fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Express, not Impress (chatting with my Resistance)
By: Theresia Tanzil
Tags: Writers Block, Writing, Resistance, Procrastination, Creative Process

Express, not Impress (chatting with my Resistance)

(welcome to a public session of overthinking where I talk to myself, trying to unblock and quiz my Resistance)

Photo by Erwan Hesry on Unsplash

That frustrating feeling of knowing you have a ton of potential inside, but you’re not able to fully actualize it out into the world.

Consume less, produce more. Ingest less, create more.

Quantity over quality. No one cares. No one is paying that much attention. Shitpost. Release.

Share your unfinished thoughts. Publish. Ask, engage, probe. Let it expand, grow, evolve.

Express.

Why is it so hard?

fear of rejection, judgements. creating is a vulnerable thing

don’t know where to start

don’t know how to end, the point, the goal, the destination

don’t know which direction to go

don’t know which medium, which method, which tool, which mechanism. the best. the optimum.

don’t know what to express.

don’t know what to work on. vague action, vague priority

Excuses. Lack of planning. Too much of planning. Procrastination. Resistance.

Why so serious? Why the pressure? Just let it out. Start anywhere. End when you want it. You’ll never arrive anyway.

Switch medium. Shift the method. Who told you you can’t? Do whatever you want.

Trap it. Capture it. Make it tangible. Then mold it.

You don’t need to know. You have to find out.

You will never be sure if you don’t try.

But first, let it out.
Eat that Frog with a Pomodoro
By: Muhammad Naeem Ch
Tags: Time Management, Productivity, Procrastination, Pomodoro Technique

Eat that Frog with a Pomodoro

The Pomodoro Technique is essentially a method using a timer to stay focused, productive and to overcome procrastination. They recommend 25 minutes followed by intentional breaks.

Decide on the task to be done. Set the Pomodoro timer (alarm) to 25 minutes. Work on the task until the timer rings. After the timer tings, put a star (or a tick) on a piece of paper. Take a short 3–5 minute break (perhaps treat yourself with a candy :) Repeat steps 1–4. After you have 4 ticks on your paper, you can take a longer break (15–20 minutes), and continue working on your task by going to step 1 until you complete your task.

I decided to complete my online course 2 of Amal Academy without any distractions using this technique.

I set an alarm of 25 minutes on google timer according to steps and start working on the course. I have many distractions like I start using the phone but I came back immediately on my work. When I almost reached to complete first pomodoro, suddenly I got a thing in my mind why the timer bell is not ringing and I checked it but there was still 30 seconds left and I decided to start the break from now.

After taking break I set another Pomodoro and started working in the same way, in this pomodoro I felt hungry but I controlled myself and I again repeated these steps for third time after taking a break as well.

In this short break, I could not control myself and went to eat some food to a restaurant and this is how I got distracted for a long time and after this my job time was started but I completed my online course up to 50% with the help of this technique in just 1:15 hour. It is really helpful technique to overcome procrastination but I need more practice on it.
Think for yourself.
By: Roux De Boy
Tags: Procrastination, Ruminator

Ruminators* think only of what could’ve been or had, and what could be or gotten.

The trick is to dream it, only once you have it. As for that which has already been, it cannot be changed and can only be let go. Sighed out. Smiled at. Forgotten.

We think of the past because we wish we could’ve changed it, somehow. We wish for the future because we hope we will be able to change things, somehow.

Both scenarios are procrastination's. They are a subtle way to hemorrhage yourself into failing, before you have even tried. We procrastinate to disable ourselves from making any changes at all, because making those changes actually requires effort, with no short term dopamine fix. It’s reward is – unfortunately – only realised in hindsight. The somehow, is always put off, far outside the realm of definition. The double layered cake of do nothing because you, well, because you don’t know why?

The only change possible is right now. One(s) that future you, will thank you for. Whatever you want to change – outside of society’s dream for you – you can change, now. What’s the right change, or the wrong one? Further procrastination’s to put it off to another time, another place, or another space. “Tomorrow!”, we say today. “Tomorrow I’m going to be different and do (or not do) that thing I’ve always wanted to (not) do.” Ah! It turns out that you do know what changes you want, you just don’t want them right now.

Everything you do, is just a thought. And fundamentally that’s what you are – a thought. The amazing part is that you are aware of it, and are able to continue thinking about it. A thought thinking about thoughts. Either you have control of one little thought – you. Or, you don’t.

*A Ruminator is loosely an individual who thinks about a problem continuously, convincing themselves that the act of thinking about it, is actually doing something about it.
I Created The Best-Ever Pomodoro Timer, Just For You 🍅
By: Clive Thompson
Tags: DIY, Pomodoro Technique, Coding, Time Management, Procrastination

I Created The Best-Ever Pomodoro Timer, Just For You 🍅

I’m a horrible procrastinator.

So a while ago, I started using the “Pomodoro Technique”, where you set a timer for 25 minutes, and keep on working until the time is up. It worked pretty well — the Pomodoro creates an artificial mini-deadline, and I’m a writer, so I don’t do anything without a deadline.

But there was one big problem: Every app I used displays a big, vivid countdown of how much time was left.

For example, here’s what (clockwise from top right) Forest, Pomodor, Clockwork Tomato, Pomofocus, and Marinara Timer look like …

Look at that! Everyone has some huge read-out or dial or image showing the time … ticking … down.

I find this design awfully distracting. What winds up happening is:

I start the Pomodoro …

I flick over to Google Docs or whatever work I’m doing, but …

while I’m working I keep wondering hmmm, how much time is left on the timer? So …

I flip over to the app to check it out.

This continually breaks my concentration, which defeats the whole purpose of the Pomodoro technique, which is to concentrate!
A Challenge: Don’t Stop Writing
By: Matthew Hundley
Tags: Inspiration, Productivity, Writing, College, Procrastination

As I write this, the clock just struck midnight and another crisp autumn day falls behind me. When I wake up, it will be a bright, sunny Tuesday morning. I’ll grab my backpack and head out the door to campus, where I will bounce between work and class for the next 9 hours. After that, drive home during rush hour, eat dinner with the family, and then politely excuse myself to my bedroom, where I will remain for the rest of the night (except for a few strolls to the pantry for snacks).

Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash

As a college senior, the amount of hats I am juggling takes a constant toll on my mental and physical health. Long working hours, followed by hours upon hours of homework and studying leave little time for leisure activities. For me in particular, my plan is to attend graduate school after this, so my already limited time is squeezed even smaller by application preparation.

At the end of the day, each of these responsibilities have a major component in common: writing. Writing was never really my strong suit (I was always more of a math nerd growing up). It’s not necessarily that my writing wasn’t good, but I didn’t enjoy the process. Starting to write is the most daunting part. Today, I was talking to a friend of mine after realizing that after three and a half hours of attempting to write anything that may one day resemble a personal statement, I was too paralyzed by the fear of failure to add a single word to the page; not even the fancy “The” that Spongebob Squarepants wrote on his boating school essay.

Spongebob Squarepants’ Boating School Essay

Today, I plan to make a positive change to combat this. I am challenging myself: Don’t Stop Writing. While I can’t obviously spend every minute of everyday writing, I want to make mindful decisions about how I am spending my time and utilizing that time effectively. Whether it is a portion of an assignment, an email that I have been putting off for weeks, or even one sentence that may put me closer to grad school acceptance, each and every day, I won’t stop writing.
Torschlusspanik and the Mantra of Plenty of Time
By: Mark Thornton
Tags: Time, Anxiety, Occams Razor, Procrastination, Torschlusspanik

“To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan…and not quite enough time.” — Leonard Bernstein

German has the best words. The language and culture that gave us Weltschmertz and Schadenfreude seems to throw up words that succinctly capture deep and sometimes paradoxical feelings of the human heart.

Torschlusspanik is another. Literally ‘gate close panic’ it refers to that sharp anxiety that somehow time is running out to achieve all we want. It comes from the world of air travel, as the boarding gate is about to close. No matter how early you get there, or how many times you’ve checked your passport, there is that momentarily spike of anxiety that somehow time is running out.

In school, I had a teacher — Mr Tottle — who spoke a protective spell in the face of this panic. He knew the biggest problem with exams wasn’t how much you knew (too late by then), it was your effectiveness at getting what you knew down on paper.

He repeatedly the mantra “plenty of time”. He had us chant it back. And if you think back carefully to anything you have achieved of importance, you would be shocked by how little time the key activities took.

If it’s important, you definitely have time. Repeat after me: “plenty of time”.

—

Deep Dive: Mr Tottle was convinced you could ‘jump a grade’ in the last five minutes of an exam by not panicking, checking your work and having another go at any question you thought you couldn’t do. Leonard Bernstein’s quote reveals something of the truth of getting things done , and offers hope to anyone who procrastinates or takes time to get going. This TED talk by Adam Grant brilliant rewards fifteen minutes of your time, but if you are in a rush, start from 2 mins 30 sec for another way to arm yourself against torschlusspanik (hat tip to my son Alex for telling me about this).

Mental Model: when we have too much time, we tend to sweat the small stuff. Life is fractal, so there is always a rabbit hole that you might end up falling down. A 14th century English monk developed a neat trick to help us simplify, slicing through the mental ropes that can sometimes hold us down: Occam’s Razor. Never leave home without it.
Procrastination and Distraction
By: Chaz Miles
Tags: Motivation, Self Improvement, Distraction, Self, Procrastination

Procrastination and Distraction

Do you prefer to sit there and do anything except what it is you should be doing?

Me too.

I’m very guilty, no need to go to trial, I admit it.

I’ve tried the one day bursts to do everything that needs to get done, it works, for that day. The next day I fall back into the same cycle, allowing myself to get distracted by everything else possible only getting to what needs to be done at the very last moment before it’s an issue, or even sometimes letting it become an issue.

I think I might be able to fix it now, I’ve gone through the cycle enough. I know that if I make all my large changes right away, it won’t happen. If I allow myself to slip into it, I will, especially if I ask too much of myself all at once.

So here’s what I’m going to do…

I’m going to improve a little bit, a little bit at a time. Instead of sitting there staring at the screen watching an endless stream of YouTube videos, Netflix or memes, I’ll find a way to be productive.

I’m going to put in my headphones, step away, get some housework done.

If it all goes well, I’m going to try to throw in some exercise in there, while I watch some Netflix or YouTube, I mean, why can’t I do both?

When I’m not doing that, I’m going to set aside some time to read a book and gain some knowledge, because I don’t remember the last time I did that. I believe learning and reading should be lifetime endeavors, it’s time to exercise that belief.

I think I can do it, I just have to make myself, nobody else is going to do it for me, it’s time to spend my time a little more directed.

How do you direct and focus yourself? Let me know, I’d love to hear it.
Your Productivity Guide for 2021: Mindset, Setup, Action
By: Alexandra Martin
Tags: Productivity Guide, Productivity, Task Management, Time Management, Procrastination

Basic concepts for outstanding productivity

Efficiency

Efficiency means doing things quickly, while effectiveness is doing the right things. Outstanding productivity occurs when besides the simple output per unit of time (e.g. Bob making 20 burgers per hour) you focus on efficiency too (e.g. Bob making 15 burgers per hour at the same time not getting orders mixed up, using the right amount of ingredients, being nice to the customers, etc). If you read the numbers only, you’d think the simple output is enough, but those customers might not come back again for another burger. Ultimately, quality trumps quantity.

Extrapolate this to the team level, and you can see how effective (team) communication makes or breaks a project. Miscommunication, a blunt email, a misunderstood direction can add unnecessary hours to a project. If you’re interested to read more about effective communication, here are a few articles:

TIP: The best productivity framework to help you increase your performance in the long run is the OKR methodology.

Focus

The brain’s focused state consumes 25% of your body’s energy, yet it takes a toll on your mental stamina. Excessive focus tires the brain, making you lose control, become more impulsive, irritable, and less willing to collaborate. This occurs because the brain is wired to alternate between focused and unfocused states.

Contrary to popular belief, an unfocused brain is good for your cognitive and social processing. The “default mode network” (DMN) is a network of interacting brain regions that is active when a person is not focused on the outside world. It takes up 20% of the body’s energy while at rest, which is why it is called an “unfocused” brain. The DMN helps the individual retrieve memories, make connections, link ideas, be more creative, and be able to predict things more accurately. You can train the DMN through positive-constructive daydreaming, walking and aerobic exercises, or napping. Read other research articles on the DMN for more tips.

TIP: The best productivity strategy to improve your focus is the Pomodoro technique.

The Pomodoro cycle at a glance

Prioritization

The best productivity strategy regarding your prioritization processes is the Eisenhower Matrix . . .

Another useful tip that applies to prioritization is to challenge your thinking and discard the sunk cost fallacy. Just because you’ve poured in dozens of hours into a project, it doesn’t mean you need to prioritize it over what truly matters. The best thing you can do is to stop, reschedule, and refocus on what’s meaningful. This is how you can stay truly productive. Busyness does not mean engagement, nor deep work.

Planning

In order to be truly productive, you must have a clear path to success. Be patient, write down your goals, objectives, and initiatives. Take the time to research and break down the project into actionable tasks. Review them monthly or weekly . . .
How to Get Through Procrastination
By: Adam G
Tags: Life, Psychology, Crespi Effect, Work, Procrastination

How to Get Through Procrastination

The struggle and procrastination in the initial phases of starting a new project can be intense. But why does it have to be that hard? Adam G Jan 6·2 min read

There is always light at the end of the tunnel - Photo by Warren Wong on Unsplash

Many of us have at some point or another felt a struggle when trying to reach our goals. The initial phases of work are almost always harder because the rewards are lower or even non-existent. When the rewards increase in size or value working becomes easier and more pleasing. You might argue that this feeling is natural, and you are right, there is actual science behind it.

It is called the “Crespi Effect” and was discovered by US psychologist Leo P. Crespi in 1942. He placed food in a maze and let rats search for it and each round he increased the reward. By doing this he found out that the speed of the rats was proportional to the increase in food. He also tested the opposite by decreasing the reward and found that the rats searched slower the next round. At the same time, he used control rats that always got the small reward and discovered that they ran faster than the rats that got their food decreased.

But Adam, i am not a rat…

Of course, you are not a rat but the species has played a huge role in psychology for a long time. The reason for this is — to put it simply — just works. We can see many similarities in the behavior of rats and humans and therefore we continue using them in the labs. Now back to the Crespi Effect. Everyone starts a new project at some point, maybe it is beginning with a new side hustle. When doing this you might procrastinate just because the rewards are low. We psychologically work slower because the rewards are not showing any increase. But as soon as the followers start increasing or the revenue rises we get this boost, this feeling of hope to work harder and this can be explained with the Crespi Effect. It might also explain the dip in motivation when revenue might be down or things are going worse generally.

This psychological effect is good to have in mind when starting a new project to get you through the initial phases of procrastination and struggle. Remember that if you just keep going the results are likely to show and then you will be motivated to work even harder for even bigger rewards.

This is my first article and I would really appreciate some feedback in the comments. Thank you for reading!
Willingness
By: Veda Prajvalan
Tags: Reaching Goals, Getting Started, Perfectionism, Willingness, Procrastination

“Demonstrate Willingness” is posted in my room as a reminder to stay open, curious and flexible. I’ve tried closed, insular and resistant in the past and it didn’t work that well for me. Still, perfectionism and procrastination present “opportunities” for more growth and I find I can be resistant and unmotivated to start things that are important. I’ve found by focusing on willingness (sometimes the willingness to be willing) I can find some baby step I can take in the direction of my overall destination.

I’ve always encouraged my clients to set goals that start from where they are, however small, to make it achievable and easy. It’s easier to exercise for 2 minutes and work off of that momentum up to 10 minutes, and beyond, than to start from zero and “commit” to a strenuous challenge. And for those that do take on a lot, but then may not sustain the effort, it’s important to give credit for the reach and intention rather than using it to reinforce that they “can’t” be successful. Making things fun and appealing, where possible, naturally makes willingness easier to come by. And remembering rewards for progress is equally important to motivation.

I have a lot of writing projects at various stages that I am intending to make progress on. Some were started years ago. It’s taken a lot of willingness and small steps to brush them off, start again, commit to putting my voice out there and deem it “good enough.” If I don’t build that muscle starting where I am, I won’t suddenly find one day that my books are finished or my work is published.

It is my hope in the process of reaching my goals that I can share something of interest or value to others and welcome deeper dialogue. And wishing everyone success and plenty of willingness for their aims in the coming year!
Man, I don’t feel like working out, maybe Tomorrow…
By: Talha Ahmad
Tags: Self Improvement, Dailymotivation, Daily Thoughts, Self Improvement Tips, Procrastination

Credit goes to the one who made the Original Meme

Man, I don’t feel like working out, maybe Tomorrow…

Our mind has a way of always rationalizing procrastination, we don’t have to look at any statistics, deep down most of us already know how true this is.

“You see, stagnation is the process of thinking you are not yet ready, one day, but not yet.” -Your World Within

Unless there is a deadline of some sort, the brain rationalizes postponing the inevitable. Even though this only results in regret, we continue to repeat this dilemma, over and over again.

Procrastination is a very common thing.

Almost like a pandemic, it is there in almost all of us, and it is very real.

Unless we choose action overthinking, we always fall prey to it.

Relaxing and Procrastinating are two totally different things…

Now, this post is not a “push” that you may need to get that work done, it’s simply a reminder that there is always a reason to postpone, yet there is always also a reason to take action.

The question is what will you choose?

Will it be the pain of discipline?

Or perhaps, the pain of regret?

Just the choice alone may change the trajectory of your life.
Can’t Stop Procrastin-eating?
By: Yael Shira
Tags: Practice, Eating, Bad Habits, Procrastination, Writing Community

Can’t Stop Procrastin-eating?

I’m staying alone in a friend’s home for a few weeks, for what I intended to set aside as a solo writing retreat. It’s been a lot of solo snacking, with brief writing breaks in between.

For the last year and a half I have been working on a book which, in my disorganization (see: scattered) and excitement (“I want to write about everything!”), is essentially a mess of papers and post it notes and ramblingly incoherent files on Scrivener. I tried to make order of it, and ended up with half finished spreadsheets and entire folders dedicated to the ‘About,’ without any content added. I knew I needed to sit down to look through what there is, and begin to pull pieces out from the mess and bring them into the world. And I needed to get out of my own space, especially once COVID restrictions ended and the things around me burst back into action.

So I am here, alone in a home with piles of papers and a pantry of snacks.

Here are some things that have become clear:

I am afraid of this project And I’m meeting internal resistance. Plus perfectionist tendencies that amplify anxiety. Shaming myself or feeling guilty is like hitting myself. Yael, stop hitting yourself. It’s okay to procrastinate. And it’s okay to eat. This is a learning process. It’s a practice. How can I be kind to myself? Pause, breathe. Listen to some music. Do a little dance. And if you eat, enjoy it. It’s a wonderful thing to have something delicious.

&& slowly slowly, the writing beats onward.

Back to the book! For now, this has been twenty five minutes.
Why not today?
By: Shobhit Mishra
Tags: Poetry, Life, Procrastination, Lessons In Life

Welcome Again!

You will only miss the chances that you won’t take.

What are the things which are common in all the failure cases? Any guesses ?

There can be n number of things, right? Let’s just highlight few of them

1. Procrastination

2. Will do it later attitude

3. Inconsistency

Confucius said, “The journey with a 1000 miles begins with one step.”

I was not there, LOL but when I read it I felt it I knew right at the moment that it is right. We often do not even realize what to do, how to do and what’s the starting point.

In reality, there is none! Everybody is just trying and successful are those who just keep doing it again and again until outcomes are not in their favour.

Recently, I was going through a book written by Yuval Noah Harari, I found that since millions of years homo sapiens survived because they kept trying and evolved so much because deep down they were consistent about growth. ( Just imagine how much centuries it took for humans to learn about fire, clothes, farming, weapons, utensil, shelter, etc.) if those guys without school, graduation, post graduation could have that curiosity to start doing something then just think about it. I feel like you got my point. xD

Well, now the point is what is the difference between them and us, there is one very important one “SURVIVAL”, They did it all because they had to survive and why we are not doing it? Let me think

We already have everything that will help us to survive but is that what we really want, is it?

The answer would be “NO”, Mr. X really want to start a book, Mr. Y always felt like starting their first podcast, Mr. Z always wanted to start on his start up (but), (you know), (actually), (it could be)…blah blah blah

There are thousands and thousands of reason to not start that one thing you really want and may be only one to start it.

So, What you can do is just start it, what is the worst thing that can happen ? You will fail, it won’t work ? Somebody will laugh whatever man! It doesn’t matter, there was a time when you couldn’t walk but crawl and you made it my friend. This the right time to start crawling, just do it.

“The first step is to just take the first step”

And Remember one thing, you are doing anything for anyone else it’s for you, so just be on it and kill it.

Also, I have been procrastinating to write and publish this for a very long time but today I asked myself finally

Why not today?

All the best
TIME WASTAGE IS A CURSE:
Tags: Time Wastage, Best Use Of Time, Regrets Of Life, Time Never Stops, Procrastination

It’s going faster than you think.

Are you also tired of wasting time? Do you also want to quit the same 24 hours routine for 7 days a week? Do you also want a little pushup from someone who can make you leave the habit of procrastination?

You are on the right page. Let’s dive straight into it.

TIME ISN’T PASSING, LIFE IS:

We hear a lot of people saying this often, time is running out. Correct yourselves right here because time is not getting out, life is. With every single second, we are heading towards our end. Life is meant for a reason but most of our population die without even knowing that reason. How sad is it to have something but not making use of it?

‘’You cant bring the clock’s needle back’’

LEARN THE WORTH OF YOUR TIME:

If a person loses a single penny, he would regret that penny for so long. It’s human nature that everything considered valuable by us is kept safe. And we are always scared of losing it. This is because we are aware of its worth.

‘’Time is a million times more worthy and precious than any other thing’’

But the fact is we are all unaware of its worth and we keep on wasting it unwarily.

HEAR TO THE TICKING OF CLOCK:

Let’s give ourselves some time and sit in a vacant room and try to listen to the ticking of a clock. The sound of ticking makes us aware that time is passing and we are reaching close to our death, the final destination. It is totally up to us whether to make it devastating or pleasant.

‘’If you are wasting your time, waste it wisely. It’s gonna pay off’’

LIFE IS A GIFT UNLESS WE ARE AWARE OF IT:

Life is a short journey from God to God. In this short journey, we have to climb so many steps to reach the top. but we live the same 24 hours routine for 60–70 years and we call it life. Being stagnant, and sluggish, accustomed to resting on the couch and doing almost nothing. How does it feel to return to God bare-handed?

‘’Life is like an ice-cube. its melting with every passing second.’’

REGRETS TAKE YOU TO DEPRESSION:

Life must have no regrets. We all want to die unburdened. We don’t want to have so many regrets while leaving. But most of the patients on the death bed, when they are asked about their last wish, reply with usher disappointment:

‘’We didn’t fulfill the rights of life. We want little more time to make use of it’’

C ONCLUSION:

It’s alright to walk slowly rather than being stopped. Slow progress will eventually reach you to the top but getting stopped won’t. Lucky is the one who knows the worth of time in his life. Because time is going on by a flicker and we have no idea when it is gonna be over. Let’s not waste time thinking anymore and take the gamble. Take the first step because no one else is gonna take it for you.

Every time belongs to you unless you are making use of it. Learn the habit of keep going from a clock. It never stops. And if you are still waiting for tomorrow to start, your tomorrow won’t come ever.

‘’If not today then never’’
Tackle Procrastination To Triple Your Success
By: Lino John
Tags: Success, Procrastination, Motivation, Tips

I have seen many people who are not lazy but procrastinators, which delimit them from achieving success.

Let’s have a deep look into tactics to overcome procrastination and triple your success.

If you are really worried, Why I am not successful even if I am working so hard here is the reason.

What is Procrastination?

In general, procrastination is the process of ignoring an unpleasant or difficult task but likely more important task in favor of tasks that are more enjoyable or easier.

Eg: Watching Netflix over completing your course video.

Why People Normally Procrastinate?

As I said earlier, procrastinators are not always lazy people who skip tasks for enjoying their hobbies or to fun with friends.

They are people with indefinite goals who switch their minds to get involved in helping the goals of others without looking into their life or career.

To List The Reasons

Wait for the Right Mood and Right Time to execute a task.

Eg: I am having a bad toothache so let’s attend the conference next time when I am perfectly all right.

2. Less Organized with their short-term and long-term goals, never keep a to-do-list of tasks. Don’t know what are the priority duties.

3.Inferiority complex, I am not skilled to achieve those tasks. My limitation never helps me to reach those results.

4.Distraction from external and internal sources like social media or E-Mail notifications, urge to eat or fun with friends than completing a task.

How To Tackle Procrastination?

All the successful personalities sacrificed some of their personal moments to reach where they are now, that's why they are called legends.

Aim to eat an ‘Elephant Beetle First’ first thing every day, execute that difficult task as the most important then you can follow the other jobs quickly and easily. Always commit to a task schedule than flow like a dead fish. Follow a proper plan where others can’t decide how your time and skills are utilized. Promise yourself a reward or compliment for completing a task successfully. Eating your favorite cuisine or watching a new movie. Give yourself a pep talk of motivation, self-talk can boost your confidence, and don’t let to putoff tasks for less important duties. If necessary, seek the assistance of time management applications.

Why Procrastination is Dangerous?

Taling about the impacts of procrastination, it will make us feel guilty and also degrade our productivity.

Make us demotivated. Mental depression in long run. Miss Out achieving higher goals.

“ Procrastination is like a credit card, there is a lot of fun until you get the bill”

Let’s conclude, your laziness is not the reason for your unproductivity but the more harmful ghost called procrastination.

Throw it away and triple your success.
How to Stop Procrastination in 4 Simple Steps
By: Adam Lewis
Tags: Procrastination Nation, Procrastination Quotes, Procrastination Links, Procrastination, Procrastination Causes

There was a time when I procrastinated a lot. Before we start, let me tell you what procrastination actually is. In simple terms, it refers to a situation when you postpone doing things. You have an assignment to complete by today evening and if you keep postponing it day after day, you can say you are procrastinating on that assignment.

My story begins with taking up a course in accountancy. I was interested in art and design but due to some incredible ideas and reading, I took up accounting. After months of doing nothing, failures began to happen. When I couldn’t bear it anymore I started searching for reasons of my procrastination. So, I found that there are two only reasons you might be procrastinating. The big thing is, I procrastinated because of both of these reason.

1. You are not interested in the subject — This type of procrastination is actually helpful. It is an indication that you should be somewhere else doing things you are interested in. When this type of procrastination strikes all you have to do is take up courage and change you path. Better still, make some effort to find interest in the subject you are presently involved.

2. You are distracted from the subject — There may be distractions that are leading to make you procrastinate. The most common hindrances can be something like quick benefits you are thinking about and procrastinating on long term benefits. Here, the key is to take firm decision and constantly stay motivated for you long term goals.

But, I wasn’t convinced with that. I needed more proof and more things that could actually help me get rid of my habit of procrastination. I search and learned a lot of new stuff around the web and eventually, followed these 4 simple steps.

1. Surround yourself with non-procrastinators — A group can motivate you. Get yourself around group of people working upon similar subjects. This is how you will not only stop procrastinating but also learn and stay motivated towards your goal.

2. Stop trying to be perfect — Perfectionists are time wasters in real sense. Once they start believing that their subject isn’t getting perfect, they start procrastinating. I’ve done this before and once I stopped trying to be perfect, I emerged as an efficient time manager.

3. Completing worst jobs help you stop procrastination — Try to motivate yourself and complete the toughest job first. I realized that this helps us by simply getting through other small things easily. If this gets done, the rest of your work won’t be able to stand before you and make you procrastinate.

4. Conversion experience with failure — Lastly, failure is the only teacher that will make you stop procrastinating. I’ve am one guy who actually needed failure to understand that I have to research and remove it from myself. So, if I am advising you something that should also mean I’m not being a hypocrite. This is how I put an end to my procrastination.

Dealing With Procrastination: Eliminating The Thief Of Time
Procrastination & Design
By: Yu Liu, Jason
Tags: Tips, Procrastinate, Time Management, Design, Procrastination

Procrastination & Design

Imageries downloaded from Unsplash

Did anyone experience Procrastination last week? No, not sure? How about raising your hand proudly if you were able to cross out all the tasks written on your post-it last week? Yeah, I know, it’s a tricky question.

So today, I wanna talk about Procrastination.

According to Wikipedia, it’s a habitual delay mechanism when you are doing or about to do something despite knowing the timeline and may cause negative consequences.

Imageries downloaded from Google

One of my favorite public influencers -Adam Grant, once breaks down Procrastination into three elements: the rational decision-maker who drives behind the wheel sees the whole picture. the instant gratification monkey who enjoys living in the present and the panic monster who reconciles the relationship between the first two. After a series of designated research around the Original Thinkers like Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, so on and so forth, he realized that Procrastination is one of the critical traits they have in common. In fact, those Original Thinkers know there’s a sweet spot in the spectrum where the panic monster scares away the monkey and collaborates with the decision-maker. And that’s when Procrastination enhances creativity.

Imageries downloaded from Google

Well, I am a designer who works in the Creative Industry. Shamelessly, I am trying to push myself to be an Original Thinker. And from my perspective, I do feel that Procrastination to Design is kind of like drinking a bottle of five-hour energy when I only have four hours to spend. It could either make my mind completely blank or boost my work efficiency instantly. The good news is because it’s a mechanism, so it could be designed to contain. Now, I’d like to share three things I’ve learned in my experience when dealing with Procrastination.
Procrastination: An excerpt from my mind.
By: Anshul Angira
Tags: Success, Self Improvement, Self-awareness, Happiness, Procrastination

Whether we will procrastinate a specific task would depend upon two words -

Instant Gratification

A task that would instantaneously reward us would likely be repeated more like watching cat videos on youtube. While a task that wouldn’t gratify us at that very instant would be way less appealing like preparing for a test happening a week later.

Like most of us would prefer eating a highly processed visually appealing sugary food rather than eating healthy even after being aware of the fact that those foods harm the body and when the thought of eating healthy comes to our mind, we just prefer to skip it to the next day or the next hour.

Its like doing whatever our impulses instruct us to do.

There’s a good amount of evidence that concludes that all the great inventors/ pioneers who brought revolutions through their work actually loved doing it and that’s where the notion of doing what you love or following your passion came from.

Now, It cant be generalized that those pioneers didn’t prefer something else. They were also humans, many of them loved cooking, hiking and a lot of other things as well. The things that brought them true joy were never what they are known for.

I would love to quote Chris Nolan

In a speech in 2015 at Princeton University he said

“ I don’t want you to chase your dreams. I want you to chase your reality. I want you to understand that you chase your reality not at the expense of your dreams, but as the foundation of your dreams.”

When we really put effort on our brain about what we should be doing rather than binging series on Netflix or doing something that isn’t good for us. We must think this.

What should I be doing, right now at this very moment to achieve my true potential.
Understand the 5 Important Types of Procrastination
By: Adam Lewis
Tags: Procrastination Nation, Procrastination Quotes, Procrastination Links, Procrastination, Procrastination Causes

There was a time when I procrastinated a lot. Procrastination was a big part of my being. So, I researched and read a lot about what procrastination actually is, what the different types of procrastination are and how I can actually help myself to stop procrastinating easily?

One of the websites has some really informative ideas on what procrastination. I believe that if you know that you are procrastinating and you want to stop doing it, the first step is to find out the different types of procrastination habits that might exist in you.

1. Skill deficits — The first type of procrastination is skill deficit. When you lack the skill and that element in you that could help your project or idea, you procrastinate. One good way to stop procrastinating in skill deficits is by starting easy or simply quitting the project and working on something you are skilled at.

2. External obstacles — This is when you are disturbed or in a situation where you think this is not the perfect time to start. “The perfect time to start” isn’t really an obstacle because the right time is almost always in hand. Perfect time to start is about you being in alignment with yourself and your surroundings. A disturbed brain procrastinate.

3. Emotional problems — Depression, lack of confidence or even excessive emotional stress are some of the basic reasons you might be procrastinating. This type of procrastination happens because even though you have all the qualities and resources, you are quite helpless about taking real solid action about completing your tasks.

4. Addictive escapism — Some people out there are always searching for a way to act upon things they want to quit by trying to find solutions to their problems. Their problem is that they keep searching for an answer to their problem that they want to avoid acting upon.

5. Unrecognized inner truth — This reason actually relates to me. Some of us have this understanding that we are not meant to do this. No matter how persuaded or motivated we look from the outside, from the inside we’ve this calling that the path we are upon is not that we are supposed to walk upon. Your inner voice is making you procrastinate.

It is important to know why you are procrastinating to actually beat it. Whenever you feel you are procrastinating make sure you categories it and move forward by taking the most appropriate action that is.

Dealing With Procrastination: Eliminating The Thief Of Time

GET THIS BOOK NOW
Show up before you optimize
By: Guy Erez
Tags: Optimize, Productivity, Procrastination, Show Up

It takes an inordinate amount of time for me to wash the dishes.

You might find this amusing, but I don’t feel like I’m doing anything excessively. Yes, I wash thoroughly, but other people wash the dishes just as thoroughly in half the time.

This made me quite upset, well, until I started listening to audiobooks while doing it. However, when I have some spare time, I usually try to avoid it, as it takes me so much time. Often this simply leads to doing nothing at all, instead of something useful.

So today I noticed that issue and decided to take a different course of action.

You see, it’s quite simple. If you’re trying to decide between doing something suboptimally or at least rather slow in my case, and doing nothing, it’s quite a simple choice. Trivial maybe, but not common practice, especially for personal development enthusiasts such as myself.

So my point for today is rather simple. When you procrastinate, and the options are to show up and perform, even if suboptimally, and doing something irrelevant or unimportant, choose to show up. You’ll be surprised at the difference this small change makes.
The magical 2 minutes. Have you ever sat through a full movie…
By: Vaidy Bala
Tags: Procrastination, Atomic Habit, Writing

Have you ever sat through a full movie that you didn’t like after the first 15 min?

How about a 1-hour intense workout session? Why were you motivated to get through the whole session though you usually hate working out?

If we went by logic, there was no good reason to get through the whole movie or the complete exercise routine.

So, what gives?

The 2-min rule

The starter ritual that propels us forward to complete a certain routine is called a Gateway Habit.

Our brains are wired to keep us going with whatever we’ve started.

This is great news!

Anytime you find yourself postponing something hard, all you need to do is to get it started.

For example, one of the things I procrastinate on is blogging.

So I devised a 2-min gateway habit to just help me get started:

Open up my laptop Open up my favourite writing tool and set it to time-out if I stop writing within 2-min [*]. And wallah! By the time I’m done with 2 minutes, I’ve built up enough momentum and motivation to finish the post.

The first two minutes are all it takes me to get over the fear/anxiety/motivation of writing. The fear of f not coming up having any ideas to write about. The anxiety of if I’d be able to write clearly enough. Or if anyone would read it. Or how long I can keep doing this…

Just 2-min and poof! All those thoughts and worries are gone — and I’m in a state of flow to complete what I started.

Try it. It works like a charm.

[*] I’ve now got a bookmark that takes me straight to my favourite writer with the 2-min timer already set. Here’s the link that does that.
5 easy steps to avoid procrastination while working from home
By: Philippine Vollwder
Tags: Advice, Procrastination, Motivation

We always have a lot of ideas, dreams. We want to open a store, a coffee shop, create videos, finish our studies, get the famous summer body. But we don’t know why they stay in the back of our heads and never do it. Stepping out can be brought with fear, but here are some advices that could help you.

Keep the same routine that you would have if you went to work: I know is it hard to weak up early and put some clothes. The temptation is high in staying in your pajama. Even if you put comfy clothes, don’t stay with the same you sleep with. Your brain needs to understand that it is not any more time to sleep but to get active. Create yourself a place where to work: Don’t work in your bed and don’t eat on your desk. We are all human and can’t stay focused for 10 hours a day. At work you don’t take your break at your desk, it is the same thing at home. You have to find a place for each activity. Create a place where you can create.

“Create a place where you can create.”

Sticks to your schedule: It is important that you keep a strict schedule. It is easy to find yourself still working at 10 pm. Even if you spend the entire day at home, keep the same schedule that you would have at work. Work time is work time and free time is free time. You will be able like this to have something to do the next morning and you will avoid chilling in your bed all day.

“Work time is work time and free time is free time.”

4. To do list: To stay focused on what you have to achieve. To be able to follow your deadlines and to not feel overwhelmed. I would advise you to create a to-do list. But be aware to not create one that is too big or you will be demotivated because you are not able to finish any of it. Instead, break your goal of the day in smaller goals.

5. Reward yourself: Once you finished a big project with the results you expected reward yourself. It could be something you wanted for a long time. It doesn't mean to big but it has to be important to you.

In the end, you could have hundreds of advice on how to not procrastinate, on how to use your days more efficiently. If you don’t put your own will, nothing will happen.
The Procrastinate
By: Govind Mj
Tags: Creative Writing, Writing, Writer, Reality, Procrastination

The Procrastinate

“You may delay, but time will not”. This proverb is momentous in reality. This symbolises shortfall in mankind as well. This makes a person inept in a way. One who put off their task for soon can feel the mishap in them. This makes a person skeptic. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

They are not able to convey a subject or situation since they are abridged. They don’t feel to advance what they do and does something they invoke. This lags the globe if in glut. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

But in a way, procrastination does good. It is an aspect which reveals who we are and our actual achievable expectations. It acts as a catalyst to work faster due to lack of time. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Mankind have been procrastinating since centuries. Though the way of acting of humans changed, procrastination still existed. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Lion’s share of successful people have a secret in life. They procrastinate.

~GMJ