Time management

How to Break the Habit of Procrastination.

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“Procrastination makes easy things hard, hard things harder.” ~ Mason Cooley

I used to be the procrastination queen.

I’ve waited until the last minute to book trips (painfully increasing my travel costs); took too long to get my yearly car inspection (resulting in a ticket); and cut my work license renewal way too close (causing more stress then I care to remember). And please, don’t even get me started on filing my marriage license…

After many such experiences, I decided to break the habit of procrastination. I realized I had to clarify my plans, thus defining what was important to me. I had to commit to myself to stay more focused when working on my to-do list. Most importantly, I had to learn to prioritize.

We’re all busy. We have lots of people who want our time and attention, and we have lots of interests we’d like to give our time and attention to.

To change the procrastination habit, it can help for us to learn how to dig deeper when deciding what to take on, and what to put aside for the time being.

Here are some questions that can be very helpful to ask ourselves when deciding how to prioritize, questions that will help us break the habit of procrastination:

1. Are we avoiding the task itself?

I personally despise transcribing; also, its very time consuming (for me). I recently decided to hire a contractor to do it for me. This has opened up more time then I ever imagined.

When exploring why, I realized I had not only been spending a lot of time on the actual transcribing, I had also been spending probably twice as many hours being unproductive in various ways, to skip the task. I’d guess it was taking me 6-9 hours total for a 3 hour task, due to the avoidant behaviors. Not a very good use of time.

2. Are we dodging the task because we don’t really desire the outcome the task is attached to?

I remember chatting with a friend about how she was procrastinating about her running training, in preparation for a half-marathon. We teased out that she actually didn’t want to run the marathon at all – she was feeling some pressure from her partner to do so.

How many things do we do each day that are benefiting or pleasing others more then ourselves? (I’m not talking about sucking up to the boss or pretending you enjoy playing “go fish” with your nephew.) Growing our comfort and willingness to say “no” to actions we really don’t want to take helps keep our focus laser-like on the actions we do want to follow through on.

3. Do we need help with the task?

There are things I’d like to do on my own that I simply don’t have the skills to do. While occasionally this requires hiring a professional, there are lots of times when I can dip into my network of friends and associates and pick their brains.

Calling on a friend who has better WordPress skills then I do can save me several hours of googling, asking questions on forums (which don’t seem to get answered), and frustration. I am always certain to express my massive appreciation, as well as my willingness to assist them in kind, should a need arise.

4. Is the task really necessary?

Let’s say we’re procrastinating about cleaning out the hall closet (yea, true story). Based on what is going on in life right now, and how much free time we have, how important is it that this clean-up occur now?

Will finishing the task increase our quality of life? Will it somehow help in our day-to-day experience? If so, make the decision and go for it. If not, why not put it aside until our time opens up, or it’s a rainy day, or we’re home with a sick child?

The point is, as with all things, we can benefit from spending a little time considering what we really want, and then making a decision on how to proceed.

It’s not important whether we decide to procrastinate or decide to get the job done; what’s important is that we made the conscious decision and followed through. This is a far more self-empowering and productive experience then beating ourselves up for procrastinating.

What techniques do you use to combat procrastination?

Generational changes and their impact in the classroom: teaching Generation Me.

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 Context Many faculty members believe that students today differ from those in the past. This paper reviews the empirical evidence for generational changes among students and makes recommendations for classroom teaching based on these changes. Generational changes are rooted in shifts in culture and should be viewed as reflections of changes in society.

 Methods This paper reviews findings from a number of studies, most of which rely on over-time meta-analyses of students’ (primarily undergraduates’) responses to psychological questionnaires measuring IQ, personality traits, attitudes, reading preferences and expectations. Others are time-lag studies of nationally representative samples of high school students.

 Results Today’s students (Generation Me) score higher on assertiveness, self-liking, narcissistic traits, high expectations, and some measures of stress, anxiety and poor mental health, and lower on self-reliance. Most of these changes are linear; thus the year in which someone was born is more relevant than a broad generational label. Moreover, these findings represent average changes and exceptions certainly occur.

 Discussion These characteristics suggest that Generation Me would benefit from a more structured but also more interactive learning experience, and that the overconfidence of this group may need to be tempered. Faculty and staff should give very specific instructions and frequent feedback, and should explain the relevance of the material. Rules should be strictly followed to prevent entitled students from unfairly working the system. Generation Me students have high IQs, but little desire to read long texts. Instruction may need to be delivered in shorter segments and perhaps incorporate more material delivered in media such as videos and an interactive format. Given their heightened desire for leisure, today’s students may grow into professionals who demand lighter work schedules, thereby creating conflict within the profession.

Source: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Do What Makes You Happy Before You Are Too Old.

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In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don’t try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present. When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you. ~Lao Tzu

We spend most of our natural lives planning. Planning the day, the evening, the working week, the weekend. After two months most of us plan a vacation. We are so busy doing the things weshould be doing that we often forget to do the things we want to do.

For instance, all my life was planned well before I had a chance to pretty much learn what I wanted. School, then college, a master degree- till here I did exactly as I had planned. Next I wanted to work before I went on to do my PhD. Half of that plan did come to life. I worked for seven years, sometimes even holding four jobs at a time. Because I thought yes that is a way to be ‘successful’.

However, during all those years I put off the things I really wanted to do. Like, I always wanted to read theology and philosophy. I always wanted to paint, not just doodle on bristol paper but actually paint on a fine canvas. I wanted to spend time with my family- quality time.

And not just limit my conversation with them to only saying ‘morning’ and ‘goodnight’. I wanted to be there for my friends when they needed me, and not just give a short call spending 80% of the time explaining how important my work was, and the remaining 20% apologizing why I wasn’t there for them on their big day.

So till about a year ago, I planned my life like this: work, hang out with friends, concentrate on my diet, sometimes workout, and then go home to sleep. I don’t want to brag but yes I was successfully able to balance all the spheres of my life. But that didn’t make me happy, time management to the core, yet there was neither ‘peace’ nor anything called remotely ‘happiness’.

I thought or in fact I had ‘planned’ that when I’ll be done and over with my life, meaning when I had done all that I was expected to do, as many of are conditioned to do so, I will do the things I really like before I die. Things like blogging, writing my book, painting, studying philosophy and mysticism, and including spending quality time with those I love. According to my calculations, this list of things to do fell approximately well after the age 60 years.

Last year, you can say I had an epiphany. And instead of running forward like the human race who wants to do be better and become better all within a tight circle of ‘success’, I started running in the opposite direction.

Why do I have to wait until I am old to do the things I want to do? Running back home felt good. The important things surfaced that I had forgotten about. The cultural conditioning started to thin away too. Mankind was never asked to run a marathon so that they could get a shiny medal around their neck. We were and are required to just ‘be’.

So in my new life I do what I love to do now, at age 29, not waiting to be toothless and blind and then after do the things I enjoy most. My time is now. When is yours?  Share your insights by commenting bellow or by posting your comments on the PurposeFairy Facebook Page.

 

Source: purpose fairy

 

e not eL�hl�ْ �� self out, you’re just taking on extra baggage.

 

Helping or Hindering?

Everyone needs to work out their own journey through life.  It is your responsibility to love and respect them enough to give them space and to only help out when you are asked to.  Get it?

You are disempowering another human being when you try to seize control or mold them into how you want them to fit into your life.

You are not responsible for any other human being but yourself (barring minors under your care, of course).  Focus on yourself and be the best person you can be so that you can be that shining example to others.  That is the only way you will make a positive change in someone’s life.  You can’t go into their space and try to effect change.

The Prime Directive

You are responsible for your life.  Your main responsibility is to be happy — you could even call this your ‘prime directive’or ultimate goal.  If you are not happy it is your responsibility to sniff out the causes as to why you are not living in joy.

So, now say you have found your bliss but it hurts you when you see other people suffer and you want to help.

Keep Your Nose on Your Face

The stark truth is that they need to take responsibility for their life and choices.  You can always help another human being but you should never force yourself or your way of life onto someone else.

To truly love someone is to accept them as they are and respect their life path.  Can you do that?

Can you step into owning your life and taking responsibility for your choices today?  If you do, the weight of the world will be lifted from your shoulders and you will experience a freedom like no other.

It’s okay to be here, it’s okay to be you and it’s okay to let other people be themselves.

You are only responsible for you.  And thanks to the wise words of Gandhi, try to be the change you want to see in the world.

 

Source: purpose fairy