STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Try a to-do list.  Write down everything you have to do and just start doing things on the list and cross them off as you finish them.  Then you can sorta see what all you need to do and also feel some accomplishment by crossing them off as you move along.  Doesn't always work for me but it does most of the time.

every year I have the same New Years Resolution "Quit Procrastinating!"  Ha

Making lists helps...esp at work I put a list up on my whiteboard so then I feel obligated to take care of things since my team sees the list.  Also I make deadlines for myself because I need that pressure.  I'll tell someone on my team "I'll look into the reports and get you a list of ones I want you to convert by tomorrow before lunch."  Knowing that someone is waiting to hear back from me on something helps. 

Also, I was thinking today that when I procrastinate I still waste so much time worrying about or dreading having to do something where as after I do it, I don't give it another thought...you'd think that would help but this is coming from the girl posting on stylethread instead of packing her bag for her flight tomorrow :)

 

Lists are great for some people.If you're anal and a procrastinator, they're great. I have a librarian friend who makes herself a daily list, and she includes not just work stuff but everything from hand-washing her bras to getting gas to what she needs at the grocery store. I can only deal with that kind of listmaking on extreme days. Creative people will often rebel against that level of structure.

You might also think about breaking down tasks into smaller elements. Instead of 'I gotta get that report done by Thursday,' for example, you might divide it up into research and notetaking, compiling ideas, organizing those ideas, fleshing out into a first draft, polishing a second draft and maybe passing it around for input/buyout, then a final product. Somebody once told me to think of a salami: you want to slice it off into manageable pieces, not just eat the whole thing at one time. If you can set goals for each small part of a project, it's less intimidating. Make a deadline for phase one, phase two, and so on.

I've recently been turned onto another way of time management, which may or may not work depending on your responsibilities. The philosophy has three parts, or three kind of days: "focus days," "free days" and "buffer days." In the words of motivational gury Jack Canfield:

"A focus day is 85 percent of your time focused on the 20 percent of your life that produces 80 percent of the results. So each of us has something that we do naturally that we would call our core genius. For me it's teaching, speaking, writing, et cetera.

"The second kind of day is a free day. It's midnight to midnight with no work related activity. And by that definition, there are some people who haven't had a free day in three years. And what we now know from the studies is the people that take more free days actually end up making more money, because when they're off, that's when the creative ideas come forward, the inspirations for new products, new ideas, new services, new ways to be in the world.

"And the third kind of day is a buffer day. And that's when you are doing the things like delegating, preparation. You have to go out there and run around and do your laundry and get all that stuff done.

"But the point is, that we do have to have those days. So the key is, you want to have more focus days, more free days and less buffer days. And you want to have your schedule determine what kind of day it is, so you're not just responding to people, you're intentional."

What I've taken away from this is that I've been able to concentrate or distill my productive time into two, maybe two and a half days a week - those are the "focus days." I keep my weekends as "free days" as well as one day, or half a day, during the week. And right now, with job and house and all others, I end up with about two "buffer days" a week when I'm combining work, play, laundry and lots of other junk. Like today.

The point is, I don't check my personal email or browse the Lucky mag forums on a productive work day, because I know I'll have upcoming free days to catch up and waste time on that stuff. With this approach, I now show my face in the office one, maybe two days a week. Those are days when I'm all there, doing nothing but working for the man, and I just balance the rest of my time working from home.

Even if you still have to be at your desk five days a week, there could be a way to make this work. Learn to love a painful Monday, when you perform triage on multiple work emergencies. Maybe schedule all your client conference calls on Tuesdays, so that day is dedicated mainly to that - and don't take or make unnecessary phone calls on a day that isn't Tuesday. Respond reactively to things people throw at you on Wednesdays, and if you get handed anything that isn't urgent on a day that isn't a Wednesday, postpone it until the next week. Veg out, shop online, take a long lunch, catch up on "professional reading" on Thursdays. Make Friday your killer creative day. Or adjust something like this to work for you.

Finally, coworkers and bosses can be pretty understanding if you say "When do you REALLY need this back?" They tend to perceive everything as a hot rush, but if you ask the right questions, you may get more sane answers - the kick is when they take a breath and say, "I guess I don't really need it until the end of the month," you'd better deliver on time, or you'll not get the same courtesy in the future.