The Problem: Beginning Something Too Late
The problem of how to beat procrastination is often acute. Let’s say you are given an assignment and you have two weeks time to do it. How do yo handle this? For many of us it goes like this:
- Two weeks in advance – it is too early: you cannot bring yourself to starting the task just yet
- One week in advance – it would be the optimum time: you should start now but you can’t… don’wana
- One day in advance – the deadline is apporaching: you must start now or you get in trouble, so you do it
We all know this effect. This does also not mean that the final product will be bad; many times the adrenalin rush and the forced creativity of a pushing deadline result in fairly good deliverable products…
And yes, did I mention the adrenalin rush – or rather the dependency of it – yet?
The second main culprit for not being able to start in time is our inner perfectionist. The inner perfectionist whispers in your ear: “Don’t start yet, or else everybody will see that you cannot produce perfect results even if you are given the optimal setup… start late so that you have an excuse for your lousy mediocre work”.
Is this optimal? Short answer: No. In the eyes of time management this kind of behavior is for amateurs .
Still, we are all human and sometimes we need to trick our mind. Below is one solution on how to beat procrastination that works. It is an application of one of the tips we outline in our article fast tips against procrastination.
How to Beat It Tip #1: Use a Timer
Our practical suggestion is that you use a timer. Like the one at www.meditationtimer.net. It looks like this:
(that one is a picture, it doesn’t work)
The settings in the pic above also shows the setting I use: 20 minutes of dedicated time. I also like the timer to give a beep every 5 minutes. You will be surprised how fast 20 minutes goes by.
So, the solution goes like this:
- Start your task in time, preferably at the the one week before “don’wana” stage
- If you feel resistance, use this tool to force yourself to start!
- Set up the timer and just start working
- Don’t let yourself be disturbed, just work
- See what you achieved in 20 minutes
- You are now possibly “in the mood”, if so take a 5 minute break and do it again
- Re-iterate stages 3-6 as many times as you feel like it
Be effective! Have fun!
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