Show Notes

Episode 12: Procrastination

Virtually everyone procrastinates at one time or another. In fact, Shannon and Janine used to be terrible procrastinators. In this episode we take a look at the various reasons people procrastinate and offer up some strategies for overcoming procrastination.

Discussion topics include:

  • How procrastination differs from waiting or postponing
  • The four productivity blocks (i.e. reasons you procrastinate) that Shannon has identified:
    • Enjoyment
    • Confidence
    • Distractibility
    • Reward
  • Strategies for overcoming each of these blocks
  • How to learn what your particular productivity block is
  • How fear fits into the procrastination picture
  • A productivity hack for those who have a tendency to put off making appointments
  • A debate over the historic length of Shannon’s hair

Link:

 

Comment from Janine: As promised, here’s a picture of Shannon with shorter hair. It was taken in February 2005 (we were together at the awards banquet of the Dog Writers Association of America) and Shannon had started growing it out a year before. We’ve been friends since 2001, so clearly, I knew her with short hair, even if I don’t remember!

 

 

 

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2 thoughts on “Episode 12: Procrastination”

  1. Procrastination is a real bugaboo for me. I have always had a tendency to wait until the last minute to do stuff. I wrote my senior thesis in college the night before it was due…and I hadn’t even read the book it was based upon! (I did get an A+, though.)

    Now I’m trying to make myself do tasks as they come up. What works for me is a timer: I set it for 12 minutes (10 isn’t enough and 15 is too much) and do whatever task is staring me in the face at a fast pace. At the end of 12 minutes, I am allowed to stop for a breather before I get back into it or keep on going for another 12 minutes. I am using this technique to declutter my home right now. For the span of 12 minutes, I don’t go into “overwhelm” Usually I sit down for 5 minutes and use that time to survey the room and plan my next area of attack. Little by little in small increments, I am making my way through 40 boxes of things that came out of my mother’s home after she passed away. Since they have been in storage since December, I am finding it easy to release them. I would just give all the boxes to charity but some of them have old genealogy paperwork and Mom’s papers that I have to go through. My goal is to have all 40 boxes sorted by the end of next month, so that gives me approximately 45 days. One box per day is completely doable! Wish me luck!

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