“You can’t just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood.
What mood is that?
Last-minute panic.”
― Bill Watterson
Getting things done is hard for some people. Procrastination that waiting until things are at a crisis before any action is taken and then there is a feeling of guilt and shame for not getting the work done earlier. Maybe that has happened to you. It’s not a good feeling is it? It may have worked in school where the report was furiously worked on just hours before it was due. You made it before the deadline. That last-minute rush of activity doesn’t always produce the right results though.
Getting started on a task is often interrupted by some other idea, thought or distraction and before you know it a big chunk of time has passed and there are other things that need to get done and panic or overwhelm sets in. When there are too many things needing attention at the same time something is going to get missed and not get done. That starts the cycle of thought, “that I must not be …”. Have you had those thoughts, “I should have …”?
Let’s look at those places you might be procrastinating about.
What areas of your life do you find yourself procrastinating?
– Getting things done at home.
– Getting bills paid.
– Getting work done at work.
– Getting work done at school.
– Maintaining social relationships.
– Taking good care of self.
Just note which areas tend to be the most challenging for you.
What is your procrastination technique? This is the activity you take instead of the one you know needs your attention.
– Personal reward ( a break, a snack, …)
– Watching TV
– Surfing the Net
– Reading email – Facebook – social media
– I need to know more
– It can wait
Which excuse do you use? How strong is your excuse?
Nothing changes until you understand the size of the problem. Start with writing down when you make a personal excuse to do something else instead of what is important. Now, if you don’t know what is important then that might be where it all starts.
Have a written plan, with the time you want to start a task. Use that as a guide to see how you are doing on just getting started.
Steps to take:
1. Create a written daily plan.
2. Notice when you don’t follow the plan.
3. Reflect on what happened when you didn’t follow the plan.
4. What can you do differently?
It is easy to think about doing and much harder to do when something else seems more interesting.
Thinking about Agile 