The Procrastination Log Book – an easy way to beat procrastination!
Written by Julia Bickerstaff // October 7, 2015 // Daily Juice // No comments
Are you a procrastinator? Oh me TOO! But here’s a technique which helps! Really!
This is easy and fun and helps you understand what drives YOUR procrastination. And that’s important because your best way of beating procrastination will depend upon why you do it in the first place. YES?!
The Procrastination Log Book!
Get a notebook and call it your “Procrastination Log book”. Every time you feel yourself procrastinating write down in it:
1 The task you are procrastinating on.
2 The day and time.
3 Your energy level. ( A little scale of 1 to 5 will do here, where 5 is bouncing and 1 is back-to-bed)
4 Why you are procrastinating.
5 The thing you find yourself doing instead of the task you are procrastinating on.
That’s it! But keep writing in the log book for a month at least. That way you’ll start to see patterns.
Look at what your Procrastination Log Book is telling you!
Once you’ve got a few entries in your Procrastination Log Book start looking through it for patterns. The patterns will help you understand your procrastination habits.
Things to look for:
1 Are there particular tasks which you always procrastinate on? (I used to find it hard to get started with writing tasks which is a bit ironic as I do a LOT of writing!)
2 Is there a common time of the day when you procrastinate?
3 Are your energy levels causing you to procrastinate!? If it turns out you are only procrastinating when you are tired, be gentle on yourself. You probably just need a break! ( I, on the other hand, am very good at procrastinating even when I’ve got tons of energy! )
4 The top 3 reasons that you procrastinate.
5 The top 3 things you do instead of the task you are procrastinating on. (Mine are make a cup of tea, check email and look at Facebook!)
When you get to question 4, if you seem to have only one or two reasons for procrastinating, try delving a bit deeper into the “why” when you are writing your Log Book entries. So instead of saying, for example, “The task is hard”, think about what exactly it is about this task that makes it feel hard.
The secret benefit to keeping a Procrastination Log
I’ve found that simply keeping a Procrastination Log Book has made me less of a procrastinator! I think that the act of acknowledging that I’m procrastinating, plus writing down why I’m doing it has actually helped me to just get-on-with-the-work!
Four of the best ways to beat Procrastination
Your best bet for beating procrastination will depend upon why you procrastinate in the first place. Now you know a bit more about yourself (from your Procrastination Log Book) you’ll be able to think of ways to counteract the urge to procrastinate.
Your reasons for procrastinating are special to you, but there are common themes, such as
1 “I don’t know where to begin”
2 “It hurts my head thinking about it”
3 “I worry that when I’ve done this task it won’t be good enough”
Whatever your reasons, procrastination is always about avoiding something unpleasant! So the way to beat it is to make the task more pleasant. Hmm, I know that’s easier said than done, but here are some things that work for me.
1 The 5 minute rule. Say to yourself you will do the task but only for FIVE minutes. Set a timer and get started. More often than not, once you’ve got five minutes work under your belt you’ll want to carry on!
2 Chunking down. Big projects are very overwhelming so chunk them down into small doable tasks. Doing the “chunking down” is quite a fun task (and sometimes I do it when I’m procrastinating on the big thing!)
3 Remove the alternative. I procrastinate by checking email and Facebook so I close these down. I also procrastinate by making tea, but there’s really only soooo much tea I can drink so that one deals with itself!
4 Pick the best time to do the work. I’m a morning person so if I need to do a task that’s going to ache my brain I’m best doing it in the morning. I’m hopeless in the afternoon so I try to do easy jobs then. In the evening I’m OK-ish so if I really need to, I can do tough stuff then too. Your best times are probably different to mine so get to know what works for you and organise your likely-to-procrastinate tasks around it!
5 Keep a Timesheet. This one is a little random, but I’ve found that keeping a Timesheet stops me procrastinating. I think it’s because I like to see all the fabulous work I’ve been doing and don’t want to ‘fess up to hours on email, Facebook and making TEA!
More Awesome Procrastination Busters
Need more Procrastination busters? Our “How to get it all done as a business of ONE” Guide has everything you need!
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