Procrastinating

In the January 17 post, I mentioned that setting a small goal of working on a task for 10 minutes has been helpful to me and usually spurs me on to work longer on that task. Other experts mention similar ideas. Gretchen Ruben calls the ideas “suffer for 15 minutes.” Here is an excerpt from Ruben’s blog about procrastination that I found to be too true.  I have found her “suffer for 15 minutes” tip to be helpful.

What parts of her advice have you tried or what would you like to try?

Working might be procrastination Gretchen Ruben

I keep track of all my Secrets of Adulthood—the lessons I’ve learned, with difficulty, as I’ve grown up.

A very helpful Secret of Adulthood is: Working is one of the most dangerous forms of procrastination.

When I have to do something I don’t want to do, any other task seems irresistibly enticing.

Sometimes, this tendency can be productive. I may not have gotten that piece written, but my office is clean, my errands are done, and I’ve cleared out a lot of email.

The problem is that—yes, I’ve been productive, but not in the right way. That piece still isn’t finished!

These days,  I’m careful to be honest with myself about what “work” I need to do, and I recognize thework-as-procrastination excuse. I’m also wary of the related tendency: busy-work-as-procrastinationexcuse. Re-formatting a document isn’t writing! Unfocused reading on the internet isn’t research!

When a task is truly horrible, I sometimes tackle it with the resolution to Suffer for 15 minutes.

How about you? Do you procrastinate by working—by cleaning, organizing, answering emails, cruising the internet, making plans, or the like?

Retrieved Oct 9,2012 http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20121005143024-6526187-working-one-of-the-most-dangerous-forms-of-procrastination

Reprinted with permission.