The last several weeks have been rough. Chaos at home, insanity in the family, nearing the end of the contract, boss traveling and the ever-dreaded job hunting.
I don't want to get into all that but suffice to say the end result = lots of procrastination, little accomplished. There have been a few relevant posts on Lifehacker recently that have got me thinking about ways to fix this. The basic problem for me is anxiety & depression make me want to hide and not think about real-world things, which make the real-world things worse. Blah blah blah. Here's what I've been working out about my causes, stages and possible solutions:
Procrastination Triggers
Depression: This is tied into anxiety (see below), but if things aren't going well it can make you depressed and take away your energy and positive outlook on working. For me, I sometimes deal with this via self-punishment. I procrastinate so that I have another reason to feel bad, and berate myself for my bad choices. This is where cognitive-behavioral therapy comes in. Other solutions in general are giving yourself a pass for socialization, fun-time, 'me-time', exercise and sunlight. Don't push it off as a reward for getting things done, and don't feel guilty while doing it. It's part of getting work done and it'll help you push through the problem. Talking it out can help as well.
Anxiety: External life events or project-specific, either way this is the biggest problem for me. As my overall anxiety level increases, so does my urge to hide and hope everything goes away. Project-specific anxiety is somewhat easier to deal with, but it has to be examined first to determine the cause. This can be difficult given the run/hide habit, but it's a good first, distancing and depersonalizing step.
Solutions
Being Overwhelmed: The next step in the project is big, murky, full of things I'm not sure how to approach, information I don't know how to get, or seems impossible to complete in the amount of time left. The first step is to identify any low-hanging fruit that doesn't fit the above descriptions and do that first. It needs to be done anyway, and once you're working you can look at the rest of it and ferret out even more low-hanging fruit that you didn't realize was there.
The next step is further breaking down the big project into little projects. As you do this you'll find more easy stuff and the hard stuff will make itself known; leave that until a bit later. As you complete the easy things, further diagram the big things. You can break almost everything down into smaller pieces. If for some reason you can't break things down into completable blocks, or it doesn't make sense, break them down time-wise. Work 30 minutes on an easy thing, then spend 5 minutes looking at or working on the hard thing. Also, think about that hard project when you're winding down into relax time; dabble in it when you're watching a movie you've seen before or a low-intelligence TV show. You're not committing to working on it, there's no need to complete it today, but it'll help you start to digest it, plan an approach and won't be the big scary thing you haven't looked at in weeks.
Bad Habits: I've found that sitting in one place means I can often, but not always get work done. Going to a cafe or sitting outside (where I can't get internet access) is effective 90% of the time but can be quickly draining. Sitting on the couch almost never works. Scheduling a meet-up at a cafe can work, enjoying a lovely day outside is a reward for getting things done, and moving your workspace to the right place before bed can help you get on track the next morning. Make sure things are charged overnight so the next day you have no excuse to stay in the non-working space because your phone/computer battery is almost dead.
Procrastination by Accomplishment: When I finally move out of the miasma of Not-Work back into Work, it's often through a transition period wherein I accomplish things on my general to-do list before I actually sit down and get started. Yardwork, cooking, cleaning, laundry, errands - while these can take up significant amounts of time and further delay getting work done, crossing them off your mental list can also reduce your general anxiety level and boost self-esteem. Just knowing that you can complete tasks, shorten your to-do list, see your progress, all of those start good, positive feelings moving through your system, clearing out the negative, "Can't Won't Never" thoughts that have been clogging everything up. Just be careful not to stay in this state too long - when you're making a decision between running an errand that could take a while and sitting down to get work done, decide what your true motives are. On the other hand, if you're still not ready to get work done and will just waste time instead, run the errand and just make sure to get a few minutes of work done when you get back.
Minimum Standards: This was brought up in the Lifehacker article recently. Joni uses it to get herself outside for a run on even crappy days when she really doesn't feel like it. Start with just 5 minutes. Just open the document and read the first paragraph. Just start drafting the e-mail. Once you start, another few minutes won't seem so hard, and you've already accomplished your goal so it's all bonus work from there.
Letting Go: A major problem with me is that I get so backed up, or I waste so much time, that I feel that I somehow have to catch up on all of it before I can proceed. Starting with a few minutes, or even a couple of hours, each day just won't cut it - I need to work for 8, 10, 12 hours straight to get caught up! I need to read all 10 chapters before I read this week's assignment! Sometimes just deciding to start at the most immediate need and work your way backwards is what it takes to unblock the dam. Often you'll find that you can just skim those chapters because you've covered most of it in class already, or the time you thought you needed to spend on a project is better spent elsewhere anyway. This isn't to say that there aren't consequences to procrastinating, but if that's what's keeping you from moving forward, just deal with them later. You're good at that, right?
