Loved this. Last year taught me a lot about just doing things for the sake of doing them so that one day you'll actually feel motivated to do them and the joy that might have been missing turns up! I especially liked the part about reminding yourself it's your life - so true and a really good idea to do an audit of what you're doing/not doing and why. Thanks for this, Georgia!
Lovely article. I would say reduce the size of your task or to do list. I struggle a lot with wanting to do a lot, fast. Which eventually leads me to doing less. Give yourself small chunks of work. A 1 item to-do list for instance. Something super achievable. And soon you’ll be over delivering.
As someone once said: make sure to aim low enough.
Yes love this! You and Caroline have the same approach. I definitely think ambitious people struggle with cutting down tasks and mastering them - and saying no to other projects. Having 1-3 key to-do tasks a day seems to work well.
Fab article Georgia. It's always so easy to find displacement activities! One of my New Year Goals (yes I am a sad person who still sets them!) is to focus on one thing at a time, and try to resist those delicious d-a's!
I was once told just commit to 2 minutes of whatever it is you want to do and the rest will take care of itself. Want to get healthier - just commit to going to the gym/yoga for 2 minutes. Of course you'll stay and do more. Want to get that proposal sent? Just commit to 2 minutes of writing it. Of course you'll get in the flow and do more. If you can't make the 2 minutes you're probably too tired - go rest instead.
Hey Georgia, It's a constant blight. As a lifelong procrastinator. I've come to think that It's our fear of failure. Of not being good enough at whatever it is we need / want to do. This is the best "cure" of sorts that I've found.
The ironic thing is that, the fact that I'm even writing this is procrastination... Thanks for giving me something to do when I should be doing my homework.
I see procrastination as a matter of importance. And even if we know that certain tasks are important, they are still not important ENOUGH for us to start them. If, however, there is urgency in the mix - one seems to get something done much faster (speaking from my own experience).
So the way I started dealing with procrastination is by not stressing out about it. If I'm not doing something RIGHT NOW - it's probably not THAT important for me right now, so I move on and possibly revisit the task/goal in question at a later stage.
Hey Inga! Thanks so much for reading it :) And super interesting (and contrarian!) response - a great question to ask ourselves: why are we stressing so much about this? And are we able to meet the deadlines that really matter?
Loved this. Last year taught me a lot about just doing things for the sake of doing them so that one day you'll actually feel motivated to do them and the joy that might have been missing turns up! I especially liked the part about reminding yourself it's your life - so true and a really good idea to do an audit of what you're doing/not doing and why. Thanks for this, Georgia!
Yes 100%! Strangely easy to replace joy with obligation.
Lovely article. I would say reduce the size of your task or to do list. I struggle a lot with wanting to do a lot, fast. Which eventually leads me to doing less. Give yourself small chunks of work. A 1 item to-do list for instance. Something super achievable. And soon you’ll be over delivering.
As someone once said: make sure to aim low enough.
Yes love this! You and Caroline have the same approach. I definitely think ambitious people struggle with cutting down tasks and mastering them - and saying no to other projects. Having 1-3 key to-do tasks a day seems to work well.
Fab article Georgia. It's always so easy to find displacement activities! One of my New Year Goals (yes I am a sad person who still sets them!) is to focus on one thing at a time, and try to resist those delicious d-a's!
Yes - excellent resolution!!
I was once told just commit to 2 minutes of whatever it is you want to do and the rest will take care of itself. Want to get healthier - just commit to going to the gym/yoga for 2 minutes. Of course you'll stay and do more. Want to get that proposal sent? Just commit to 2 minutes of writing it. Of course you'll get in the flow and do more. If you can't make the 2 minutes you're probably too tired - go rest instead.
This mantra has served me very well in life :)
Yes - very useful trick!
Hey Georgia, It's a constant blight. As a lifelong procrastinator. I've come to think that It's our fear of failure. Of not being good enough at whatever it is we need / want to do. This is the best "cure" of sorts that I've found.
https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/the-5-minute-hack-instagram-founder-kevin-systrom-uses-to-beat-procrastination.html
The ironic thing is that, the fact that I'm even writing this is procrastination... Thanks for giving me something to do when I should be doing my homework.
Oh wow - this looks popular as a tool! Maybe you and George Palmer should chat :)
Ha. I hadn't seen that. Yes. It works
I enjoyed reading that, Georgia.
I see procrastination as a matter of importance. And even if we know that certain tasks are important, they are still not important ENOUGH for us to start them. If, however, there is urgency in the mix - one seems to get something done much faster (speaking from my own experience).
So the way I started dealing with procrastination is by not stressing out about it. If I'm not doing something RIGHT NOW - it's probably not THAT important for me right now, so I move on and possibly revisit the task/goal in question at a later stage.
Hey Inga! Thanks so much for reading it :) And super interesting (and contrarian!) response - a great question to ask ourselves: why are we stressing so much about this? And are we able to meet the deadlines that really matter?