It’s amazing how many people I talk to who tell me they want to create a new blog, write a book, start a new business, change careers, make something new.
A professor has recently published his magnum opus on the subject of procrastination - and it's only taken him 10 years.
Procrastination is a curse, and a costly one. Putting things off leads not only to lost productivity but also to all sorts of hand wringing and regrets and damaged self-esteem. Are we programmed for postponement and delay?
Procrastination, the habit of putting tasks off to the last possible minute, can be a major problem in both your career and your personal life. Side effects include missed opportunities, frenzied work hours, stress, feeling overwhelmed, resentment and guilt.
We all procrastinate. I put off writing this article by doing a bunch of smaller tasks, for example. They were less important and I knew it, but they were quick tasks and so easier than writing an article on a tough topic.
There are plenty of pitfalls that can distract you from getting your work done. Here we look at 10 ways to ensure you’re set up for success in your home office.
It’s the lack of starting that kills most tasks and projects.
Many of us are good at starting things — it’s the finishing that we need help with.
You might think that a loving partner helps keep you on track -- say, when you want to stick to your jogging or concentrate on your studies.
Too often we get stuck in inaction -- the quagmire of doubt and perfectionism and distractions and planning that stops us from moving forward.
Creativity is often made out to be a nebulous, messy, complicated, difficult thing, and it can be. But it doesn't have to be.
Do you ever have one of those days when you just can’t seem to find focus?
It's a huge limiting belief to assume that going faster means you’re doing something wrong and creating too much stress.
If you don’t believe you’ll succeed, then some parts of you will resist your goal, and your progress will be frustratingly slow.
You know what it's like: No focus, lots of stress, lots of mental exhaustion without really getting anything done.
Sometimes you need to become unbalanced in order to get things done. If you’re working on a book, launching a business or trying to overhaul some part of your life, you can probably relate.
We all have days when we’re just not very inspired, when we need passion and creativity breathed into us.
We all know that if you’re truly passionate about something, productivity becomes largely irrelevant.
Often we're discouraged because of some tough challenge or obstacle in our way. But a shift in mindset, courtesy of a Zen proverb, can change everything: The obstacle is the path.
Trying to resist that late-night tweet or checking your work email again?
Timeboxing is a simple time management technique you can use to take control of your time.
Some lessons that apply equally to getting buff and to building your business
Let’s say you are sitting at your desk, with something to write, and you notice some anxiety… and an urge...
This checklist by Dr María Machón includes typical triggers for procrastination, along with possible solutions for each trigger.
What an extremely tough thing for teens to figure out: What should you do with your future?
Excuses are lies we tell ourselves to avoid dealing with unpleasant truths. But as long as we buy into those excuses, we can never move past them.
Procrastination is in all of us, and one of the best ways to procrastinate is to do all the busy-work that makes us feel like we’re doing stuff -- while not doing the stuff we know we should be doing.
If you don’t know how, learn how. Use that fancy brain that learned how to walk, talk, and read. It’s still capable of further learning, is it not? Of course it is!
There are a lot of people who read self-improvement blogs and books, but never put them into action. Are you one?
How much of your day is spent doing administrative tasks, and not creating or doing other important work?