Team Taskmaster

The Best Ways to Kick Procrastination's Butt

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Procrastination
Strategy
Time management
Tips

The final days of Team Taskmaster are nigh, so I'm resurfacing some of the past year and a half's most popular or on-point posts. Today, I want to talk about procrastination. (Yes, right now!) I'm a fabulous procrastinator. In fact, that's probably at least in part why I chose journalism as a career: Without drop-dead deadlines looming over me, I'd never get any writing done. Since I recognize this tendency in myself, I'm also constantly on the lookout for ways to battle my "I'll get to it later" syndrome. Luckily, there's plenty of fodder out there. I've discovered, for instance, that procrastination is an expensive habit. And that when I'm facing an onerous task, the best way to begin is to start small. Keeping track of what you're doing, and when you're doing it, can help minimize distractions and detours, so check out these 10 ways to manage your time better. Viewing an Internet outage as an opportunity (or voluntarily turning off your connection) can also help keep you on track. Plenty of people are fans of the two-minute rule for clearing out the small tasks that can derail your larger projects. You'd also do well to minimize distractions, especially when working from home -- where it's oh-so-easy to get led astray. But don't forget, while procrastination inevitably involves delays, not all delays are procrastination. And sometimes, procrastination can signal some hidden truths. And don't feel as if your procrastination is a character flaw; turns out we can blame our brains. In the end, while it's great to work on minimizing your procrastination tendencies, work shouldn't be a long, humorless to-do list. So don't beat yourself up too much. After all, you always get more done when you're having fun. (image by der sich den wolf tanzt via Flickr, CC 2.0)

posted by CC Holland
October 13, 2009 @ 6:11 am

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Last 10 posts:

So long, farewell, and happy trails to all of you! (10-16)
How to Make Your Meetings Better (10-14)
The Best Ways to Kick Procrastination's Butt (10-13)
Hack Your Resume, Play Hard-to-Get, and Other Career Advice (10-12)
Powermat: Efficiency Booster, or Useless Gizmo? (10-08)
Why We're Wired for Procrastination (10-06)
9 Ways to Hack Your Brown-Bag Lunch (10-05)
Downward Dog, Upward Productivity (10-02)
Are the French More Productive Than Us? (10-01)
9 Traits to Rocket You Through the Ranks (09-30)