I recently came up with a formula to address procrastination for myself. Perhaps it will help: Make the decision that will move you toward achievement of your goals.
I am certainly no paragon of time managment, and I have too many projects to mention, so I have had a tendency to just whirl around in circles rather than accomplishing anything.
When I identified procrastination as the number one thief of my time, I bought Brian Tracy's book "Eat That Frog", which said basically "do the biggest, ugliest task first". Then I discovered that the biggest, ugliest task wasn't always what I thought it was.
So I have trained myself to take notice when I am fiddling with papers on my desk, checking my email every 5 minutes, searching for information I had a minute ago and I just CAN'T do anything else 'til I find it. These are symptoms that there's a frog I need to eat. I usually know what it is.
Now I apply my mantra: do what will move me toward achievement of my goal. Now it is easy to decide to do the big, ugly task and move on.
I also like the concept of "sacred selling time", introduced to me by a cross-line member of the company I represent. Sometimes that's the frog...
Cheri Merz
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