“It’s too hard. I’ll think about it for now and do it later.”
“I’m tired and have had a long day. I deserve to watch the entire season of 24 in one sitting.”
“I don’t feel like doing it right now.”
Maybe you have heard some of these excuses from your friends. So why is it so hard to just get down to it and get stuff done?
We know what we have to do, but often these important activities just get brushed aside for other things that keep us superficially busy.
Productivity takes more than “willpower” and “discipline.” I’ve given up trying to be disciplined. Rather I am going to assume from now on that I have minimal discipline when it comes to getting stuff done, and I will need to automate my schedule so I can’t even think about procrastinating. It’s like leaving your gym bag in front of the door at night so you don’t forget it in the morning.
One way to do this is fixed schedule productivity. This is a strategy I picked from Cal Newport’s blog www.studyhacks.com. The premise is that setting aside fixed blocks of time will allow you to automate the process of wondering what to do next. Personally, I use Google Calendar to set appointments throughout the day dedicated to certain tasks. For example, I know I have a project due at the end of the month that will require a total of 20 hours to complete. So, I schedule an hour a day Monday through Friday specifying the time and location where I will work on this project. The location is important. Pick an inspiring place where you will be able to focus on just that task.
This approach can negate the urge to procrastinate. Why?
1) I have removed the responsibility from myself to consciously think about what to do when. I spent 5 mins. entering the appointments in my calendar and now I don’t have to worry about deciding when to work on this project.
2) This breaks a large project into smaller pieces. Rather than waiting until the weekend before to get started, I would have been working on the project for the previous four weeks. This is way less stressful and might even make the project enjoyable.
3) A fixed schedule helps build momentum. Often, the tasks that need to get done aren’t all that hard, and just dedicating some some time to get started gets the ball rolling.
I am still refining my fixed schedule, but I have already seen it work for me. Now instead of just burning a hour or two in between class watching videos online, I use that hour to review for a class, read a book I have wanted to catch up on, or brainstorm ideas for new projects. These small chunks of time begin to add up to a lot over time.
I have finally accepted that I have a tendency to procrastinate, but now I have a weapon to fight off the procrastination monster. Give it a try!
