use procrastination to cope with them include boredom, anxiety, frustration, self-doubts, insecurity, and resentment.
Therefore, to put it simply, procrastination is an issue grounded in emotional regulation rather than time management.
Researchers Dr. Pychyl and Dr. Sirois explained procrastination as “the primacy of short-term mood repair … over the longer-term pursuit of intended actions”, meaning that procrastination is about being focused on the immediate urgency of removing negative emotions and mood instead of actually doing the task.
Now you might be asking yourself where these negative feelings towards the task come from and why do they occur? Well, our aversion to the task at hand may be due to there being something inherently unpleasant about the task itself like cleaning a dirty bathroom or doing a task which seems very tedious and unpleasant to us. Additionally, a task can be aversive to us when the task at hand brings up negative feelings from within us such as self-doubt, a lack of self-esteem, or anxiety, which happens often, for example, when we are staring at a blank document and are wondering whether we have what it takes to produce the required piece of work.
What makes procrastination such a hard habit to break?
The catch is that when we procrastinate and eventually stop to return to the initial task at hand, we are faced with even more negative emotions than at the start, where we are likely to judge ourselves for procrastinating in the first place. This may further lower our mood and self-esteem while spiking our anxiety and stress, causing us to procrastinate more and more, since procrastination provides temporary relief from negative emotions.
Additionally, since procrastination provides that temporary time of relief, this relief is what makes the cycle especially vicious since it signals to your brain that you are being rewarded for procrastinating and delaying the task at hand. In behavioral biology and sciences, it is well-known that whatever causes us to feel good or get a sense of reward from doing it, we will do more of it, which is exactly why we fall into chronic loops of procrastination.
The present bias issue
Procrastination is also a great example of a phenomenon called the “present bias,” which is our hardwired human tendency to prioritize short-term needs over long-term ones. This is also what many social media algorithms exploit to keep us more addicted through instant gratification.
Although us humans have a large prefrontal cortex as opposed to other animals and mammals, we are still very much hardwired for prioritizing our needs in the present, which is something we need to be aware of and continuously aim to delay instant gratification.
Brain imaging studies have shown that on a neural level, “we perceive our future selves more like strangers than parts of ourselves,” meaning that when we procrastinate, it is the equivalent of thinking that the task we are putting off and all the accompanying negative feelings are somebody else's problem and not ours.
To further add to the issue, we are even less able to make sound and thoughtful future-oriented decisions when we are stressed, which occurs in the presence of needing to do challenging or aversive tasks. In these situations, we feel stressed, anxious, or insecure, where the emotional center in our brain, the amygdala, perceives all of these negative emotions as a genuine threat to our overall well-being or self-esteem. This causes the amygdala's number one priority in the present moment to reduce those negative emotions, which again is where procrastination falls perfectly into the puzzle. This phenomenon is called the “amygdala hijack.”
TYPES OF PROCRASTINATION
Believe it or not, there are actually many different types of procrastination, classified based on different reasons for why we put off doing things:
Avoidance: Here the idea is that you believe you are not good enough or skilled enough to complete the given task or activity at hand. Here there is also an intense fear of failure and of making mistakes, where this fear of being judged or making mistakes is strong enough to stop someone from doing the task.
Thrill-Seeking: Interestingly, some people procrastinate because they find enjoyment in leaving things to be done at the last minute, where this actually gives them some kind of adrenaline rush and a sense of excitement. Some people actually work best in this way.
Perfectionism: While having high expectations and standards is fine, this sense of obsession can be overdone to the extreme with perfectionism, where in this case, we might constantly be looking and double-checking that email that we wrote or the proposal, or running over the dialogue we will have with our boss. While all of these activities may seem productive in the moment, they are actually not helping us with completing the task but instead delaying it and procrastinating about it. Often times, done is better than perfect.
Distraction: This kind of procrastination occurs whenever our attention and focus are drawn away from the task at hand, towards something else more exciting and stimulating in our environment, such as responding to a notification or opening up a new computer tab to do some online shopping instead. We need to decide for ourselves what activities we are willing to tolerate both in our home and work environments and then decide which activities we consider as distractions, which are the activities we want to minimize.
Head in the Sand: This might be based on some sort of fear mechanism, but the head in the sand approach simply means that the person does not want to do the task at hand. Instead, they choose to ‘stick their head into the sand’ and pretend like the task doesn't exist or that it's someone else's responsibility.
HOW TO FIGHT IT
You have to foremostly realize that procrastination is, at its core, not an issue about being bad at time management or general productivity but instead about how we handle our emotions. This entails that productivity cannot be solved by downloading some productivity app or time management software alone but instead requires us to better understand and manage our emotions.
When it comes to habitual tasks, our brains are always looking for relative rewards, meaning that if we have developed a habit of procrastination and have not given our brain a better reward than procrastination itself (remember: it relieves negative emotions), then our brain will continue doing the habit over and over until we give it something better to do.
This is why, in order to rewire almost any bad habit, we have to give our brains a better reward than simple avoidance, more specifically a reward that can relieve our challenging feelings in the moment without causing harm to our future selves. The difficulty here is that with procrastination, there is an infinite number of potential substitute actions for avoidance, which could, in the end, still be considered a form of procrastination. This is why the solution has to come from within ourselves and be internal instead of being externally rooted.
As an example, if you are currently struggling with procrastination, an internal solution might be to motivate yourself to get started on the task by reminding yourself of how much relief and ease you will feel afterward once the task is done. This would likely work, as we are responsible for our own motivation and subsequent progress.
Practical Advice for Fighting Procrastination
Forgive Yourself for Procrastination:
In a 2010 study, scholars discovered that students who practiced self-forgiveness for procrastinating during their preparation for an initial exam demonstrated a reduced tendency to procrastinate when preparing for subsequent exams. The researchers inferred that embracing self-forgiveness facilitated increased productivity by enabling individuals to overcome maladaptive behaviors, allowing them to concentrate on forthcoming examinations unencumbered by the weight of past actions.
Cultivate Self-Compassion:
The practice of self-compassion involves treating oneself with kindness and understanding in the face of mistakes and failures. Dr. Sirois' 2012 study highlighted a correlation between stress, low self-compassion, and procrastination, emphasizing that self-compassion acts as a protective buffer against negative reactions to self-relevant events. Numerous studies indicate that self-compassion not only reduces psychological distress, a key contributor to procrastination, but also actively promotes motivation, enhances self-worth, and nurtures positive emotions such as optimism, wisdom, curiosity, and personal initiative. Importantly, self-compassion does not rely on external factors, requiring only a commitment to facing challenges with acceptance and kindness instead of dwelling on regret. Reframing tasks by considering positive aspects and envisioning successful outcomes can further contribute to cultivating self-compassion in addressing procrastination.
Increase Your Curiosity and Awareness:
Whenever you feel yourself being tempted to procrastinate, slow down for a little and become aware of what is causing those feelings or temptations to arise. Think about what tempts you to procrastinate and how you feel when you are about to procrastinate. What emotions are you trying to ignore?
Consider the Next Smallest Step You Can Do:
It is common advice to break down a large task into several smaller ones, which makes the whole task seem a lot less daunting and intimidating, ensuring that we follow through and get it done. Additionally, don’t wait to be in the mood or to be motivated to do a certain task. Instead, motivation is a result of action. Get started, and you’ll find your motivation follows.
Make Your Temptations More Inconvenient:
The point is to create more friction and less convenience towards tasks that tempt and distract us, ensuring that we do less of those and instead making tasks and habits that are beneficial for us as easy as possible to do and implement.
Create Accountability:
If you struggle with discipline or consistency, it might be helpful to think about some external sources of accountability, such as doing work together with a friend or tracking your focus or work/study progress with external software. Experiment with what works for you and what keeps you on track.
KEY IDEAS
In todays blog post we are discussing everything related to procrastination: Why it happens, the different types of procrastination as well as how to best combat it and prevent it in the future.
REFERENCES
Procrastination: A brief guide on how to stop procrastinating. (2022, August 31). James Clear. https://jamesclear.com/procrastination
Boyes, A. (2023, April 4). How to stop procrastinating. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2022/05/how-to-stop-procrastinating
Laurence, E. (2023, July 13). What Is Procrastination? Why It Happens And How To Overcome It. Forbes Health. https://www.forbes.com/health/mind/procrastination/
Brower, T., PhD. (2021, December 30). 11 Ways To Procrastinate Less: Surprising New Research. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2021/12/30/11-ways-to-procrastinate-less-surprising-new-research/
MSEd, K. C. (2022, November 14). What is procrastination? Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/the-psychology-of-procrastination-2795944#:~:text=Procrastination is the act of,minute%2C or past their deadline.
Lieberman, C. (2019, March 27). Why you procrastinate (It has nothing to do with Self-Control). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/smarter-living/why-you-procrastinate-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-self-control.html
Gaining Back Deep Focus And Meaningful Productivity
In today's ever-connected world, it is becoming increasingly challenging to maintain unwavering focus on what truly matters due to the constant bombardment of notifications, reminders, and distractions. Amidst this blend of enticing messages and captivating diversions, we must adeptly discern what holds genuine significance and what is merely a drain on our time—a task that is growing more formidable.
While I have previously addressed this subject and offered strategies for improving focus, which you can explore here and here, I believe this topic is gaining even greater importance and is evolving into a highly esteemed skill in the contemporary world. The capacity to concentrate and wholeheartedly direct your attention toward a specific aspect of your surroundings is paramount for acquiring new knowledge, accomplishing your goals, and excelling in various facets of life. By enhancing your ability to concentrate and focus, you can significantly elevate the quality of your life, paving the way for numerous new opportunities and profound insights.
I trust you find this piece enjoyable and enlightening.
WHAT TAKES AWAY FROM OUR FOCUS?
There is a variety of factors that can significantly impact or hinder our focus. Below are some of the major ones to be mindful of, as well as some of the most common daily sources of distractions we face:
Internal Factors
Hunger
Anxiety or worry
Stress
Fatigue or lack of sleep
Depression
Medical conditions like autism, ADHD, or bipolar disorder
Learning disabilities such as dyslexia
Memory disorders like dementia
Past experiences of traumatic brain injuries or stroke
External Factors
Device notifications
Unexpected situations that take you by surprise
Loud noises
Bright colors or patterns
Inadequate lighting in a space
Being in a cluttered or messy environment
5 WAYS TO GREATLY IMPROVE YOUR FOCUS
Establishing A Regular Mindfulness Routine
Engage in meditation, breath-work, or journaling: Maintaining a consistent meditation or breath-work practice can significantly enhance your focus by providing a chance to calm and quiet your mind, allowing you to observe your own thoughts and emotions, ultimately helping you make better sense of them. Regular journaling and self-reflection can yield similar benefits.
You can explore my previous articles on meditation here and breath-work here.
Eliminating Potential Distractions From Your Environment
Silencing social media: Keep all social media platforms out of sight and locked during work hours. You can use focus modes on your devices, enable "Do Not Disturb," or mute notifications to achieve this. For guidance on improving your relationship with social media, consider reading about it here.
Minimizing other distractions: In addition to digital distractions, remove any disruptive elements in your physical environment, such as brightly colored or moving objects, loud noises, or distracting items on your work surface. Experiment with identifying which objects allow you to work most effectively when they're out of sight.
Maintaining Fundamental Well-being
Physical Activity: Incorporate at least 30 minutes of daily physical activity.
Quality Sleep: Prioritize getting sufficient sleep by going to bed at an appropriate time. Consider taking short naps during the day for an energy boost if time permits.
Balanced Nutrition: Consume adequate nourishment to sustain your energy levels throughout the day, and have snacks as needed.
Scheduled Breaks: Allocate time for breaks to recharge, effectively restoring your focus levels to their initial state.
If you're interested in learning more about taking care of fundamental aspects of your health, you can explore the five pillars of health here.
Optimizing Your To-Do List
Prioritization: Prioritize tasks based on time required, task complexity, and urgency.
Know and understand what you have to do: Ensure task clarity and understanding to prevent procrastination caused by uncertainty.
Temporarily do something else: When boredom strikes, switch to a more enjoyable or easier task momentarily before returning to the original one.
Minimize multitasking: Multitasking can leave your brain lingering on the previous task, hindering full concentration on the current task.
Grouping similar tasks: Performing similar tasks together, such as quick tasks taking less than 5 minutes, writing emails, running errands, or shopping, and tackle them during dedicated time blocks.
Timing yourself: Setting a fixed time frame for completing tasks can boost your efficiency and ensure task completion.
Streamlining Your Focus Process
Consider your social circle: Surround yourself with productive individuals to inspire and motivate your pursuit of meaningful productivity.
Setting and achieving goals: Set future goals and visualize your aspirations, helping shape the person you wish to become.
Setting rewards: Reward yourself upon completing significant tasks or projects that demand time and effort.
Stay organized: Maintain organization in both your digital and physical spaces to facilitate focus.
Consider drinking coffee: If you respond well to caffeine, consider consuming it in the morning for heightened alertness and improved focus; however, be mindful of excessive caffeine intake. For a deeper understanding of how caffeine affects the body, refer to my previous article here.
Music or silence: Experiment with different strategies for maintaining focus, such as listening to music with noise-isolating headphones or working in silence. Find what works best for you for different tasks.
Reset activities: Incorporate activities for focus resets, such as stretching, getting fresh air, conversing with colleagues, or having a snack when your focus wanes.
FOCUSING IS A SKILL THAT HAS TO BE PRACTICED
Now that we've explored the factors that can negatively impact our stress and some of the most practical ways to enhance our focus, it's important to recognize that focus is a skill that requires continuous practice.
We're all human, not robots, so we can only expect so much from our bodies and minds simultaneously. There will inevitably be days when we feel more tired, unmotivated, or find it challenging to focus. Importantly, don't be too hard on yourself on those days, as we all experience them from time to time. Afterward, simply continue practicing your focus skills.
Think of your ability to concentrate over a given time as a muscle that can be strengthened through practice, routine, and dedication. You have control over how you allocate your time and energy and what you choose to focus your mental energy on. You've got this
🧠 KEY IDEAS
In this blog post we discussed the factors which take away from our ability to concentrate as well as some practical tips on how to keep strengthening your focus capacities.
✏️ REFERENCES
Panel, E. (2023, January 3). Feeling Distracted? 10 Tricks For Getting Your Focus Back On Track. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2023/01/03/feeling-distracted-10-tricks-for-getting-your-focus-back-on-track/?sh=2b59b3217267
Pozin, I. (2012, February 12). Get Your Focus Back: 7 Tips. Inc. https://www.inc.com/ilya-pozin/get-your-focus-back-7-tips.html
Lindberg, S. (2022, October 21). Need help staying focused? Try these 10 tips. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/how-to-stay-focused#avoid-multitasking
MSEd, K. C. (2023, August 14). 7 tips for becoming more Mentally focused. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/things-you-can-do-to-improve-your-mental-focus-4115389
How To Work More Effectively & Efficiently
We would all like to know how to work more effectively and ultimately be better at using our time well because time is a resource which is finite for all of us. With so many productivity guides out there stating what not to do and what to do when it comes to maximizing your work output, I wanted to instead focus on the difference between working effectively and working efficiently.
Although these terms are used almost interchangeably, there are differences we will uncover today which make these two concepts worth differentiating and looking into, because each can uniquely impact your productive capacities.
If learning how to increases your output not only in terms of time but also in terms of getting the right tasks done sounds interesting to you, then continue on reading to find out.
I hope you find todays topic interesting and ultimately useful for your own applications for whatever you want to get done or to just become better at managing your time.
EFFECTIVE VS EFFICIENT
We have to first understand that our productivity through the day or during the course of a week can heavily fluctuate, since it is influenced by factors such as our sleep, ability to stay focused, how organized we are as well as other factors. Some days we will be more productive and energetically focused than others and that is normal. The key is to design and adapt your day around how energized and productive you feel for that day. For example, if you had a bad night of sleep, there is not much point in cramming a bunch of heavy energy consuming work for the whole day since your body is less well equipped to deal with it in the moment, so instead on days like this choose easier tasks to do.
Adapt your work schedule and obligations around your mental and energy capacities and most importantly don't be so hard on yourself for being human and having some days where you just cant seem to focus as well or that you feel uninspired or demotivated. It happens to all of us.
But the good news is that those days and times will pass and by taking care of ourselves first and our bodies needs, we can re-equip ourselves to have another meaningful and productive day, in whatever form that is for us.
Now what we have established that, lets look into the difference between working effectively and working efficiently:
Effective working:
It is about producing the wanted results or getting to the right accurate result, essentially meaning that effectiveness concerns the success of our output.
in a work scenario, this links to the quality of our work and also making sure to have a good grasp of task prioritization by getting the right things done.
Efficient working:
Efficiency is about producing the desired results but without wasting any or much resources such as materials, time or energy.
In a work setting, increasing efficiency is often linked with increasing the speed at which you get tasks done but in other cases it can also mean knowing how to manage your energy levels while still getting the right things done.
HOW TO WORK MORE EFFECTIVELY
Prioritizing your to do list (Using the Eisenhower Matrix method)
Setting a realistic number of tasks you want to get done today (Shortening your to do list)
Tackling your most important and hardest tasks first
Planning tomorrow the night before
Having a block of “me time” without distractions, meeting, calls etc
Communicating well with coworkers, group members or family members
Breaking down large tasks into more manageable sub tasks
Being careful when it comes to multitasking
Measuring your progress to keep you motivates
Take care of the basics: Reducing stress/ anxiety, sleeping well and eat enough (See blog post here)
Take regular breaks to rest and reenergize
Find your biological prime time (At what part of the day do you work best)
Getting better at saying no and respecting your time and energy boundaries
HOW TO WORK MORE EFFICIENTLY
Time blocking: Enter your most high priority tasks into a schedule
Stay organized (Digitally and physically)
Setting and following routines that work for you
Going into work with the right attitude
Don't wait for motivation or inspiration to start since these things are a result of working
Reduce the number of decisions you have to make in a day - you can only make so many in a day
Using idle bits of time (slots of 5-15 minutes) to knock out short tasks
Make the work you do as fun and engaging as possible
Making it as easy as possible to get started on a task
Avoiding distractions and stay focused (See blog post here)
Scheduling periods of deep work
CHECK OUT MY OTHER PRODUCTIVITY RELATED POSTS:
🧠 KEY IDEAS
In this blog post we have discussed the ins and outs of working effectively VS working efficiently and why it is important to strike a balance of both to optimize our productive output.
✏️ REFERENCES
Indeed Editorial Team. (n.d.). How To Work Effectively: What It Means and What To Do. Indeed. Retrieved September 22, 2022, from https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/work-effectively
Bonnie, E. (2023). How to work effectively: 13 simple Strategies to Work Smarter. Blog Wrike. https://www.wrike.com/blog/how-to-work-effectively-13-strategies/
10 best strategies on how to improve work efficiency | TonyRobbins. (2023, August 1). tonyrobbins.com. https://www.tonyrobbins.com/business/improve-work-efficiency/
How To Make The Most Out Of Your Everyday
Often times we are simplify bombarded with so much information in terms of what we should do, shouldn't do and how we should aim to overall live our lives. While all of this information is valuable and can be applied to our lives, I wanted to make this process more simple and summarize all the main ways in which you can ensure that you make the most out of your every day. When individual successful days accumulate, it results in successful weeks and months and an overall meaningful and achievement full year.
If you want to master your every day, you have come to the right place 😊
TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST USE OF YOUR DAY
PERSONAL CONSIDERATIONS
Prioritizing good quality sleep the night before: Ensuring a solid 7-9 hours of sleep every night. Struggling with sleeping well? If you want to learn more about this topic, you can do so here and here.
Don't begin your mornings with rushing: Create time for yourself in the morning so that you can properly get ready for the day in what ever form that may be. Be kind to yourself. Also do not begin your mornings with going straight to your phone or listening to emotionally charged news; These things should come later on in the day.
Spending time with people you love: This can be a good friend, colleague, family member or a significant other; Social connection is important for general wellbeing.
Finding ways of connecting with nature during the day: Spending your breaks outside, going for an outdoor walk, run, hike or visiting a botanical garden. I recently wrote a blog post about the importance of spending time in nature and you can find it here.
Finding moments to express your appreciation and gratitude for anything that comes: This can be done by explicitly saying it to someone in person or over phone or simply writing it down somewhere. Being able to forgive yourself and other people you hold grudges against.
Be mindful of your media consumption: Avoid mindless time sapping activities such as endless social media scrolling. Focus on creating more yourself instead of just consuming all the time. When you do consume media, be mindful of what you consume, how often and how it is impacting your wellbeing. Read more about how to manage your relationship with social media here.
Implementing daily movement and exercise: This is key for keeping your body and mind in a fit and functional state that enable you to feel energized, focused and strong throughout the day. I have written before about the great benefits of exercise here.
Taking valuable breaks during the day: This is for resting and recharging your body and mind for everything they enable you to do. Supply them with replenishing foods, water and down time.
Learning to disconnect from technology when needed: This is key in such a highly connected environment as the one we currently live in. Disconnecting is needed to properly evaluate your general well being, reflecting over situations or decisions or just generally being able to take a restful break.
Living more in the present moment: Practices such as meditation and expressing of gratitude have been shown to improve the quality of our presence of the present moment. This also means to focus on doing one thing at a time instead of multitasking with 5. By truly being in the present, you will feel so much more fulfilled and genuinely alive in the moment while making more memorable memories.
Challenging yourself and stepping out of your comfort zone: This is something than can be done every day in small ways or in more significant amounts during a week or month. Exposing ourselves to these uncomfortable emotions is key for the development of personal resilience and reaffirming of our abilities and self esteem. You wont regret it.
Reenforcing a positive mindset throughout the day: Up keeping a positive mindset is beneficial not just for your own wellbeing throughout the day but also helps to inspire and uplift other people around you. By having a more optimistic outlook, you are attracting more opportunities and dealing with challenges in a more proactive way
Doing something which excites you: A hobby, your job, past time occupation, an idea you have wanted to pursue for a while etc.
WORK RELATED CONSIDERATIONS
Setting 3 daily tasks which you will accomplish during the day: Accomplishing 3 things fully each day is a lot better than trying to fit in 20 different things and maybe getting one parts of different tasks done. Make sure these tasks are aligned with your long term goals and vision of where you see yourself.
Start with doing the hardest thing first: Get out the most daunting or unpleasant tasks first and you will walk around with lighter shoulders afterwards.
Improving on a skill or learning something new: This can be done though reading an article or book, watching an interesting video, practicing a skill, listening to a podcast or audiobook, attending a workshop etc.
Managing distractions and interruptions ahead of time: This is crucial if you want to be able to stay focused for considerable periods of time. This also goes to say to stop checking emails as they come in.
Spending times of the day in moments of deep focus: This does not just help with making considerable progress towards your goals and accomplishments but is also a highly prized ability - staying focused - in todays society, giving you a advantage over most people around you.
Creating and sticking to a routine which works for you: We often hear that well established routines are upon which all successes are founded upon, which is true because success often times means doing something over and over again (staying consistent) while making small improvements each time
Determining in advance how long something should approximately take you: This is the basic principle of Parkinson's law which explains that how long a task will take you in reality is based on how much time you give for its completion. The more time you give, the more time it will actually end up taking.
Staying organized in a way that is functional to you: I understand that people work best in different enviments of organization but having some guideline of where to store things, how to label and be able to locate things within your environment is I think essential for anyone and can be applied with so many different items and areas of life
Planning out your day the night before: This includes setting the 3 things you will get done, planning in your breaks, times for meals, social events and other things which make you excited during the day. If a task or event is slotted into your calendar with a specific time and set duration, it will get done.
🧠 KEY IDEAS
Throughout this blog we discussed several different ways of how to make the best use of your day, when it comes to both personal and work related consideration, in order to make your day meaningful and productive.
✏️ REFERENCES
Anderson, A. R. (2014, March 28). 10 Ways To Make The Most Of Every Day. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyanderson/2014/03/28/10-ways-to-make-the-most-of-every-day/
Matthews, B. K. (2006). How to Get 7 More Hours in Your Day. Oprah.com. https://www.oprah.com/home/how-to-get-7-more-hours-in-your-day/all
Hall, S. (2014). 17 Ways to Make the Most of Every Day. Lifehack. https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/17-ways-make-the-most-every-day.html
Kane, S. (2017, March 30). My 11 Tips on How to Make the Most of Each Day. Psych Central. https://psychcentral.com/lib/my-11-tips-on-how-to-make-the-most-of-each-day#4
20 Productivity Tips to Get More Out of Your Day - Fireworx Digital. (2017, February 15). Fireworx Digital. https://fireworxdigital.com/20-productivity-tips-more-out-of-your-day/
Time Management Basics - Get More Done In Less Time
Today we will be exploring the topic of time management and how we can improve our work effectiveness. I believe this is really important to consider and focus on, as often we get flooded with work and responsibilities which causes us to aimlessly run around our day, without getting any of the actual important work done, while leaving us exhausted and overwhelmed at the end of the day. This is the classical case of where being busy does not match productively using our time.
Here I have included a lot of my own practical work and time management tips which I use on the everyday, in order to make the best use of my time and days.
If you are interested in similar work related topics, I would encourage you to dive into some other topics I have wrote on this subject matter:
So how do we become more productive with our time? How can we get more done with less? How do we maximize our efficiency and effectiveness?
Read on to find out 🌟
WHY IS TIME MANAGEMENT IMPORTANT?
The reasons are plenty, but here is a summary of why you should focus on being effective and genuinely productive instead of just being busy with your time:
The more effective you are with your work, the less time it will take you to finish the work which leaves you more time to do whatever else you want to spend your time doing (This for me personally, is a great source of motivation).
Finding more effective ways to work means that you are likely able to better manage your responsibilities and in turn also your stress levels, which can considerably lower your chances of developing burn out or being chronically over stressed and exhausted.
With better time management you are also able to be more in control of your time with which you can deliver projects and assignments on time while still finding the time for yourself and personal endeavors.
It goes without saying, but better time management significantly improves your working efficiency, which can also boost your confidence as you are able to achieve more with less.
By becoming more time efficient, you are able to focus better and in turn produce higher quality work that will boost your performance in school or in the work place.
IMPROVING YOUR TIME MANAGEMENT
Exploratory Starter Questions
How are you currently spending your time and what you would like to change about that?
What are your current priorities at work/ school (specific projects, tasks, assignments etc.)?
What time of the day do you work best?
How will you keep track of your tasks (digital or paper)?
Why is some work not enjoyable for you to do?
How could you make that work more enjoyable for yourself?
Consider what aspects of your work could you simplify? Remove what is not important or relevant and focus on what truly matters
Consider the Pareto rule which states that 80% of your results comes from 20% of your actions: Which work leads to the greater amount of results for you?
Creating Healthy Work Habits
Health essentials: Sleeping enough, eating breaks, drinking enough water, moving your body
Waking up at a earlier time
Focus on regulating and managing your stress levels (click here to learn more)
Saying no to opportunities when you have enough going on already
Taking breaks during your day
Set time limits in your day (when do you start and stop working)
Have a source of motivation for completing the work and to keep you going
Set Up Your Environment & Maximize Focus
Try listening to music which makes you concentrate or even opt for silence
Manage your notifications and environmental distractions
Prevent your access to social media and other time wasters during work (try using website or app blockers)
Try to declutter and organize your environment very so often in order to keep track of where you keep items and files
Make sure to have a suitable desk chair which fully supports your back and enables you to sit at a good height at your table that will allow you to write or type more comfortably
Create environmental cues which get your brain into “work mode”: Working in a specific room, having a certain scent (candle, diffuser), preparing tea/ coffee or putting on music
Effective Task Management and Solving Procrastination
Focus on 3 main things you can get done each day instead of having a 20+ item to do list (busy is not necessarily productive)
If you have difficulties with starting on something try doing it just for 5 minutes and you will likely see that you will go past the 5 minute mark
Implement time blocking where you assign certain tasks or projects to a certain time period in your day
Do your most energy intensive and least enjoyable tasks first
Set deadlines for yourself if you don't have them already
Setting time limits on each task
Avoid multi tasking
Delegate low importance tasks if possible
If a task seems too complex or difficult, break it down into more manageable steps
Plan your day in advance
Leave some buffer time in between tasks when planning out your day
I wanted to make todays post as useful and practical as possible, because I believe that everyone can benefit from better time management and I think it also becomes quite motivating when we realize that the way we choose to spend our time is indeed within our control.
I hope you were able to pick up some useful tips and information from this post because I also enjoyed putting my own time management advice into it which has worked for me and continues to do so.
Thank you so much for taking your time to read this 💛
Getting Back On Track
Sometime it happens that we fall behind on things and we get off track with habits, rituals or other things that we previously did consistently.
It is normal to occasionally break this pattern of consistency, and to be honest, the idea of keeping a perfect balance at all times, is flaunted at best, because there will always be unplanned things that come for us and change our environment. Wether that be a increasing workload, feeling unwell for a period of time, not adapting well to the changes the pandemic brought about or not getting the result you were hoping for, we can not account for everything.
All of these occurrences are unpredictable and often also out of our control, which as a result can result in us falling out of our previous practices due to getting discouraged or loosing motivation to try again.
Because this is such a common topic where all of us experience set back and failures at some point, I wanted to write this post in the hopes of reframing the idea of having a perfect balance of everything and give you some practical advice on how you can get back on track with what truly matters to you.
Happy reading <3
THINGS TO NOTE
Everyone experiences set backs, failures and makes mistakes at some point. It is normal.
Be kind to yourself after you experience a set back, accept it and don't be angry or harsh on yourself. instead look at it critically and see why it happened the way it did and wether you could do something to prevent it happening in the future.
It is more important how you get back up after a set back and how quickly, instead of wether you always win at everything at first go. Learning to get back up after you get broken down shows you are able to learn from your mistakes better and that you are more persistent as a person.
Turn to gratitude: Look at your failure from a positive perspective, in terms of everything you have learnt from this experience and how it has shaped you into the person you currently are
Focus on things that are within your control, instead of feeling down about things that were out of your control in the first place. Put things into the correct perspective and only then, you can judge them.
10 WAYS OF GETTING BACK ON TRACK
Determine what you are currently falling back on
This may be certain habits or routines you were previously consistent with but not currently.
The reason why it is important to first start with asking what is that we are then able to see wether the things we have been trying to keep consistent with are actually worth it and are the things we actually care about keeping consistent.
Ask yourself what is preventing you from doing those things?
There may be many reasons here, likely some of these reasons will be from your environment (out of your control), while some reasons for hindering your progress may actually be your own cause (in your control)
Here are some examples which you may recognize:
External: Lack of time, lack of a accountability partner, too large of a work load from your school/ work place, tight deadlines
Internal: Lack of interest, poor scheduling, poor time management, lack of focus
What things do you actually want to get back on track with?
In the first part we discussed about writing down the things you are current falling behind on, while here it is time to figure out wether all of those things were beneficial for you to upkeep in the first place or wether you even cared about those habits. There is no point in doing something just because someone tells you to do it without having any internal and intrinsic reason for wanting to do it.
Do things for yourself with your own purpose and intention. If something is no longer relevant or benefiting you, change it up or replace it with something more useful.
Determine how much time you want to spend on those things
This will depend on your own enjoyment of the activity and also how much time you have available in your week or month, so schedule this accordingly.
Perhaps if it has been a while since you did the activity and a longer amount fo time has passed in between, start with baby steps and do the activity for a shorter amount of time in the beginning and then gradually increase that time spent when you build up more a consistent routine.
Determine how often you want to do those things
This can be as little as once a month or as frequent as every day, but this is absolutely necessary to establish before starting since this is the whole concept of routine; to do things regularly and consistently.
Don't force yourself to do too much than you think you can manage right now, but once again build up your frequency with smaller increments to make it a more sustainable process for yourself.
Input your activity into a calendar schedule
You could do this on paper, by printing out or drawing a monthly/ weekly calendar view, or you can use a digital alternative, which to me is more convenient and saves more time in the long run.
By which ever way you choose to do it, this will not only enable you to have a much better grasp of how much time you actually have available but it also simultaneously makes it easier for you to keep consistent at whatever you are doing, since by seeing it visually placed in your calendar it makes it more likely for you to stick to it and not forget about it.
Set up your environment accordingly
Your environment is what you surround yourself, what you see and what kind of energy a place carries, wether that be chaotic, disorganized and without intention, to being a clear and distraction free environment where you can focus when you need to.
I am not telling you to completely clear up your desk or have a complete room makeover if you work well in a more clutter filled environment, I just want to emphasize that it has to be an environment where you can actually work and be motivated to work without getting distracted every five minutes.
Design your environment, your room, your desk or the room where you plan on doing this habit or routine, in a way where you can really use that space for what it is meant to be used for. This can help you to start associating a certain space with a certain type of energy or activity, helping you get into the right head space much faster.
Have accountability:
Set a reminder on your device or have a accountability partner who can either remind you of doing that task at a certain time and sustaining your motivation for doing it, in times where you need a push to keep going.
For example if you want to get back into the habit of exercising, perhaps starting out with a friend or partner who already regularly exercises is a good alternative, as they will likely keep you accountable and also motivated to keep going, and the best part is that you can do the activity together, so its more fun and makes it much more likely for you to stick to the activity in the end.
Stick to your schedule for a month and see what happens
Now that you are at the stage where you figured out what habits and routines you want to reestablish, when you want to do them and figured out how you will keep yourself consistent, its time to put the activity to the test.
This means that you can try the activity (routine, habit etc.) for a week or even better, a couple of weeks, for you to see any faults in your plan or find ways in which to improve it so that it will work even better for you.
Perhaps you were too ambitious with how often you want it to do it per week or maybe you underestimated how much you actually enjoy the activity so you want to increase your time spent on it. All of this is fine and is very useful information to yourself. Use this information and integrate it into your plan so that you adapt your plan to your needs and preferences because after all, you are doing this for yourself, so if it doesn't work for you then whats the point?
Reflect on your progress and adjust
After trial and error and readjusting your plan structure, take some time at the end of this period to sit down and think about your little experiment and reflect on it by answering some of the following questions:
What did I learn about myself in this time?
What could I do differently next time?
Was my initial approach correct? If not, in what ways could I change it?
In what ways did I overestimate/ underestimate my own current capabilities and time constraints?
What was something I enjoyed in my experiment and what was something I didn't find so enjoyable?
With this information I want to conclude this mini guide on how to get out of a rut and start rebuilding your routines and establishing constant habits once again, to get yourself back onto the right track.
I hope that you found some of this information useful and I had a fun time writing and putting down my thoughts on this topic
Working From Home - A Practical Guide
During this time, many of us will find ourselves working from home, whether we go to school or work a job, it has become one thing that unites us all. Because of this transition to more home-based working, I am sure that a lot of us have gained more time in our schedule and probably increased our hours spent sleeping, both of which are good things, however, I am also sure we have encountered many downsides during this quarantine, specifically in terms of our productivity and perhaps our health status.
Since the quarantine seems to be staying with us for a while, how can we best make use of our time during it and turn it into actual productive output? While you can view this quarantine as a disaster and blame it for all of your problems, you can also shift your focus and start viewing this quarantine - this valuable piece of time - as a chance for you to grow and improve as a person. It is up to you as to which road you take.
10 TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE WORKING FROM HOME
SEPARATE WORK AND LEISURE TIME
Now that most of us are working from home, it is very easy for us to spent the whole day doing work-related things, without leaving any time for our hobbies, leisure time and time spent socializing. Without physical shifts in locations and strict schedules, our work and personal lives blur and blend together into one, whereas as a result, we can easily fall out of balance with our work.
To fix this issue, there are a couple of solutions you could implement
First, try following your previous work/ school schedule at home, which will create a clear and defined time boundary between the time where you focus on work-related things and personal time. If for example, your usual workday previously finished at 3 pm, you can do the same thing at home where you will aim at finishing all of your work-related tasks by 3 pm, leaving the rest of the day to do as you wish.
Secondly, try structuring and splitting your time in a way that will work best for you, allowing you to make time for both your work and personal life. If you have the chance and would rather spend some extra time in the morning in bed getting sufficient sleep, then accommodate that into your routine. If you need additional breaks from work in between or like to spend time outside, then make that a priority and build your schedule around that.
Now that you are at home, you have much more freedom in terms of your schedule and when you want to do things. Use this opportunity to your advantage, to try and find the best balance between your work matters and personal endeavors.
HAVING YOUR OWN PRODUCTIVE WORKSPACE
In the case that we used to commute to school/ work to a different location, we were used to having a space and a desk for where we performed our work. It is best to also implement this practice in your own home, where you should dedicate a space or a tabletop for where you will do the majority of your sitting down work.
Having a separate space for working is crucial because upon entering that space it creates an immedite shift in your mindset, allowing you to get into a "work zone" much faster than without having a designated space for working.
On this topic, we also have to make sure that our working space is optimized for productivity, where we want to try and reduce distractions as much as possible, so that we can complete our work not only faster but which much fewer interruptions in the process. You can read more about dealing with distractions and how to create a clean working environment in this post: Avoiding Distractions Like A Boss.
CREATE ROUTINES THAT WORK FOR YOU
Transitioning to a home-based working style can lead to a loss of your previous routines, as you begin to lose the previously mentioned divide between work and personal time.
With more control over our schedule and how we choose to spend our time, we can design our time in a way that will work best for us. This is done by installing simple yet effective daily routines for us to follow, which simplifies our life and makes sure we are still finding balance in our everyday.
I suggest integrating a simple morning and evening routine, that is up to you to design and fill up with activities that you feel will do you best at that moment.
A lot of people like to have their mornings be "their" time for doing personal projects and self-care, while other people prefer to get straight to work upon getting up.
If your focus levels are better in the afternoon or evening, then use that to your advantage and structure your routine so that you do some of your work during that time.
If you like to do some sort of movement in the morning, then that’s great, design your time so that you can fit in an exercise routine that energies you and keeps your fitness levels up
Everyone here will have a different routine since we all live different lives with different obligations, but the key here is that routines allow us to make the best use of our time by considering both our internal and external state, which ultimately allows us to reach a greater balance with the work we perfrom.
Routines are not meant to restrict you or limit your potential. Keep them flexible and simple, but also realize that not everything will always go accordingly to plan, so be prepared to adapt.
Design your time in a way that will allow you to get the most out of your time.
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PUT NEW EXTRA TIME TO GOOD USE
Since starting to work from home, you have probably noticed that you have much more time available on your hands, which is likely due to having no commuting time or unnecessary breaks that were too long and were not a good use of your time.
So now comes the question: What will you do with all this extra time? how will you use it?
Perhaps you already know and are already doing things to fill it up, but for a second reconsider the question and really think about what you would like to use that time for. While it is easy to use up that additional time doing unnecessary work and simply procrastinating, that is not the point here.
Below is a list of ideas of how you can spend this additional time:
Improve or learn a new skill
Start a new passion project
Implement a new habit
Join an online community is something that you are interested in
Set new goals for yourself and achieve them
Treat working from home as a rare opportunity to spend your time doing things that will give your life more purpose and more intentionality. The opportunity of quarantine is something that happens at most once in a lifetime, so do not take this extra time for granted; use it well because if you do, amazing things await for you.
PLAN OUT YOUR DAY IN ADVANCE
Planning your day in advance is a great way to use some of your extra time you may have in the mornings or evenings, as this will allow you to be even more intentional with how you spend your time and also allow you to spend less time procrastinating.
An additional benefit is that you are regualrly reviewing what needs to still be done in the upcoming days, making your up to date with your work and as a result, even more in control of your schedule.
When planning out your day, you want to keep in mind to not plan it out too much and make it a schedule that is too restrictive for your own good. Also make sure to be realistic in how much work you set yourself and the time limits, as otherwise, it can lead to more work being postponed than getting done.
Here are some ideas for how you can plan out your day. Write down:
What you want to accomplish that day (Work and personal tasks)
Roughly how long you will spend on each task/ activity
A couple of ways how you will keep focused and away from distractions
In what ways will you include time for self-care
BE MINDFUL OF THE CONTENT YOU CONSUME
This is a crucial point that is not only applicable in these times of quarantine but in general all aspects of your life. Each day, whether you realize it or not, you are exposed to information incoming from different sources (TV, radio, social media, news, magazines, etc.), which you end up consuming as content. This content can be positive in nature or like most of the time it can also be negative, full of dissatisfaction, and complaining. When we choose to consume content that carries with it negative energy, we also end up reflecting that negative energy out to the world.
The key takeaway here is to keep in mind the kinds of media and content you are viewing and consuming because all of us consume content in some ways. Curate your content feed so that you limit negative energy and instead fill it with content that inspires you and fills you with positivity. This is especially linked with social media, where you have a certain degree of control in terms of what gets recommend on your feed pages, so designing that space for positive thoughts, leaving no room for unnecessary negativity.
The media that we view has a greater impact on our mental health than we might initially think, but it is true that what every information you absorb, you also start believing in and reflecting that energy to the world around you.
DO NOT NEGLECT SELF CARE
Self-care is something that must definitely not be neglected in your life because if it is, it leads to a decline in both your mental and physical well being. Try fitting at least some self-care time each day, or if that is hard to fit into your schedule, try and dedicate a self-care day such as Saturday or Sunday.
The point of self-care time is time that is spent doing things you like and preferably things that relax you and take care of your health.
Some examples may be:
Taking extra time to sleep or to take a nap
Relaxing with a shower or bath
Listening to music you enjoy
Unwinding with a favorite activity such as reading, watching a movie, or playing some video games
Cooking or baking something for yourself or others
Taking time to go out on fresh air
Getting in exercise or time for stretching
Putting more care into your skin, hair, nails, or any other external feature
EXERCISING
During a time of quarantine and working from home, it is very easy for us to completely neglect our exercise routine and habits, especially since any nearby sport/ fitness centers and parks are closed down now. However, this is not an excuse for you to completely abandon your exercise routine, because once again now that we work from home, we have more time to spare, which should theoretically make it more likely for us to include some movement in our everyday.
We all have different ways that we enjoy moving in, some of us prefer high-intensity team sports while others prefer more calmer and lower impact exercises that are more individually orientated. Both are fine, it just depends on which is your style.
Being physically active brings so many benefits to us, making it one of the sigle best uses of your time, which is exactly why I am such a big advocate for fitting at least 30 minutes of movement into your day. If you are able to perfrom exercises out on fresh air of good quality then that is even better, as good quality fresh air beats indoor air in all aspects.
If you are unsure of how to implement exercise into your routine, give the following ideas a go:
Speed walking or walking uphill in your local area
Light running, jogging or high intensity running
Using online workout videos for working out inside the house
Performing stretching exercises inside or outside
Making use of public parks, gardens, forests, running tracks, stairs or any other feature that may challenge you physically
Try out online yoga guided exercise tutorials
Get a skipping rope and challenge yourself with difficult jumps
Spend a day out hiking or walking longer trails in nature (You can also bring a bike here if that’s an option for you)
TAKING BREAKS
On the other hand of the spectrum, if we spend our whole days just working, we can also end up burning out or just exhausting ourselves which is obviously not something we should be striving for.
One of the best ways that you can prevent this is by taking regular breaks in your work, which creates a clear division between "work" time and "leisure" time. You can easily do this by setting a timer during which time you will work and a timer for taking a short break.
Stepping back from your work doesn’t only prevent you from overworking yourself, but it also gives you a more objective overview of your work, allowing you to spot any mistakes and notice ways in which you can improve your work. In this way, it also encourages you to think of new ideas, making it in the long term an even more worthwhile process.
KEEPING SOCIALLY CONNECTED
Although during quarantine social distancing is advised, it should not mean that our social life completely disappears as nowadays more than ever we have access to a whole spectrum of online social platforms, each of which servers their own function. Some specialize in texting ad messaging, while others are more focused on video calls or group talks.
Humans are by nature social animals, so use the socializing software you have on hand to stay connected and in touch with people, both your friends and important people from your school or workplace.
This is also a great way to still be able to obtain feedback for your work, which is vital for making sure you are headed in the right direction and for identifying areas for improvement.
PROCRASTINATION: Why We Do It & How To Stop It
WHAT IS PROCRASTINATION?
I am sure that if you are reading this right now, you are familiar with procrastination and might be finding that it is creeping into your life a little too often than you would like. Don’t worry, we have all been there, including me. Procrastination is becoming more and more of a common waste of our time, alongside the rising levels of distractions that are found within our environment and our own minds. I am convinced that most of us would like to be procrastinating less - since procrastination leads to basically no productive output- so how can we take control of our procrastination and not let it control our lives instead?
Before we start out, lets just briefly go through what procrastination is actually formally defined as being.
Here is the definition for it:
⇒ Procrastination is the deliberate practice of postponing events, tasks, and activities for some later time, while occupation our present time with unnecessary work that keeps us busy.
Therefore we can see that procrastination by nature does nothing good for us, so why do so many people struggle with it today and how do we fix that?
WHY WE PROCRASTINATE?
The reasons why we procrastinate can firstly be explained from a biological/ psychological perspective, where we can see that procrastination is an issue that arises from incorrectly regulating our emotions, instead of it being the commonly though problem of time management. Secondly, we can try and explain procrastination through a more in-depth perspective, that deals with linking our emotions to our actions.
BIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL REASONS:
Our brains are wired for short term gratification
This means that biologically we are more likely to make a decision that will bring an immediate positive reward to us, instead of working on something more long term for a great reward down the line. Short term gratification means that we want results and rewards immediately after an action, but that is often not the case with doing any type of work.
Work usually follows the pattern of starting the work, completing it, and only after some time, seeing results that are due to our input of effort. Because of this delay in reward and results, it makes starting work that much harder.
Easy work → Shorter completion time: Reward is smaller but immediate
Hard work → Longer completion time: Reward is greater, but not immediate
You would naturally prefer to scroll through social media to get immediate hits of dopamine, instead of starting a difficult piece of work and getting the same hit of dopamine much later.
Short term gratification is not only one of the main reason to blame for procrastination, but it also negatively impacts our decision-making abilities in all other aspects of life, where we risk losing much more valuable opportunities and larger rewards in the future, for doing easier works that immediately satisfies us.
Our brains like to save energy whenever possible
It is also a fact that even though our brains are of not great size, they can take up to 20% of our daily energy expenditure, which is exactly why they want to be the most energy-efficient they can. Because they need a lot of energy to be powered, they want to make sure that energy is used the best it can be, so that the least amount is wasted. In other words, they are wired for efficiency.
This exactly explains why it is much more daunting and harder for us to get started on a task that requires more energy, focus, and though; because it requires more energy from our brain.
The trick as to how to combat this issue has to do with how to trick our brain into not being afraid or daunted by initiating hard work but instead wiring it to start liking to perform difficult tasks.
Our own personal qualities and external factors
Whether we procrastinate is also linked to our own personal qualities and in what amounts we have them, as well as external factors in our environment that will cause or influence those qualities.
Some of these qualities and external factors include:
Our self-control
Our motivation
Demotivating and hindering factors
Examples: Rewards being far way int he future, feeling overwhelmed, anxiety, perfectionism, fear of failure, perceived lack of control, depression, lethargy
With these three factors, we can sum up procrastination in the following equation:
If Demotivating + Hindering factors > Self control + Motivation ⇒ Procrastination will result
REASONS FOR RESISTANCE
Other than biological reasons we can also try and explain procrastination from the perspective of resistance, where anytime that we try and start or complete an extensive and difficult task, we have four main sources of resistance that determine how likely we are to procrastinate on something:
Difficulty: Task is too hard OR too easy
Interest: Task is very interesting OR boring
Ambiguity: Task is specific and clear OR undefined and ambiguous
Motivation: Task is meaningful (motivating) OR un-motivating
If we can correctly manage these four levels that determine the likeliness of us procrastinating, it will be much easier for us to get started on the task and as a result, get it done. However, if we do not manage these factors, we will be much more prone to succumbing to procrastination and falling into the trap hole of it that may of us find too familiar.
QUITTING PROCRASTINATION
PRACTICAL STEPS:
Become aware of when you are procrastinating
Identify why you procrastinate (Rationalization of actions)
Identify your sources of procrastination
Implement anti-procrastination strategies (Mentioned below)
ANTI PROCRASTINAITON STRATEGIES:
Get into a flow state:
As I mentioned before, flow is a state that is the optimal balance between a task not being too boring and not being too difficult, allowing us to function at peak performance. We can ease ourselves into a flow state by adopting the two-minute rule that says that if a task will take us less than two minutes to complete we should do it right away and get it off our minds. The second way we can enter flow is by splitting up larger tasks into smaller time chunks such as 5 or 15 minutes, which will make the overall task seem less daunting and will encourage us to keep doing the task even after the time mark we set for ourselves.
Task management
Specifying a task and splitting it into smaller manageable subtasks: This creates less resistance towards starting the task and makes us more likely to fully finish the task because we know exactly what has to be done.
Determining "next steps": Get into the habit of immediately after completing a task, to determine "next steps" or follow up tasks that are not necessarily supposed to be done immediately, but prevent us from procrastinating in the future whenever we are working on the same task.
Categorizing your tasks: This allows you to micromanage your tasks by grouping them into 3-5 generalized categories, such as "work", "school", "leisure" etc, which allows you to have a more simplified overview of your work and what categories take up the majority of your time.
Task Prioritization:
Urgency/ importance
Difficulty
Our focus/ energy levels
Our current situation (Resources and people on hand)
Environment design
Your environment plays a large role in terms of your work habits and works ethic, which is why it is really important to keep your environment clean and free from any unwanted distractions such as technology, irrelevant work, or loud notifications. By keeping our environment as much distraction-free as we can, we will be less tempted to procrastinate and it will tell our brains that this specific space is associated with work and not with scrolling on your phone, allowing you to get a task done sooner.
Energy management
You want to first ensure that you are recharging your energy levels well and frequently by getting adequate sleep every night, eating energizing foods, and staying active to keep your brain alert. Whenever you feel a burst of energy/ inspiration/ motivation to work, use it on your most difficult and time-consuming tasks as those require most mental/ physical energy, allowing you to finish that task with optimal performance and obtain great results from it.
Setting deadlines
Setting time limits for our projects and tasks is crucial because it creates a sense of urgency for the task to be done, which makes it more likely for us to put our mental capacity to use at that time and get the work done. This idea is based on "Parkinson’s law", which states that work fills the time allocated to it. This means that if you set aside one hour to do a certain piece of work, psychologically you are going to try your best to complete the task in the given time frame, while if you were to only say "I want to complete this task sometime today", it means you could spend an unnecessary amount of time on a single piece of work, leaving your schedule even busier and less time for leisure and relaxation.
Setting end rewards
Not only does setting rewards for completing work stimulate the development of a habit loop, as it rewards to encourage our brain to repeat an action, but it also gives us something to loop word to and as a result work faster, with more motivation and more efficiency - all ultimately allowing us to avoid procrastination in the future.
CONCLUSIVE ADVICE
While procrastination is a common practice today, due to both biological/ physiological factors as well as external factors in our environment, it is crucial that we take procrastination under our control and replace it with higher quality tasks that fill our life with meaning.
While at the moment, doing nothing and just mindlessly scrolling through never-ending content sources may be amusing, in the long terms it is getting us nowhere and is likely also negatively impacting both our mental and physical health as well. All in all, procrastination is never a long term solution, since with it we only miss valuable opportunities and unique life lessons that we would learn along with them.
I hope that with the above tips and advice on how to reduce/ stop your procrastination, you are able to find more balance between your work and your personal endeavors while maintaining a clear and focused state of mind.
Avoid Distractions Like A Boss
DISTRACTION REALITY
In the last 100 years, the average pace of living has increased substantially. Everything now is happening much faster and is speeding up even as we speak. Each year the world is becoming more connected, easing the distribution of information, money, jobs, products and resources. Not only that, but we are now also well part of the digital age, where the things mentioned above are promoted and encouraged even more, purely because technology makes life easier and more convenient for everyone who has it.
However, with this interconnectedness and an increase in the activity of our surroundings, we are exposed to more and more distractions each day. The frequency and amount of these distracts will continue growing, which is why one of the most treasured skills nowadays is the ability to stay focused on a task for a set period of time.
BENEFITS OF STAYING FOCUSED
BETTER WORK OUTPUT
The primary benefit of being able to avoid distractions is the ability to have a greater work output, where we are able to get more done in a shorter amount of time. Not only that, but the work which we do produce will end up being of higher quality, as we have poured in more concentrated work that has fewer errors and mistakes in it. Another benefit is that if we are in a focused state then other people who are around us will notice that and will be more inclined to stay focused as well. This is because our environment plays such as a key role in our work, influencing everything from our productivity, focus and our thinking. In order to see and make a change around you, you have to first adopt that change in yourself, since the external world is a reflection of your internal state.
IMPROVES US AS A PERSON
Apart from improving the work we produce, the ability to stay focused also benefits us as a person, improving our personal qualities. Fore mostly, it gives you more mental clarity in the moment as we are more likely to enter a flow state with our work, in which we have enhanced creativity and problem-solving skills.
In order to achieve a state of focus, we have to first make a couple of decisions which allows us to reach this state of focus. Due to this decision making, process, we are able to improve our decision-making skills, as we learn to make the right decisions based on the moment, and we strengthen our will power muscle as we are able to resist the tempting distractions of the outside world, to choose to instead focus on doing something valuable.
Not only that, but when we are fully concentrated on something, we direct our full attention to it, meaning that we are more present in the moment with it, and as a result remember more useful things connected with what we are doing, which overall helps improve our memory recall of an event or task.
Lastly, due to the fact that when we are in a flow state, we experience higher levels of happiness, since we are living and working in the present moment and not focusing on ten things at once, which really only diverts our focus.
COMMON DISTRACTIONS
ELECTRONICS
In terms of electronics, we mostly get distracted by notification rings, whether that is from our phone, computers, tablets or pretty much any other device that notifies us about something. By hearing a sound or a ring, we are tempted to see what it is, which diverts our attention and focus away from the task at hand.
When talking about notifications, it is integral to mention the process of instant gratification, which works on the bass of our brain releasing the pleasure chemical dopamine every-time is anticipates success. This anticipation of "success" can come in the form of a notification or simply viewing photos or videos, like those found on many social media networks. When our brain does come across this content that we associate with "success", we get a short term hit of dopamine, which further enforces our brain to continue scrolling through our Instagram or any other social media feed, even though a fair chunk of time has already gone by. What initially only starts out as "Just 5 minutes of scrolling" can easily end up being half-hour or even more. This is one major "pulling in" factor of social media and the reason why it has so many consistent users.
This year alone, in 2020, there is an estimated number of 3.6 billion social media users globally, where that number is only expected to rise even higher in the future. In terms of how much time we spend on average per day scrolling through our curated feeds, heavily depends on the country, with the average in the US being around one whole hour.
Apart from notifications and the alluring magic of social media, we also have to consider the popularity of email checking and just how much of a distraction this can be. Although email can be useful and is certainly a major communication force today, it can also quickly turn out to be a very big waste of your time, simply because of how its built and the sheer amount of information that is sent to our inbox on a daily basis.
Many studies continue to prove that the average person during a workday can spend up to several hours on email, where they check it several times per hour and most of the time keep the email tab open in the background, further acting as a distraction.
BACKGROUND NOISE
Being surrounded by a noisy and distracting environment, whether in a school, work or home environment can be detrimental to getting anything done.
Disturbing noises can include anything from people around you that are loud talkers or laugh and argue frequently. Furthermore, noises of traffic, people passing by, catchy music or other sounds that are in your environment such as construction work or someone cleaning, can also directly distract you.
It is crucial to try and minimize these noises, as if they are constantly persistent in the background, they can disrupt us and make us lose our focus and attention.
MESSY ENVIRONMENT
Often when having cleaned our room or workspace, we often immediately feel more organized, clear-minded and easier to focus on whatever we are doing in that space. That is simply because the space we are in is less crowded and cluttered with objects and materials that simply cloud and distract our mind whenever we lay our eyes on them.
The reason a messy environment distracts our attention is because whenever we see something in a space, we acknowledge it which makes us think about the object, thus making us lose focus on what we were originally working on.
I always recommend that you try and keep your living and working space cleaned as it really does heavily impact your mindset and mood throughout the whole day.
NOT TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF
While staying focused during your work is heavily dependent on external factors such as your environment, we often also like to neglect that is it heavily determined by our internal environment, in terms of how we are taking care of ourselves and our health.
A lack of sleep, for example, has been shown to seriously impact our thinking abilities and creativity the following day while eating a diet high in processed foods has been shown to make us more tired and experience more blood sugar spikes that makes-our levels of concentration waver throughout the day.
Taking care of your health involves:
Sleeping enough each night
Drinking enough water
Eating a balanced and varied diet that suffices your daily needs
Including exercise and movement in your day
Taking regular/ scheduled breaks from work
Managing your stress and taking time to relax
Having a social circle in which you feel welcome and happy
MULTI-TASKING
While at first glance, getting more things done at once by multitasking may seem to be the way to go, research from the last decade is emerging saying that multitasking has serious long term drawbacks on our work output and focus abilities.
Our brain finds it hard to focus fully on two or more things at once, as our attention is constantly located form one thing to the next, never really giving us time to get int he zone and enter a fully focused state.
Multitasking has been shown to
Result in more mistakes because we are less focused
Produce lower quality work
Hinder our memory of the task at hand
Inhibit creativity while we work
Waste our time in the long run
Make us not live in the present moment, as our attention is constantly on other things
HOW TO GET INTO A FOCUSED STATE
Make one space only serve one function
Try to keep a clean environment around you
Before starting a task, determine what is the purpose of doing it and what do you want to get out by achieving it
Write out a to-do list, instead of keeping everything in your head. Your brain is meant for thinking not storing
Prioritize your work
Split large tasks into smaller more manageable chunks
To get more mental clarity, try out meditation; Even just five minutes could get you into a different headspace
HOW TO SAY FOCUSED
Mute electronic distractions
Try playing calming background music while you work
Keep caffeine during the day moderate
Avoid the distraction of a noisy environment by closing your doors (if possible), relocating to a different work environment or buying a pair of noise-cancelling headphones
Take care of your wellbeing and health in terms of your sleep, diet, social well being, drinking enough water, exercise and taking breaks
Avoid multitasking
Take regular breaks from working
Time yourself while you work, to know when to stop and take a break
Install special apps or internet blockers on your devices that temporarily make sites or apps unavailable (Such as social media)
Schedule time only for checking emails (If you have a lot of them)
Top 10 Productivity Tips
Everyone likes the idea of being productive, however many of us fall into the traps of procrastination and distractions, that hinder us from becoming the best version of ourselves. Here are my personal top ten tips that will boost your productivity, work output and efficiency.
TIP 1: Time Tracking
Tracking your time is more than just a productivity tip; It enables you to identify how long it actually takes you to finish a task and it also encourages you to fully focus on the task at hand without any distractions, ultimately leading to a higher quality piece of work.
The Pomodoro time tracking technique is very popular, where you work for 25minutes, have a break for 5 minutes and repeat. However, if you feel that you can maintain focus for more than 25 minutes, go ahead, just do not neglect to have breaks in between.
Tracking the time you spend on tasks can be done by simply setting a timer on one of your devices or installing time tracking software which can automatically start and stop timing when taking a break.
Some of my favourite time tracking software:
Toggl (Individual and group tracking)
Focus keeper (Pomodoro style)
Emphasis (Pomodoro style)
Forest (Paid application)
TIP 2: Eliminate Distractions
A crucial aspect of keeping focused is putting aside all potential distractions, which prevent you from entering a "flow state", which is defined as a “optimal state of consciousness where we feel our best and perform our best" by the author of the book Flow, Mihály Csíkszentmihályiwhich.
Methods of avoiding distractions include:
Muting notifications
Placing your devices in less convenient places
Setting time for focus and time for taking a break
Use website/ internet blockers (Eg: Freedom and Cold Turkey Blocker)
TIP 3: Stay Energized
For us to be able to execute a task well, we must be physically and mentally in shape first before we can fully commit to doing it. If we neglect any of the daily biological necessities that keep our minds sharp and our bodies in shape, we firstly see a decline in our focus, motivation and clarity of thinking, which inevitably leads to lower productivity - something that we do not want.
It is also important to mention that the neglect of one of these essential caretakers (such as sleep) will lead to us having even less energy and motivation to complete other important habits (such as exercising), clearly resulting in a vicious cycle that is hard to stop.
Ways of energizing ourselves:
Sleep minimum 7-8 hours each night
Eat a varied, balanced and whole-foods based diet
Try and get in at least 30 minutes of exercise per day
Being out in fresh air
Taking a nap in the middle of the day
Replacing sugary drinks with water
Meditation
TIP 4: Plan out Your Day In Advance
By planning the following day the night before, you instantly know exactly all the things you have to get done that days so you waste less time deciding what to fit and not to fit onto your to-do list.
When planning your day ahead I would plan for:
Small and large tasks and projects I have to start or complete (in order of priority)
How you will avoid and deal with potential distractions and issues
How long you will spend on those tasks and then using a timer to track the time spent
What resources will I need to get those tasks done in time
TIP 5: Task Prioritization
It is not only important to consider what you add onto your to-do list but also which tasks are most important to get done for that day. This way you at least know that if you completed your highest priority tasks, you did the most important work.
Often times we like to start with the tasks that are shortest and require last effort, making them lowest priority tasks, but if we take time to consider how we will tackle and complete larger, higher priority tasks, we will get much more satisfaction and reassurance that the hardest work has been done already.
Prioritize tasks based on:
Importance and effort needed (proximity to a deadline)
Amount of time needed
In the case that we feel overwhelmed by the number of tasks we have on hand, it is an important skill to learn when to say "no" to opportunities. We should say "no" to opportunities when we know we have too much on our plate for another task, when the task will not bring much value or opportunity to our life or when we do not find the opportunity interesting because we have other more interesting occupations already.
TIP 6: Avoid Multitasking
This is again something that links to the idea of a "flow state", whereby multi-tasking we are not applying an equal amount of focus to the tasks we are doing simultaneously, but we are instead only diverting our attention when ever we switch to a new task. This way all of the tasks that we are multitasking on will be of lower quality and it will even take us longer to complete those tasks as our attention is continuously distracted.
In creative fields specifically, where a lot of idea generation and periods of extended focus are needed, I would try and limit the amount of multitasking, but instead, try and complete tasks one after another in their order of priority.
The only times when I would require multitasking:
When doing a repetitive task
When doing a task that does not require creative thinking
When doing a task that we are highly familiar with and not much thinking is required
TIP 7: Break Up Large Tasks
Often when starting a large project-based task, we feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work that lies ahead of us so we don't even feel like starting because we don’t even know where to start with the task.
To overcome this issue, I recommend dividing you larger task into smaller more tangible tasks that will still make progress towards your larger task but will not overwhelm you.
When splitting up a task, I would consider the following:
What is the end goal/ result of me doing this smaller task?
How long will it realistically take me to finish each small task?
When is the deadline for the whole task to be completed?
How much effort and resources will each small task cost me?
TIP 8: Identify Your “Why”:
You should always have a reason for doing something, a larger intention that stands behind your actions, otherwise, what’s the point of doing anything?
Identifying the reason behind doing something is not always the easiest thing, so before starting, ask yourself:
Why am I doing this task?
What will I get out of it by completing it?
Who am I doing the task for? (Myself or someone else)
By clarifying your intention behind each task, you also create the underlying factor of motivation that powers you through the task and allows you to keep the end goal in sight, increases the chances of you finishing the task and at the end, also makes you more proud of what you have completed thus far.
TIP 9: Set Realistic And Achievable Goals
Unlike the last tip, this point focuses on the output value of the tasks you do in the form of setting goals that guide and allow you to complete the task in the first place.
Purpose of setting goals:
Guide us in the general right direction
Motivate us to work towards something
Defining what is "enough" for us and when to stop with something
However I do want to clarify, that while goals are important, it is important to not keep them in our foresight all the time, but instead, we should be using them as an every so often reference point to check that we are headed in the right direction.
Because goals should be specific and well defined, there are different types of goals for this purpose:
Progress goal: I want to improve my piano playing skills
Numerical goal: Focus on reaching a certain number/ figure (Eg: I want to save up X amount of money by the end of the year)
System goal: A output shcedule that you follow on a regular basis (Eg: I will go to the gym 3x per week)
I believe that focusing on numerical goals is not a good long term solution, as they are often unrealistic which leads us to be disappointed if we don't achieve them. On the other hand, a progress or system goal allows you to stay more committed to your goal as a long term solution and makes sure that you are headed in the right direction.
When setting goals, it is important to consider:
How will I achieve my goal: What steps will I take towards completing it?
How long will it take me to complete it: When is the deadline?
How will I measure my goal: How will I know that I have completed my goal?
What resources will I need: Physical resources, time, money, energy, social connections
How will I stay commited to my goal: Being accountable to someone or reminding myself?
TIP 10: Just Start and Don’t Complicate
As simple as it sounds, it can’t be overstated that the only way to get something done, is just by starting it. We often procrastinate from starting a task by doing excessive planning and thinking about starting, but then we never actually end up starting.
Its always easier to dream about, plan and think about starting than putting in the actual effort of starting
By just starting and acknowledging that no one is perfect when they initially start out, it frees your mind from judgement and self-doubt that is often faced when starting something new, which allows you to develop your ideas organically as you grow. Starting is the first proactive step to take and only once you start you will be able to figure out all of the other smaller details in your journey because it takes starting and building real experience to direct yourself in the correct direction.
Don't overthink, just start. You will figure things out as you go and that should never be a prerequisite for starting out in the first place because no one has everything figured out when they first start out.
Enjoy the process.
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