Procrastination

Chronic Procrastination and the Cost of the "Ding!"

Merlin — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:05:52 +0000

Guadian UK: Hi-tech is turning us all into time-wasters

A few weeks ago, I pointed you to a startling stat in the New York Times stating that 28% of the average worker's day gets blown on unnecessary interruptions -- helping contribute to a crisis that a company like Intel now considers a $1 billion per year problem. From yesterday's Guardian comes more numbers on the growing cost of distraction:

Ferrari says that chronic procrastination is now so serious a condition it needs to be recognised by clinicians. In a study to be published later this year, he estimates that 15 to 20 per cent of people are chronic procrastinators. 'We now have data on 4,000 people, and it doesn't seem to matter what age you are, or your sex or background.'

Of course, as the Inbox Zero guy, I think a real eye-opener sneaks in with this passing note about the cost of all those noisy email notifications you created:

Even the beeps notifying the arrival of email are said to be causing a 0.5 per cent drop in gross domestic product in the United States, costing the economy $70bn a year.

Although the headline wants to point the blame squarely at "hi-tech," the last graf talks about your brain's own role in how that nasty new technology is allowed to be abused:

It appears that the brain is divided into two parts. One triggers 'automatic responses' which take precedence over everything else - such as fleeing sabre-toothed tigers. The other governs 'deliberate responses' - writing that report due next week or booking a visit to the optician.

Do yourself (and your company) a favor this morning: try just briefly shutting off the "Ding!" and give yourself authority to schedule your next email dash.

Just for one morning, see if you can't get a bit more actual work done if you're not mentally scanning for sabre-tooths.

”Chronic Procrastination and the Cost of the "Ding!"” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on July 21, 2008. Except as noted, it's ©2010 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Talk of the Nation on Procrastination

Merlin — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:13:26 +0000

How to Be a Productive Procrastinator : NPR (Talk of the Nation)

The Talk of the Nation that's on right now (available for streaming later) is on the topic of procrastination.

Why do today what you can do the day after tomorrow? Procrastination expert Timothy Pychyl and self-professed "structured procrastinator" John Perry discuss the latest research on this type of behavior and how to prioritize what's really important.

If you've been around here for a while, you'll remember John Perry for his excellent piece on "Structured Procrastination." Great stuff.

”Talk of the Nation on Procrastination” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on June 12, 2008. Except as noted, it's ©2010 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Slate on Procrastination

wood.tang — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:16:25 +0000

Slate's special issue on procrastination. - - Slate Magazine

Slate is running a special issue this week on procrastination, a series of stories on why we waste time, what we do when we waste time, and how different types of people waste their time.

My favorites of the bunch so far:

It's All in My Head - Were great writers like Truman Capote and Ralph Ellison truly blocked when they took decades to finish their masterworks, or were they just epic procrastinators?
Procrasti-nation - How workers of all walks of life goof off
Solitaire-y Confinement - How computer solitaire became the universal symbol of office slacking

I was going to post this earlier, but, well, you know ...

”Slate on Procrastination” was written by Matt Wood for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on May 15, 2008. Except as noted, it's ©2010 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Links and Resources for the Chronically Disorganized

Merlin — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:30:15 +0000

N S G C D | Home

I'm still in a de-cluttering mode these days (more on that soon), so I was intrigued by this resource, which arrived this morning via Mrs. Folders.

While primarily a trade group for "professional organizers," the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization site has some handy documents and links to help with identifying and solving pathological problems with clutter and hoarding.

If you can tolerate the site's gruesome ardor for PDFs, you'll find some informative and eye-opening stuff. From their fact sheets page:

Are You Chronically Disorganized? - The obligatory self-test. Mmm...yeah, I am guilty of #17: "Is it difficult for you to part with things even though they have outlived their usefulness?"
Time Management for the Chronically Disorganized - "Remember that you are procrastinating if you work on a trivial task while a more important one remains undone."
Tips for Communicating with the Chronically Disorganized - "Avoid what does not work...Don’t say: 'Just do it!'"

I really liked some of the Tips for Overcoming Procrastination for the Chronically Disorganized Individual or Household (excerpted):

Remember that it is motivation that gets you started and habits that keep you going. Resolve to get started.

Delay until you have enough information but not all the information. Have the courage to make decisions with less than 80% of the facts.

Break up your projects into small pieces and avoid “all or nothing” thinking.

Good stuff. The Now Habit, anyone?

”Links and Resources for the Chronically Disorganized” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on May 06, 2008. Except as noted, it's ©2010 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Whining, Blue Smoke & the Mechanics of Getting Unstuck

Merlin — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:40:00 +0000

I've been working on a bunch of (non-43 Folders-related) stuff lately, but I started feeling that hankering to come back and write something new here. To get the engine started, I went through some old posts and turned up a few (oddly self-inspiring) ideas that I want to re-share. The topic? "Getting unstuck."

Hack your way out of writer's block - "Literally. Put five completley random words on a piece of paper. Write five more words. Try a sentence. Could be about anything. A block ends when you start making words on a page."
Solve problems by writing a note to yourself - "Seriously, open up your email program, type in your own email address, then choose a brilliant subject line that perfectly encapsulates your particular problem."
Do a fast "mind-sweep" - "And as long as you let that stuff accumulate as chunky deposits on the edges of your perception, it’s very unlikely it’ll get done since — well — they won’t get done until they’re been captured and properly started, right?"
Cringe-Busting your TODO list - "Per cringe item, think honestly about why you’re freaked out about it. Seriously. What’s the hang-up? (Fear of failure? Dreading bad news? Angry you’re already way overdue?)"
Patching your personal suck - "Every patch that fails teaches you a little something that might come in handy some day. Mistakes, as they say, can be a buddhist gift."

I guess all I'd add -- since it's on my mind today -- is that I'm learning how much it pays to listen whenever you hear yourself mentally whining.

First off, even when it's yourself, nobody likes a whiner. So it's worthwhile to be mindful about the extent to which your internal monologue is becoming personally insufferable. As with B.O. and a lack of flossing, the chances are good that others have already noticed things about you before you have, so -- you know -- congratulations on making it to the party.

But, second, and perhaps more importantly, that whining should be telling you something. Whining is the ~~white~~ blue smoke in your tailpipe that lets you know you're burning mental oil. It means you're unconsciously devoting cycles to something that you can't, won't, or shouldn't be spending time thinking about. Otherwise, why would it be bothering you, right? You'd be either extricated or done with it.

Once you pinpoint where that whine's coming from, that's the perfect opportunity to decide what the hell the hang-up is. Because if it's worth whining and fussing about, it's worth deciding what obstacle (obstruction?) in either the Real World or your own mind is keeping something from happening.

And once that obstacle is identified and out there, ample methods exist for helping you execute in a way that's sane and sensible. But you can't complete a task you don't understand, so grant yourself the personal luxury of unpacking the problem behind the problem.

Put automotively? Obsessively adding a new quart of oil every day not only doesn't fix your smoke problem: it feeds it. Instead, just use the smoke as a warning that it's nigh time to trace the cracks in your engine.

As for me? Yeah. Now I'm feeling unstuck and a little less whiny. So, thanks. Onward.

Edit 2008-04-12 11:07:28 - Reader wemerson was kind enough to correct me on my metaphor in this post. Turns out that my use of "white smoke" was inaccurate; the smoke would be blue. Many thanks -- and I made the correction. Learn more about smoke...

”Whining, Blue Smoke & the Mechanics of Getting Unstuck” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on April 10, 2008. Except as noted, it's ©2010 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

"No Links Please" drains HREFs, discourages web fiddling

Merlin — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 21:11:35 +0000

James Clarke – No Links Please!

Here's a fun one. Our old pal (and the coiner of "life hacks"), Danny O'Brien, passes along an extreme attention aid that might be regarded as the heir apparent to his wonderful "Webolodeon" script for GreaseMonkey.

No Links Please will do its part to keep you from mindlessly surfing the web:

No Links Please! breaks the web by removing hyperlinks from all pages apart from Google. Without the knowledge or temptation of links you are free to devote all your time to real work and never roam the web again.

Oh, man, what a crazy way to be forced to see the web. But, if you're "that guy" today and can't stop dicking around on the web, this is much less dramatic than having to shut off the router. Try it, for fun; it's amazing how ingrained our clicky-linky behavior is.

”"No Links Please" drains HREFs, discourages web fiddling” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on January 21, 2008. Except as noted, it's ©2010 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Procrastination, the "Unschedule," and re-learning how to walk

Merlin — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 14:24:17 +0000

How to Unschedule your work and enjoy guilt-free play

Chanpory, over at LifeClever, has a useful piece on what Neil Fiore calls "The Unschedule:"

According to Neil Fiore and 30 years of research, procrastination isn’t the result of laziness. Rather, procrastination is a symptom, a way of coping with deep psychological self-criticism and fear. It’s because we’re taught to believe that working is good and playing is bad. To reverse this unhealthy model, Neil proposes a tool: the Unschedule.

The Unschedule looks like a normal schedule, but with a twist. Instead of scheduling work you have to do, you fill in everything you want to do.

Like a couple of the exercises in Fiore's book (Oy, vey, who actually keeps a "procrastination diary?"), I think the Unschedule is best seen as a fascinating way to think about thinking.

The Now Habit
by Neil Fiore

For me, though, stuff like a procrastination dash is where it's at for actually getting things accomplished. Although I'm the last person in the world to begrudge anyone a brain trick that works for them, I think I've become pickier about any kind of metawork where the ramp-up and prep time overshadows the time devoted to pure action.

That said, I can't think of a better book to pick up whenever you feel like you just can't work -- that you're so mired in your own sick failure that it seems pointless to even try. If you've gotten to that point, you may find, as I often do, that reading a few pages of The Now Habit is just the tonic. And, if that's not enough? Heck. I guess I can see making an Unschedule. But, for one day, and just to get back on track.

Crutches are awesome, but only as long as you use them to walk -- not just to afford the process of thinking about walking.

”Procrastination, the "Unschedule," and re-learning how to walk” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on October 04, 2007. Except as noted, it's ©2010 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Ze Frank, on procrastination

Merlin — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 13:44:52 +0000

the show with zefrank ["pro-cra"]

I'm a late addition to Ze's army of Sports Racers, but Jesus Heck, is this fella ever talented.

If you have another few minutes (and aren't already a subscriber), don't miss "Waves" for a weirdly touching paean to the primacy of the web surfer.

Now: off to consider my Power Move.

”Ze Frank, on procrastination” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on February 09, 2007. Except as noted, it's ©2010 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

W. H. Murray on the power of starting

Merlin — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 18:08:45 +0000

I've finally gotten around to reading The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. It'd been recommended to me numerous times over the past few years -- most recently and publicly by David Allen during our podcast episode about procrastination.

I'll save a full review of the book for another time (hint: ala, Bird by Bird, it's a terrific tonic for procrastinating artists), but I can't think of a better way to welcome 2007 than by sharing this quote, which Pressfield borrows (p.122) from the Scottish mountain climber W. H. Murray:

Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.

Happy new year, kids. Start something cool.

”W. H. Murray on the power of starting” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on December 31, 2006. Except as noted, it's ©2010 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

5 Favorite 43 Folders Podcasts, 2006

Merlin — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 15:30:13 +0000

43 Folders Podcast

I'm a far from prolific contributor to the personal podcasting scene, but 2006 brought several episodes of the podcast that people seemed to enjoy and that I'm pleased to have made.

If you're new to 43f's podcast (subscribe for free) or just want to amble down memory lane with me, here's my five favorite episodes from this past year. Unexpurgated, unedited and, as ever, featuring candid depictions and the occasional swear; because sometimes productivity talk is just NSFW.

The Perfect Apostrophe - (MP3)

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In terms of the amount of feedback I've received, and for my own personal reasons, this confessional commentary on procrastination (and why the godforsaken O'Reilly book never got written) is my hands-down favorite. To this day, I get amazing notes from people about this one.
The Richard Scarry Book of the Future - (MP3)

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2006 was the year in which I really grokked that knowledge workers aren't issued hats to identify what we each do. Each of us has the opportunity to define our job plus the challenge to manage all career inputs and outputs. Each of us is the untrained traffic cop for our life and career. This was the most downloaded episode of the year (grabbed ~75k times).
It’s just a cup - (MP3)

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Avoid fractal productivity spirals by learning to see your productivity system no differently than your morning coffee. When a ritual become invisible -- requiring a minimal amount of effort and maintenance to adequately get the job done -- you know you've got something right.
Productive Talk Compilation: 8-episode podcast with GTD’s David Allen - (MP3 | Enhanced M4A)

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It was a thrill and a pleasure to hang out with David Allen for a few days, so, at least for me, the mini-podcast series that resulted from our meetings was gravy. That said, over the course of this 90-minute mp3, David had more fresh and useful and telling ideas to share about GTD than I'd heard collectively in the 3 years since I read his book. So grateful that he shared his time so generously.
First-time Sex & the Beauty of 1.0 - (MP3)

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This episode from September was one of the most popular episodes this year (owing in part, no doubt, to its salacious title). But, I'd like to hope the point won't be missed, because it applies far beyond software and "productizing" -- there's no indignity to not being perfect the first time. Plus, sometimes, seeking simply not to end up crying in an emergency room can make for a surprisingly romantic third date.

Subscribe:

”5 Favorite 43 Folders Podcasts, 2006” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on December 29, 2006. Except as noted, it's ©2010 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"