There was an article in last week's New Scientist about procrastination, and about a scientist called Piers Steel at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada who has spent the last ten years studying why people procrastinate. I was delighted when I read that he intends to publish his work, but hasn't got around to it yet.
He does give some tips to help people who procrastinate. I reproduce them here in the hope that they will be of help to someone, possibly me.
- Make a firm commitment to your boss or partner to finish a task by a certain time. This will make delays more embarrassing and difficult to cover up.
- Strip your workspace of all distractions, from your iPhone to your Xbox. Then turn off the "ding" on your email. "We have all these temptations," says Steel. "We’ve made our world motivationally toxic."
- Many people say that they put things off because they are too tired to deal with them, so get a good night's sleep and try tackling the most unpleasant and difficult tasks early in the day.
- Set a series of realistic goals. Some counsellors and therapists recommend drawing up weekly, daily or even hourly goals. The more readily sidetracked you are, the more you need to divide your main task into smaller chunks.
- Promise yourself a reward for each goal that you meet.
- Believe in yourself. "The old saying is true," says Steel. "Whether you believe you can or believe you can't, you are probably right."
- Outsource your motivation. Get someone else to regularly goad you into action.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to my readers, if I have any readers. I will write more in the New Year when I get around to it.
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1 comment:
Happy New Year Mike ! ofcourse you have readers - we're just the silent majority....
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