Wow, Lynda, a timer sounds like it makes you move a bit faster. Think I'll get one because often time gets away from me when I'm deeply focused. I appreciate your advice!
"reward yourself with a new fashion item"
Are you thinking handbags? Have you been reading my blog?! LOL!
I do think a reward might help. Another thing I've found that helps is if I use a timer. (I will spend the next 15 minutes cleaning my office and then I'll start on the project.) The timer also works great for my younger children who don't really understand time yet. (Mom will play XYZ with you after she works for the next 30 minutes.)
Hi Lynda, I appreciate your personal case study since many of us may experience the same. Maybe one extra step would advance you toward your project every time you "make adjustments."
Here's my thought...Tell yourself that the creative time for the work is most important. So see the adjustment as a reward for doing X on the project or spending X amout of time on the project first. Since procrastination is related to immediate gratification, I'm thinking a reward system might be in order to get past it. At least it's worth a try. And reward yourself with a new fashion item when the project's completed a day early. Thoughts?
Oh boy, Robyn... this one hit a little to close to home for me. I'm one of those folks who says "This time I swear I'm not going to have to pull an all-nighter to get the project done." I'm also one of those folks who is *always* pulling all-nighters to get the project done.
I think, at least for me, I have this optimum set of standards I require to be able to work. The tasks for each project set the list of requirements. For instance, if I need to sift through notes and really think about something I'm writing, I need quiet. This often means putting off doing the work until the rest of the family has gone to bed. (The curse of working from home!)
Also, I've found that I'm much happier working if the space around me is tidy. This is especially true if I'm working on a layout/design piece for a client.
So... in order for me to reach the necessary requirements for a project, I'll spend time correcting what I perceive as necessary adjustments instead of working on the project itself.
Actually, there's probably someone out there who could use me as a case study and win big awards. HA!
Frank, it was a great time to open up some research in areas concerning procrastination that I had not explored. That's one reason why questions are so great... helps us all go deeper!
I really appreciated your question.
Hi Robyn, thanks so much for this considered response. There's so much I didn't know about procrastination and rushing. You did such an excellent job explaining this one top to bottom. I'm forwarding this around. Really nice work. Thank you!
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