Top tips to stop procrastinating…
Set the Table
Setting yourself up for the day, what can you realistically achieve today, be ruthless in only listing the tasks you will achieve. Have an opening ceremony which means you are ready to begin the day. I light a candle on my desk and say that nuggets is now open for business!!
Look at the week
On Friday plan the week ahead, look at your meetings and diary commitments and plan in project time. Book time with yourself to do specific pieces of work.
Consequences
This is the 10/10/10 rule. Ask yourself how will I feel in 10 hours if I have not achieved what I set out to achieve. How will I feel in 10 days time if I still have not achieved what I set out to achieve. The final 10 is what will I feel in 10 weeks time when some-one else has been given the task I was asked to achieve.
Prioritise
If you have a long to do list it is hard to identify what to do first and what is a priority. Use a very simple system of A/B/C/D/E. A tasks are your top priority and have to be done today. B can slip into tomorrow and C are nice to do when there is time. D is to be delegated and E is to be deleted from the list. Realistically we only really use the A, B and C.
Key Results
Identifying your A tasks will also give you focus on what will give you the greatest return. What tasks will generate the key results you are looking for.
Ritualise time management
By having an opening and closing ceremony each day you are acknowledging your achievements and you are focused for the next day.
Do the most difficult task first
Always tackle the task you have been overthinking first. It will be blocking your bandwidth in your head. Once you start it is never as bad as it seems.
Chunks of time
Think of small chunks of time, don’t look at the whole day as one piece of work. Try the pomodoro technique by Francesco Cirillo, work on a task for 25 minutes (pomodoro) and then take 5 minute break. Work to four pomodoros and then you are able to take a longer break of 30 minutes.
Set Deadlines
Impose deadlines on yourself, I have to finish by lunchtime or by the end of the week. Adrenaline helps us enter a flow state and forces us into action.
Please do get in touch for a workshop on “Procrastinating” bev@nuggetsoflearning.co.uk
