So me being the newly productive individual that I am I decided to do my homework that isn't due until Sunday night. Yes, I'm being
that person. And guess what?! Lo and behold my homework is about learning to set goals. (perfff!) So here is some info I found that I believe will be extremely helpful to our newfound "that person" lives.
This was our old life:
Procrastination is a subconscious attempt to delay the inevitable. It is a tiny hope that somehow, what seems difficult or boring now, will prove to be easier or better still unnecessary later on. And you should not discard that possibility all together. Miracles do happen!
Yet, you can tell that you are compulsively procrastinating when:
1. You get a sudden strong desire to make a 3rd cup of coffee or to grab a snack
2. You become easily annoyed by clutter on your desk and without a further “adieu” you start cleaning out the drawers
3 You check your mail box every half an hour, so you will not miss an important email, just like you did that one time 2 years ago…
4. You have 20 tabs opened on your computer (half of them from youtube.com)
5. You are excited about sending all of your friends a funny joke that you accidentally stumbled upon five minutes ago.
6. Something “highly” urgent comes up and you feel that you must put everything else on hold.
7. You sharpen your pencil and draw a little picture to test it out
8. You come up with 10 possible scenarios of how you may escape doing the project
9. You decide to quickly take a 5 minute break from work and check your facebook account
10. You get upset just by thinking about the certain task, so you do your best to distract yourself by doing something else.
11. You know that Solitaire is the coolest game of all!
12. You know that Solitaire is not the coolest game of all, but you are willing to compromise
13. You suddenly realize that you had a rough week and you deserve a break
14. You decide to give yourself a little “reward” first to motivate yourself into doing something else
15. You just know that you will feel especially productive and inspired tomorrow.
Fun ways to overcome procrastination:
1. If you are doing any of the above mentioned activities – you are procrastinating. Just come clean and admit it. It frees up a lot of your energy that has been wasted on excuses.
2. Use a sandwich method! I have a question for you… What is it that makes a piece of bread taste much better? A slice of cheese or smoked ham in the middle!
Apply the same method to make your daily routine less plain. Always insert a pleasant and easy task in between the main task that you need to do. Promise yourself that if you work on the main task for 25 minutes and you can then switch to something a lot more pleasant. The hardest part is starting. The moment you begin you might actually find yourself willingly working towards completing the whole project! I realize that it sounds unlikely, but, it CAN happen!
THIS WILL NOT BE US ANY LONGER!
Okay, so here's a story:
“One day a salesman came to a little old fashioned neighborhood with neat houses and big front yards. There were dogs on just about every front porch. Some of them barked as the salesman walked by and some of them just lay lazily in the shadow. But there was one particular dog that was acting strangely. He whined and howled as if he was in pain.
Preoccupied, the salesman knocked on the door of the house and an elderly gentleman came and asked if he could help him.
“Sir,”- replied the salesman, “I believe that there is something wrong with your dog. He is moaning and groaning, instead of barking like all the other dogs do.” The owner looked at the dog and said, “There is nothing wrong with him. He is just sitting on a nail”. “If he is sitting on the nail why does he not move?” – asked the salesman in astonishment.
Moral being: Since we got bad grades on our chemistry quiz, because let's be honest we didn't study, then what do we do? Do we sit on a nail and moan and complain about it? NOOOOOO! We go to the library and study and get off that nail and get the best grades EVER and sit on pretty porches and bark.
HUUUUURRRRRAAAAAYYYYY!
Some quotes to lift your spirit while we're slowly dying in Herm's library:
Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.
Stephen R. Covey
People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.
Andrew Carnegie
People who have a vision control their destiny and lifestyle. For people without a vision, their destiny and lifestyle is controlled by others.
