Hello. So. School will be starting for many members of EMC and work will continue to go for many on EMC... And stuff. I don't know. Anyway, I saw a post on xxcapmanxx's profile about ways to get around procrastination, and I wanted to see more responses for my own sake and the sake of others... So any tips on working around procrastination? Thanks!
I'm not great at not procrastinating. but here's what I learned over the course of earning my degree and successfully not procrastinating on enough occasions to actually pass my courses with flying colors. identify the task know why "not completing this task is a bad idea" break it down into teeny-tiny steps if you thrive with a to-do list and checking stuff off, make the list and check it off with celebration as you complete the tasks. if you're like me and don't do so well with to-do lists, just try to keep a general running tally in your head. specifics don't matter so much, as long as you remain mindful of your progress and don't let the hidden iceberg of unfinished tasks distract you or get you down. Here's a live example, based on the task of "I have a research paper due soon and I haven't done any of the research for it!" Believe it or not, I have been there about a hundred times in the past five years alone. Rather than deal with "the research is due in 7 days" and try to tackle it all at once .... I've learned it's better to deal with the research part in steps very much like these: pick a general topic do a google/wiki search to find general consensus search through academic journal catalogues (jstor, etc) on the subject so see what the qualified experts have already said in this general topic - this is where I use the colloquial knowledge gained from the google/wiki search. it is the last time I use the results of google/wiki, from here on out, it's just academic journals. collect 3 potential sources at a time, trying to stay relevant to a more specific topic as i learn more through basic research, be willing to change the more specific topic/direction of my paper (which is very changeable at this stage) - I don't know much about what is actually being said yet, and there's little worse than trying to shoehorn proof to support an invalid claim. repeat the source collection step until I have between 18-24 articles (or less, depending on how many I am required to cite in the paper itself) read the summary of an academic journal article to figure out what it says throw out all any not-exactly-on-topic article (usually 2/3's of what I collected, which is why I start with so many) repeat those two steps for each article read a journal article, making notes in the margins about important or interesting topics repeat that step for each journal article throw out any that aren't on-topic (maybe a third of the remaining) form a direction and specific topic for the paper, based on what I know after having done the research re-read an article, making more notes, looking for potential supporting quotes to use in the paper - use a highlighter sparingly, but underlining and margin-notes (marginalia) are your bff's here repeat for each article make a bibliography entry for each academic journal article which I plan to quote in the paper as you can see, the massive task turns into a large list of smaller tasks, which can be easily tackled in bite-sized chunks. the major important thing to remember is that it's all about perspective. how you think about the problem makes a big impact on how likely you are (or aren't) to procrastinate. Some people see a big task and run to something easier, less daunting. Some people see a seemingly simple task and leave it for later. The solution to both of these forms of procrastination is to "know your enemy" - which is, in this case, the task at hand which you're procrastinating over.
I didn't read what Saz wrote but it's long so it must be good. I'll read this later when i have the time.
https://youtu.be/mhFQA998WiA This has helped me sooo much with procrastination. Once you understand how your brain reacts to procrastinating, and you realize that you're attempting to feel good now at the cost of causing lots of harm to your future self, it really helps not doing it. The main teaching is what Saz said, breaking things down into smaller, concrete tasks. Another great thing from that video, we assume that the more we do the things we want, the more freedom we have, but it's actually the oposite. Doing all your daily tasks asap (or according to a schedule) leaves you with a lot more free time by the end of the day, which you can enjoy however you want + you feel so much better because you did everything you needed.
the best thing to do when you start procrastinating is to stop procrastinating, kinda like this sentence not being compl
right now I have reminders post-it-note'd onto the wall at various places I find myself looking at on a semi-regular basis as a passive reminder system set up to keep me mindful of the task at-hand. since I have a bad habit of neglecting the things i'm meant to be doing, a passive reminder system really works well for me. I don't use timed reminders, since I just end up snoozing them and ignoring them lol the post-its all remind me about the thing I'm supposed to be doing, but often procrastinate on. There's one on my mirror, right in the middle of where my face shows up. There's one on the wall opposite the toilet in my bathroom. There's one on both sides of my bedroom door. and they all ask "What have you written today?"
I got through the entirety of college (British college, which is the equivalent of American High School, I guess) leaving things to the last minute. I do it because I know that I'm smart enough to pass things even with minimal effort at the last minute. That's not me recommending it at all - no, I regret doing that because the stress when I finally get around to doing whatever I need to do isn't worth it. I had three easily preventable panic attacks while in school that were due to delaying work throughout Year 12 - they went away in Year 13 because I learned how to control them and slightly reduced the amount I procrastinated. I also became an unpleasant person to be around (evident with any new person I met during 2017, and on this website) and my mental health isn't stable, so the stress knocks it even more off course. When you have an influence like that, it's easy But yeah, do what's already been recommended. I'm still figuring it out myself and I'm interested how my habits are going to translate in a work environment when I start working within the next month. You probably shouldn't wait this long to try and... you know, not procrastinate.
Hm. I might try that. Also, doing something like that like a reminder system on a phone sounds similar and more easier for me... I want to try this. I'll take your tip on timed reminders!
I watched the video and took notes, pretty helpful, I thought as it progressed it got better, and the ending had some nice tips. Thanks!
