Comments on: A new weapon in the fight against procrastination http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination Picking out patterns in the chaos Wed, 16 May 2012 20:56:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: danielbu http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2082 danielbu Sun, 02 Jul 2006 07:32:01 +0000 http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2082 Very good. But then you get folks like me - I have a to do list, and the heavier the load, the stronger the drive to avoid the list - and get carried away in emails, etc. So that 4.5 hours on email is fine, but it doesn't pay the bills, or finish the thesis, or whatever. I recommend also Flylady: http://www.flylady.net. What she's great at is the emotional side - I just want to stay at home under the covers, and Flylady knows that, she sympathizes, but that's no reason to have a sinkful of dishes - or a messy desk, or whatever. Just don't subscribe to her list other than digest - talk about inbox overload! and on US Eastern time... Very good. But then you get folks like me - I have a to do list, and the heavier the load, the stronger the drive to avoid the list - and get carried away in emails, etc. So that 4.5 hours on email is fine, but it doesn’t pay the bills, or finish the thesis, or whatever.

I recommend also Flylady: http://www.flylady.net. What she’s great at is the emotional side - I just want to stay at home under the covers, and Flylady knows that, she sympathizes, but that’s no reason to have a sinkful of dishes - or a messy desk, or whatever. Just don’t subscribe to her list other than digest - talk about inbox overload! and on US Eastern time…

]]> By: Markus http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2081 Markus Fri, 30 Jun 2006 02:01:32 +0000 http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2081 Mad William: is any thought you don´t agree a load of garbage? Even 100% unacceptable (for you) thoughts deserve some respect, at least in the form of silence. If everyone on this planet would take your position on other people´s "wrong" ideas, I hardly believe that we´d even have the freedom to simply speak without a written permission. Just a thought... please dont´t ban me if you desagree. Mad William: is any thought you don´t agree a load of garbage? Even 100% unacceptable (for you) thoughts deserve some respect, at least in the form of silence. If everyone on this planet would take your position on other people´s “wrong” ideas, I hardly believe that we´d even have the freedom to simply speak without a written permission. Just a thought… please dont´t ban me if you desagree.

]]> By: Alison http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2080 Alison Fri, 30 Jun 2006 00:50:40 +0000 http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2080 You're right, the ability to look back at your day and see what you accomplished is an enormous help in overcoming procrastination. Neil Fiore, in his book "The Now Habit," recommends scheduling everything EXCEPT work into your calendar, including time to play and relax. Then you record the work you've done after the fact. He calls it the Unschedule. I just started using it this week, and I see the genius in it for a procrastinator like me. You’re right, the ability to look back at your day and see what you accomplished is an enormous help in overcoming procrastination. Neil Fiore, in his book “The Now Habit,” recommends scheduling everything EXCEPT work into your calendar, including time to play and relax. Then you record the work you’ve done after the fact. He calls it the Unschedule. I just started using it this week, and I see the genius in it for a procrastinator like me.

]]> By: Jeri http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2079 Jeri Thu, 29 Jun 2006 20:35:04 +0000 http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2079 I've worked from home for over 15 years, and relate direcly to all you're saying. This thought sums it up for me: "When you accept that your To Do list is more like a Mobius Strip than an actual list, you accept that it will never be[en] finished. The question then becomes "At what point do I abandon my day as 'finished'?". Sometimes it's dictated by deadlines, but more often than not it should be dictated by "When I have worked a full working day", which I interpret to be between 7 and 8 hours." THANKS! I’ve worked from home for over 15 years, and relate direcly to all you’re saying. This thought sums it up for me:

“When you accept that your To Do list is more like a Mobius Strip than an actual list, you accept that it will never be[en] finished. The question then becomes “At what point do I abandon my day as ‘finished’?”. Sometimes it’s dictated by deadlines, but more often than not it should be dictated by “When I have worked a full working day”, which I interpret to be between 7 and 8 hours.”

THANKS!

]]> By: Robert Andrews http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2078 Robert Andrews Thu, 29 Jun 2006 16:30:20 +0000 http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2078 My s.o. and I had a Moleskine-fest on Saturday; she bought an A5 diary, me three mini notebooks. I'm jealous she has the diary - whilst they're lovely, an online calendaring "solution" is best for me. Yet my mobile phone situation (with which the calendars would sync) is in a state of flux at the moment. My s.o. and I had a Moleskine-fest on Saturday; she bought an A5 diary, me three mini notebooks. I’m jealous she has the diary - whilst they’re lovely, an online calendaring “solution” is best for me. Yet my mobile phone situation (with which the calendars would sync) is in a state of flux at the moment.

]]> By: swarup http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2077 swarup Thu, 29 Jun 2006 11:28:44 +0000 http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2077 A planner I recommend is PLANiT OrganiZer- paper based and beautifully creative! Its like your personal assistant prompting you to plan according to your energy levels(that way you dont do the hard things when you feeling dozy). And there are little boxes to plan for YOU -your career,health and family Check it out at www.planitorganizer.com At the end of each day you havev the option to summarise how you fared. A planner I recommend is PLANiT OrganiZer- paper based and beautifully creative! Its like your personal assistant prompting you to plan according to your energy levels(that way you dont do the hard things when you feeling dozy). And there are little boxes to plan for YOU -your career,health and family Check it out at http://www.planitorganizer.com
At the end of each day you havev the option to summarise how you fared.

]]> By: Suw http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2076 Suw Thu, 29 Jun 2006 06:30:59 +0000 http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2076 Lex ly: Just a cheap, A5, week-to-view diary. Lisa: Thanks for the tip. Merlin's stuff is gold dust. Mike: Haven't heard of the Franklin Planner system, but I think the system I have is working out for me... at least for now! I'm really bad at doing anything 'correctly', so prefer things that I can sort of fudge together. Leo: There's two things at work here: a career I rather like, and a commitment to an organisation that I value. Every aspect of life has chores, like it or not. They are what let me go smell the roses afterwards. It's a case of minimising chores and maximising rose-smelling. And, for the record, you're interpreting this post as if I'm complaining about my quality of life. I'm not. I love my life, and I'm living it just fine. However, I could use a little improvement in the efficiency with which I deal with my work. And frankly, couldn't we all? Everyone who mentioned GTD: Yeah, I ought to finish reading it. Meantime, it's a great way to get lots of hits on a blog post... Oopsie, I didn't just say that did I? ;-) Lex ly: Just a cheap, A5, week-to-view diary.

Lisa: Thanks for the tip. Merlin’s stuff is gold dust.

Mike: Haven’t heard of the Franklin Planner system, but I think the system I have is working out for me… at least for now! I’m really bad at doing anything ‘correctly’, so prefer things that I can sort of fudge together.

Leo: There’s two things at work here: a career I rather like, and a commitment to an organisation that I value. Every aspect of life has chores, like it or not. They are what let me go smell the roses afterwards. It’s a case of minimising chores and maximising rose-smelling.

And, for the record, you’re interpreting this post as if I’m complaining about my quality of life. I’m not. I love my life, and I’m living it just fine. However, I could use a little improvement in the efficiency with which I deal with my work. And frankly, couldn’t we all?

Everyone who mentioned GTD: Yeah, I ought to finish reading it. Meantime, it’s a great way to get lots of hits on a blog post… Oopsie, I didn’t just say that did I? ;-)

]]> By: Mad William Flint http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2075 Mad William Flint Thu, 29 Jun 2006 01:37:29 +0000 http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2075 Leo: Load of garbage. I don't want to do my laundry, but that doesn't mean that what I REALLY want is to wear the same jeans for 8 weeks straight with no washing, does it? To progress at all you need to plan. Otherwise your life never changes and you never grow. having aspirations and goals is entirely independent of the expectations of others. Planning, even in the most casual way, gives more than it takes. Try it some day. You'll find you have more time to smell the roses afterwards. Leo: Load of garbage. I don’t want to do my laundry, but that doesn’t mean that what I REALLY want is to wear the same jeans for 8 weeks straight with no washing, does it? To progress at all you need to plan. Otherwise your life never changes and you never grow. having aspirations and goals is entirely independent of the expectations of others. Planning, even in the most casual way, gives more than it takes. Try it some day. You’ll find you have more time to smell the roses afterwards.

]]> By: etfd http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2074 etfd Thu, 29 Jun 2006 00:00:31 +0000 http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2074 I also purchased David Allan's "Getting Things Done," and agree it was a great book. It wasn't life altering (though I'm sure it is for some) but it did containe useful ideas that were very easy to implement. To those unfamiliar with it, at the core of the book (in my opinion) are a collection of useful filing techniques to organize your daily/weekly/monthly tasks. The ideas in the book are obvious, yet they are the kinds of things that nobody really has time to sit down and figure out. It's a good buy, you can probably pick up a cheap used copy on Amazon. I also purchased David Allan’s “Getting Things Done,” and agree it was a great book. It wasn’t life altering (though I’m sure it is for some) but it did containe useful ideas that were very easy to implement.

To those unfamiliar with it, at the core of the book (in my opinion) are a collection of useful filing techniques to organize your daily/weekly/monthly tasks. The ideas in the book are obvious, yet they are the kinds of things that nobody really has time to sit down and figure out.
It’s a good buy, you can probably pick up a cheap used copy on Amazon.

]]> By: Bob Jenkins http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2073 Bob Jenkins Wed, 28 Jun 2006 22:44:01 +0000 http://strange.corante.com/2006/06/27/a-new-weapon-in-the-fight-against-procrastination#comment-2073 the story is on digg! http://digg.com/tech_news/A_new_weapon_in_the_fight_against_procrastination Digg it! the story is on digg!

http://digg.com/tech_news/A_new_weapon_in_the_fight_against_procrastination

Digg it!

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