Toxic productivity is the outsized desire for productivity at all times and at the expense of our other priorities, from family life to hobbies.If we’re constantly working while rarely engaging in hobbies, which allow us the opportunity to destress, we can see how easily it is to eventually stop doing everything all together.<ul><li>Toxic productivity inevitably also leads us to feeling burnt out. By working ourselves to the point of exhaustion we eventually lose our will to do simple everyday things like texting someone back or cooking a meal. </li></ul>

Toxic Productivity

<ol><li>Inability to turn off: We feel unable to shut off work-related tasks to rest, enjoy hobbies, or spend time with friends and family.</li><li>Guilt about productivity: We feel guilty about not getting enough work done, even when we are completing a reasonable amount of work-related tasks. </li><li>Problems with health or personal relationships: We begin to experience issues with our health or personal relationships due to the above issues. Significant others may feel they are getting less of our time or attention than work. </li></ol>

Sign If We're Suffering From Toxic Productivity

<ol><li>Set realistic goals, adjust as needed</li><li>REST is not for the week, take breaks</li><li>Get some accountability</li><li>Define clearer work-life boundaries</li><li>Meditate to clear our head</li></ol>

How To Heal Toxic Productivity

Leave work feeling satisfied with what you’ve accomplished, with help of a few “productivity hacks”.

books

Books

problemsolving

Problem Solving

health

Health

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

Productivity Hacks

“I almost ended up working and doing more than in my usual office days, because I felt so anxious about losing that sense of stability. I became really frantic and obsessive,” ~ Clare

Toxic productivity causes dedicated individuals to bite off more than they can chew in order to climb a career ladder that doesn't exist.

productivity

Productivity

career

Career

mentalhealth

Mental Health

How Much Is Too Much: The Dangers of Toxic Productivity

We, don't know much time you spend on Social Media. But, we do know one thing for sure. That is! You are here and reading this, because you are addicted to Social Media or maybe you are reading this for general information.

Top 5 Hacks : That can get you out of Social Media Addiction

Today! We are here to help you get rid of Social Media Addiction for good. We will not talk about Social Media Addiction effects, let's leave them to the professional.

Here is what, we mean by Exist point - a month ago I accidentally post an old post ( as if it was a new post) from my media company Facebook/Page on my WhatsApp status. Later, I removed it. By the time I removed it closed to 5 people has already viewed it and felt really embarrassed. And since then, I have stopped posting on WhatsApp status. You too can use such incidents as an existing point like I did.

Number - 1: Exist Point

Tim Ferries author of a book called ' The 4-Hour Work Week ' shared (In his one of the YouTube Channel video) how deleting the Social Media Apps from his cell phone helped him get rid of Social Media addiction. As there will be no Social Media app on you are phone. So, what's there to check.

Number - 2: Deleting the Apps

Set suitable time for Social Media use maybe 10-11Am (Morning) or 12Pm-2pm (Afternoon).Yes, it will be hard to do, but over time you will get used to it.

Number - 3: Set time for use

You are Brain, will do anything to avoid pain. We can use it to our advantage. Relate too much use of Social Media use with pain. It could be physical pain or psychological pain. That, way you can avoid too much use of  Social Media use with pain.

Number - 4: Relating it to Pain

Those companies who are running Social Media are not fool. They spend billions of dollars every year just to make you hooked into their service. So, if you don't have a specific intention on why? You are using it. You are, more likely to get trapped badly. So, know what you are going to do and why? You want to do it.

Number - 5: Have an Intention 

In this article, one will learn to get out of social media addiction

communication

Communication

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

Top 5 Hacks : That can get you out of Social Media Addiction 

Procrastination is the voluntary delay of an intended action despite knowing such delay can cause harm in terms of task performance and even to one’s self-image.
Procrastination undermines the pursuit of our goals. Compared to their peers, people who procrastinate achieve less in life, report more negative feelings and have greater health problems.

Procrastination Defined

To prevent procrastination, start by categorizing the delays in your life. Identify the delays that are voluntary and that undermine your performance and well-being.Create a list of the things that you tend to procrastinate on. You may find that the tasks have something in common or elicit a common feeling.

How To Recognize and Prevent Procrastination

Procrastination affects our health because it causes stress and leads people to needlessly delay exercising, eating healthy, and getting enough sleep.Procrastination is a problem with not getting on with life itself. When we procrastinate on our goals, we are our own worst enemy. These are our goals, our tasks, and we are needlessly putting them off. Our goals are the things that make up a good portion of our lives.

The Cost Of Procrastination

<ul><li>Make a deep commitment to change by focusing on the costs of procrastination. Ask yourself: “Am I ready to live with them?”</li><li>Strengthen your goal intention by recognizing the benefits of acting now. Take the time to think about how your goals align with your long-term objectives and values.</li><li>Examine your intentions regularly as a way to reduce your tendency to procrastinate.</li></ul>

Your Goal Intention

<ul><li>Procrastination is a form of regulation failure. You fail to self-regulate because you want to feel good now at the expense of carrying out your long-term goals.</li><li>If you find that you are chronically procrastinating, it may well be that you are running away from negative feelings by putting off your tasks.</li><li>To address procrastination, you need to tackle short-term mood repair in favour of long-term goals.</li></ul>

Understanding and Taking Action

Emotional intelligence is the ability to effectively identify and utilize emotions to guide behaviour. If you are likely to procrastinate, use the if X then Y format of an intention. For example:IF I feel negative emotions when doing a task, THEN I will commit to finishing the task rather than abandoning it.

Emotional Intelligence

We tend to focus too much on our current situation without regard to how future events will make us feel.Focuslism: “The tendency to underestimate the extent to which events will influence our feelings and thoughts in the future”Presentism: “Putting too much emphasis on the present in the prediction of the future” When you plan for the future, you feel positive and get relieved that you don’t have to act in the now.

Just Not Feeling Like It!

To overcome presentism, you can forecast the future and try to imagine how you will feel at the time. Another strategy is to accept that you will be wrong.For Example:If you think you will feel better doing a task tomorrow, tell yourself that you are probably wrong and that it won’t be any better.You need to build momentum.

Overcoming Presentism

Following are the biases in your thinking that contribute to procrastination:<ul><li>You tend to discount future rewards in relation to short-term goals</li><li>Underestimate how long things will take and how much you can do</li><li>Prefer tomorrow over today</li><li>Self-handicap to protect your self-esteem</li><li>Think irrationally about the task at hand and your ability to accomplish the task</li><li>Manufacture happiness that is consistent with your behaviour.</li></ul>Identifying you have these biases is an important step in addressing the reasons why you procrastinate. Write down the typical excuses leading to needless delays.

Excuses and Self-Deception

<ul><li>Once you get started on a task, it is not often as bad as you think. Starting a task demonstrates progress towards your goals which makes a very big difference in your lives.</li><li>When you feel like putting off a task for tomorrow, get started on some aspect of the task.</li><li>If on the other hand, the task feels overwhelming, break it into subtasks.</li></ul>Getting started is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to solving procrastination. You must also recognize the points at which you are likely to abandon your goals.

Well Begun is Half Done

Our willpower is a limited resource. If you are constantly fighting off the temptation to do one thing over another, you will likely give up. Ways to boost your willpower:<ul><li>Exercise your self-discipline by holding out longer than usual</li><li>Sleep and rest well</li><li>Take strategic naps during the day</li><li>Boost your positive emotion. Find people or events that make you feel good about yourself</li><li>Use implementation intentions to boost your willpower</li><li>Keep a piece of fruit to restore your glucose level</li><li>Be aware of the social situation and interactions and how they erode your willpower</li><li>Cultivate your motivation.</li></ul>

Willpower And Procrastination

<ul><li>The internet and its many addictive apps like Instagram, TikTok and Netflix are some of the top reasons why people procrastinate. </li><li>The way to avoid procrastination is to minimize distractions while we are working online.</li><li>Turn off all notifications that compel you to move towards procrastination using junk content that seems enticing.</li></ul>

Cyberslacking

This guide to eliminating procrastination offers everyone, from entrepreneurs to parents and students, tips and practical strategies to help break the cycle of self-destructive ideas and habits that prevent freedom and accomplishment. Original.

timemanagement

Time Management

The revised edition of the self-published hit, offering powerful strategies to end procrastination.   Why do we sabotage our own best intentions? How can we eliminate procrastination from our lives for good? Based on current psychological research and supplemented with clear strategies for change, this concise guide will help readers finally break free from self-destructive ideas and habits, and move into freedom and accomplishment. With numerous practical tips for change, Solving the Procrastination Puzzle brings clarity and scientific studies—and a touch of humor!—to the quest for successfully achieving goals. This accessible guide is perfect for entrepreneurs, parents, students, and anyone who wants to get unstuck, stop delaying, and start living their most inspired life.

Timothy A. Pychyl

Solving the Procrastination Puzzle

Solving the Procrastination Puzzle: A Concise Guide to Strategies for Change

Forget about the 12 month year and instead focus on the 12 Week Year. Why? Because you can get more done in 12 weeks than in 12 months with the right mindset, goals, and strategy.
<ul>
<li>To execute successfully, it is important to have a strong emotional connection to the outcome.</li>
<li>Without a compelling reason to choose otherwise, most people will take comfortable actions over uncomfortable ones.</li>
</ul>

Rethinking Time: Boost Your Performance In The Short Term

<ul><li>The important actions are usually uncomfortable ones. And the secret to living up to your potential is to value the important stuff.</li><li>Vision is the starting point of all high performance.</li><li>Barriers to physical performance exist in the mind.</li></ul>You must be clear on what it is you want to create. Most people focus primarily on their business or career, but business is just part of life, and it is actually your life vision that gives traction and relevance to your business

Creating Your Personal Vision

To tap into the incredible power of a personal vision, you need a future that is bigger than the present. Your business vision needs to be anchored on your personal vision.When things get hard the connection between your personal and business vision will help you to focus. When you think about a compelling vision, the neurons that fire in your brain are the same neurons that fire when you act on your vision. What that means is that you can literally train your brain to act on your vision just by thinking about it.

Envisioning Your New Future

Having an annual plan has the following benefits:<ul><li>It reduces mistakes</li><li>It saves time</li><li>It provides focus</li></ul>Having a 12-week plan has three additional and distinct differences from annual planning:<ol><li>Is more predictable than 12-month planning. The further you set your plan in the future, the less predictable it becomes</li><li>More focused. Annual plans have too many objectives and this can cause failure in execution</li><li>More structured. Most plans are never implemented because they don’t have a good structure</li></ol>

A 12-Week Plan

The physical universe will not respond to your desires, no matter how passionate or intense they are. The one thing that moves the universe is action. An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.

<ul><li>The actions that we take create our long-term results. While we plan for the future, we act on the day.</li><li>If you want to be truly effective, your daily activities must align with your long term vision, strategies, and tactics.</li><li>A weekly plan will translate your 12-week plan into daily and weekly action. Your weekly plan should cover your strategies and priorities.</li><li>Your long term and short term tasks and your commitments in the context of time.</li></ul>

One Week At A Time

<ul><li>Scorekeeping will provide you with a knowledge base that will guide decisions and lead to better performance and success.</li><li>Scorekeeping will let you know whether what you are doing is effective.</li><li>Measurement builds self-esteem and confidence because it documents progress and achievement.</li><li>The data simply focuses on achievements. It is not concerned with effort or intentions.</li></ul>

Measuring The Effort: Scorekeeping

In God we trust; all others must bring data.

Your supply of time is completely inelastic and perishable.When you are not purposeful about how you spend your time, you leave results to chance. Block out regular time each week to deal with strategically important tasks. Examples of performance time:<ol><li>Strategic blocks. A three-hour block of uninterrupted time that is scheduled into each week</li><li>Buffer blocks. Time set aside to deal with all the unplanned and low-value activities like email and voicemail</li><li>Break out blocks. Time for resting and reflection</li></ol>

Working With Intentionality

Accountability is accepting that you have a choice. That everything that you do in life is a choice. It is small thinking to see accountability as a have to rather than a choice.With such a mentality you will only produce a minimum of results. When you understand that true accountability is about choice and taking ownership of your choices, everything changes. You move from resistance to empowerment, from limits to possibilities, and from mediocrity to greatness.

Accountability And Ownership

Commitments improve relationships, strengthen integrity, and build self-esteem. Commitment is a state of being bound emotionally and intellectually to a course of action.The ability to keep commitments is fundamental to effective execution. The difference between interest and commitment is that we only do the things we are interested in when we feel like it. But with commitment, we make no excuses.

Interest Vs Commitment

<ol><li>Strong desire. A clear and personally compelling reason will make you do things</li><li>Keystone actions. A few core activities account for a majority of your results</li><li>Count the costs. Counting the costs means being ready to commit time, resources, and so on</li><li>Act on commitments, not feelings. If you learn to do the things that you need to do despite your feelings, you will surely be successful</li></ol>

Keys To A Successful Commitment

To achieve life balance, you need to be purposeful in how you spend your time, energy, and effort.<ul><li>When our attention is spread over various subjects and conversations, we apply very little of ourselves to any individual activity. This can result in feelings of being burned out, exhausted, frustrated, and disconnected.</li><li>To make the most of your time, be present in the moment. Your thinking will be clear, and decisions will come easily.</li><li>You can neither change the past nor act in the future. All you have is the eternal, right now.</li></ul>

Be Here Now

The eight elements that are fundamental to high performance are:<ol><li>Vision</li><li>Planning</li><li>Process control</li><li>Measurement</li><li>Time use</li><li>Accountability</li><li>Commitment</li><li>Greatness in the moment</li></ol>Applying the 12 Week Year will be uncomfortable because change is uncomfortable.

The Execution System

<ol><li>Uninformed optimism. This is the first stage and the most exciting as we imagine all the benefits that we are going to get from the change.</li><li>Informed pessimism. This stage is characterized by a shift into negative emotions.</li><li>The valley of despair. Most people give up at this stage. They abandon the reason they wanted to change in the first place</li><li>Informed optimism. The likelihood of success at this stage is higher. The benefits of your actions start to bear fruit</li><li>Success and fulfilment. This is the stage where you complete the cycle and enjoy the full benefits of the change process.</li></ol>

Changing Behaviour: The Five Stages

When creating your vision, focus on three-time horizons:<ol><li>Long-term aspirations.</li><li>Mid-term goals about three years to the future.</li><li>12 weeks.</li></ol>Pitfalls when creating a vision:<ul><li>You don’t take the power of vision seriously.</li><li>The vision isn’t meaningful to you.</li><li>Your vision is too small.</li><li>You don’t connect your vision to your daily actions.</li></ul>

Creating Your Vision

The guide to shortening your execution cycle down from one year to twelve weeks Most organizations and individuals work in the context of annual goals and plans; a twelve-month execution cycle. Instead, The 12 Week Year avoids the pitfalls and low productivity of annualized thinking. This book redefines your "year" to be 12 weeks long. In 12 weeks, there just isn't enough time to get complacent, and urgency increases and intensifies. The 12 Week Year creates focus and clarity on what matters most and a sense of urgency to do it now. In the end more of the important stuff gets done and the impact on results is profound. Explains how to leverage the power of a 12 week year to drive improved results in any area of your life Offers a how-to book for both individuals and organizations seeking to improve their execution effectiveness Authors are leading experts on execution and implementation Turn your organization's idea of a year on its head, and speed your journey to success.

The guide to shortening your execution cycle down from one year to twelve weeks Most organizations and individuals work in the context of annual goals and plans; a twelve-month execution cycle. Instead, The 12 Week Year avoids the pitfalls and low productivity of annualized thinking. This book redefines your "year" to be 12 weeks long. In 12 weeks, there just isn't enough time to get complacent, and urgency increases and intensifies. The 12 Week Year creates focus and clarity on what matters most and a sense of urgency to do it now. In the end more of the important stuff gets done and the impact on results is profound. <ul> <li>Explains how to leverage the power of a 12 week year to drive improved results in any area of your life</li> <li>Offers a how-to book for both individuals and organizations seeking to improve their execution effectiveness</li> <li>Authors are leading experts on execution and implementation</li> </ul> Turn your organization's idea of a year on its head, and speed your journey to success.

Brian P. Moran

Michael Lennington

The 12 Week Year

“Without the knowledge your soul is sick.”

“It doesn’t matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”

“All progress takes place outside of your comfort zone.”

“The expert in anything was once a beginner.”﻿

"Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try "

"Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts ,never fears and never regrets. "

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest. "

"There is no elevator to success .You have to take the stairs. "

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. "

“If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.”

moneyandinvestments

Money & Investments

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

education

Learning & Education

Motivational quotes in students learning 

If you're going to try inbox infinity, it can help to set a permanent out-of-office responder that lets people know what to expect from you.Should they expect a response from you at all? If so, when? Is there someone else they should contact if they have a specific inquiry? Maybe if you get the same question over and over again, your out-of-office responder could include the answers to some frequently asked questions so you can be more productive without getting bogged down in emails.

Set an out-of-office responder

Not everyone has the luxury of being able to just ignore their inbox, especially in a professional capacity. But for a personal inbox, it may be an easier sell.

Try this with a personal email inbox first

It's really up to you to determine the strength of your approach. Maybe you still check your email once a day. Maybe it's once a week. But the goal is to be less beholden to responding to emails and more focused on other aspects of life.

You can still check your inbox

Unread emails can be a source of anxiety for a lot of people. So instead of trying to read, filter or delete everything in your inbox, what if you just ignored it?In this episode, New York Times technology reporter Taylor Lorenz shares how spending less time on email and changing the way she thought about online communication has increased her productivity and given her back hours of time.

Most of the email in your inbox isn't useful. Instead of managing it, try ignoring it

Did you know your habits are a series of automatic solutions that solve the problems and stresses you face regularly?What happens when we form habits is that our brain has reasoned out a way to solve an issue or resolve a problem it encountered. When our brain picks up new activity or senses a new and unusual situation, it tries to understand how to work around it to get the desired results.

Good Habits Are Solutions

What registers in our minds are cues that keep us away from repeatedly thinking up new solutions for recurring issues/problems.We save our brains the work of going through that process; a neurological pathway has been created that safely moves us through the process till the desired state of peace and stability is attained. Our brains create a rule; if this, then that...

Habits Create Pathways

A habit is a memory of steps you took to solve a problem, this memory replays everytime a similar problem arises. Habits actually help build freedom, because our brains know how to handle a situation. Keep brain space free to handle other tasks and activities...lol

Habits Give Us Freedom

I learned to measure growth based on my daily habits.

James Clear presents strategies to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that help lead to an improved life.

The #1 New York Times bestseller. Over 10 million copies sold! Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights. Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field. Learn how to: <ul><li>make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy);</li></ul><ul><li>overcome a lack of motivation and willpower;</li></ul><ul><li>design your environment to make success easier;</li></ul><ul><li>get back on track when you fall off course;</li></ul>...and much more. Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits--whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.

James Clear is the author of "Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones" He writes about habits, decision-making, and continuous improvement at jamesclear.com. His website receives millions of visitors each month and hundreds of thousands subscribe to his popular email newsletter.His work has appeared in the New York Times, Entrepreneur, Time, and on CBS This Morning. He is a regular speaker at Fortune 500 companies and his work is used by teams in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. Learn more at jamesclear.com

James Clear

Atomic Habits

Understanding a subject is like having a mental model of that subject in your mind. And when you understand something, it is easier to retain it.

Understanding

Active recall is when you're testing youself. <ul><li>Testing yourself is part of the learning process.</li><li>At the end of every paragraphs, stop and ask yourself, “What are the key concepts from what I just read?”</li></ul>

Active Recall

Studies found that hand written notes are better than typed written notes. <ul><li>Handwriting takes more time which leads you to only writing the most important things. </li><li>Cornell Note-taking System: one side is for questions and the other side is for the actual notes (the answer to the question). </li></ul>Know what works for you. If you think typing is best for you, then learn how to take note effectively using that system.

Note-taking 

Understanding where a topic fits in the wider picture. Ali Abdaal, a doctor and a YouTuber, likes to say, “Don't miss the forest from the trees.”What this phrase means is that don't get too focused on a certain topic without understanding where it fits in the overall view. See it in the bird's eye view rather than in the worm's eye view to comprehend it better.

Scoping The Subject 

Feynman technique: being able to explain something or teach to a friend or to a 5-year-old what you've just learned. After learning a topic, ask yourself:<ul><li>Does this makes sense?</li><li>Could I explain it to a 5-year-old? </li></ul>Tips:<ol><li>Use simple words in explaining </li><li>Drill down to the essence or be direct to the point </li></ol>

Feynman Technique 

These ideas came from a skillshare class I recently took titled “How to Study for Exams - An Evidence-Based Masterclass” by Ali Abdaal. The class were divided into 3 sections namely 1) Understanding, 2) Remembering, and 3) Focusing. In this quick deepstash idea, I will try to summarize or simplify the 1st section: Understanding.

How to Understand What You're Trying to Learn to Retain More

Workflow documentation is the roadmap to completing essential tasks at your organization. When done correctly, this documentation can be handed off to another individual at your organization, and they can complete the task completely independently.
Rather than a static guide, workflow documentation is a living, breathing record that allows you to track your progress and improve your processes. While software can help you create workflow documentation, you can use anything from a checklist to a whiteboard to make this record.

What Is Workflow Documentation?

<ul>
<li>It helps optimize processes: You can’t improve upon what you can’t even see. </li>
<li>It ensures accountability: Without workflow documentation, anytime there’s a blocker, it’s a challenge to find out who or what caused it.</li>
<li>It takes the confusion out of employee onboarding.</li>
<li>It eases merger or acquisition transitions. Workflow documentation is a tangible and intangible benefit to the buyer, and therefore, the seller.</li>
<li>It helps scale your business: For a business that wants to grow in a scalable manner, not only do the processes and workflows need to be documented, but they need to be systemized and automated.</li>
<li>It safeguards organizational knowledge: When an employee leaves your organization, what happens to the unique processes and systems they developed over the years?</li>
</ul>

Why Is Workflow Documentation Important?

<ul>
<li>Step 1: Define desired outcomes: Once you’ve defined your team’s desired outcomes, you have a better idea of the workflows that need to be documented, and you’re ready for step two.</li>
<li>Step 2: Carry out and capture every step of your current workflows: Now it’s time to perform your workflows in real-time and record each step as you go. </li>
<li>Step 3: Analyze ways to streamline and automate: The more you automate your workflow, the more time and energy you give back to your team so they can do more meaningful work.</li>
<li>Step 4: Continue to test and refine: Workflow documentation can and should change as your business grows and you better optimize your processes.</li>
</ul>

The Steps To Document Workflow

Workflow documentation doesn’t just ensure your organization doesn’t fall apart in a crisis—it helps it thrive in good times and bad.

business

Business

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

Why Your Team Should Invest Time In Workflow Documentation

There are normal people, who <a href="https://www.raptitude.com/2013/10/6-helpful-reminders-for-the-overwhelmed-person/">get overwhelmed</a> on those occasions when they have more obligations to fulfill than time in which to fulfill them. Procrastinators are constantly overwhelmed because even when we do have time, we don’t make use of it until we no longer have enough of it. If you're one, you'd understand the being late for everything, undone lists for months and missing appointments.

I Procrastinate

Consider your "stuff" as individual happenings that are best treated individually. Ignore all the others while you target to get started on at least one of those To-Do tasks.  The distinction between stuff and things is important. Once you’re treating each obligation as separate from the whole bundle of “stuff”, you can see that they each have a very predictable life cycle. Recognizing each problem’s separateness brings it from the realm of the abstract and endless to that of the concrete and temporary.

Ignore Your Stuff

The problem starts when you know what you need to do, but don't. The anxiety, shame and fear lie between the knowing and the doing. Nothing else happens in this phase except your suffering and aging, we can call this the Unproductive Phase.  At some point, often spurred by a crisis of some kind, you start to do the thing. Here's where the anxiety usually spikes — you are entering the Productive Phase, where failure, embarrassment, and the discovery of your own incompetence go from being future-dwelling specters to real-time dangers. That’s why procrastinators avoid ever getting to this part.

Life Cycle of a Thing

The anxiety from the Productive Phase, soon drown as you begin to realize that the task is pretty doable, is finite and consists of small, ordinary actions like Googling, reading, and sketching.  Your sense of capability swells and the fear recedes. This phase takes less and less willpower and courage as it goes on until the task is in your past, and the life cycle ends.When you extend the Unproductive phase, the anxiety continues to rise. Deadlines whoosh by, making it more and more absurd and embarrassing that you haven’t acted yet, which only paralyzes you further.

Receding Fear of Tasks

A Serious Procrastinator might experience the overlapping fear from many sources and begin to see them as a single problem: I suck at life. This makes it harder for them to do any task with longer Unproductive Phases and increased anxiety with a daring crisis to force them to act. Such a person is almost helpless until they know to treat each of those lines as a single, predictable course of events. Ultimately there’s no other way to deal with them. To tend to one we must ignore the rest while we do so.

Hell Zone

It is to end the Counterproductive phase as soon as possible. This end is always a concrete, bodily action, often taken with some trepidation: opening up the word processor, dialing a phone number, or getting out a piece of paper so you can sketch up a plan.

The smart thing to do is obvious

Many or most procrastinators are pessimists, habitually overestimating the difficulty of what they are avoiding. They think doing it is the hard part. But not doing it is much harder.  The odd task that turns out unexpectedly hard doesn’t change anything — the counterproductive phase will always be counterproductive, and the anxiety will always shrink with action. The moment you start acting on something, you are at the beginning of the end of the anxiety associated with that thing.

Beginning of the End

When you halt your work on a given thing due to fear or aversion, you are re-entering the nonproductive phase. Physical action ceases, and pointless rumination begins. Anxiety will rise until you enter the Productive Phase again. This is a good reason not to switch tasks unnecessarily. Push one thing at least until it is coasting, if not finished. The moment you start avoiding action again, the process restarts.

Halt the Pointless Rumination

The rising anxiety associated with a particular thing comes from a misapprehension of what it will actually be like to do the work.  The anxiety associated with the work is made of abstract, big-picture emotional concerns, about reputation, legacy, anxiety for the future, self-esteem, comparisons to others — worries about who you are, rather than what you’re doing. Once you enter the productive phase you enter the world of the concrete and finite, putting your related existential despair on the backburner. You can’t see an obligation for what it actually is until you’re doing it.

Moving to the Other Side

The critical point is always where you enter the productive phase, and this is accomplished by starting alone. Finishing is only a matter of starting from where you are, as many times as you have to, until it’s done.  Most of the resistance and stress is piled up on the boundary between the phases, and so once you’ve started it’s mostly behind you. You finish a thing by starting it until it’s done.

Finish it by Starting

I have a special sympathy for sufferers of a particular human problem, and I get more emails about it than just about any other topic. There are normal people, who get overwhelmed on those occasions when they have more obligations […]

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