The basis of most spiritual philosophies, focusing on the here and now, as opposed to the end destination or past failures, is the key to a productive and fulfilling life. Stop procrastinating, ditch self-defeating distractions and do it now.
1. Follow the Daffodil Principle. When Carolyn took her mom to see a spectacular field of daffodils in a country town, their lives were changed forever. Beside a house next to the field was a poster headlined, “Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking”. The first answer read: “50 000 bulbs”. The second answer was, “One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and very little brain.” The third answer: “Began in 1958.”
The message, as Carolyn pointed out to her mom who lamented about what she could have done had she started 30 years’ earlier, was, “Forget the past. Start now. One bulb at a time.”
2. Just do it. Says Tim Pychyl, Carleton University professor and expert on procrastination, “When the temptation strikes to put something off to tomorrow, I just get started on it right then. Even in the darkness of 6 am when another 15 minutes in bed sounds great, I say to myself: ‘Get your sorry little butt out of bed. The horses are hungry. Get up!’ And when I’m up, I’m happier.”
3. See the big picture. Whether your day is spent tending the household and running after children or designing an ad for a high-flying corporation, niggly chores and dreaded tasks are as important to the final result as creative endeavours. Take 15 minutes a day to write a to-do list. Divide it into chores and exercises that require a lot of time, and work your day around a schedule. Tick off tasks as you complete them, and review your progress at the end of the day.
4. Zap the time thieves. “Simple honesty with yourself is huge, huge,” maintains Pychyl. “Identify clues you’re about to put off. If you’re checking e-mails instead of attending to the small chores, he says, don’t take refuge in the ‘It-will-only-take-a-minute-later’ rationalization. Turn it around. Realize that many jobs literally only take a minute, so let’s do it right now.”
If you’re weak on emotional steadiness, conscientiousness or organization, you need to break down tasks into pieces, and finish one piece at a time, says Pychyl. “Once we get started, we wonder ‘Why did I put it off?’ Make a deal with yourself to work on a task for 15 minutes, and with resistance overcome, momentum to continue usually takes over.”
5. Change the way you talk to yourself. After leaving university in his third year mainly because he lacked direction, Pychyl’s natural interest in human behaviour, and what turns people into their own worst enemy, was aroused by an adviser’s research on personal projects and happiness. His interviews with graduate students showed that many of them were in procrastination paralysis because of lack of self-esteem. Solution? “Instead of worrying about living up to other peoples’ standards, think to yourself, ‘This isn’t the end of the world. This is just the way I react emotionally,’ instead of moving away from the task”.
6. Improve your concentration. A study by Carleton undergraduate researcher Ari Rotblatt confirms that mindful meditation, with your breath as focus, builds concentration power. If you feel you are drifting off in the middle of the day, do an engaging computer game which will sharpen your reflexes and attention to immediate detail. Or tap into your senses. Says Raphael Cushnir, author of How Now, “For example, pay attention to what happens when you smile. Notice how your interior sensations shift as a result. Next, close your mouth and hum a note. Follow the vibration of the sound waves as they spread through organs and bones. Let them wake you up.”
7. Disconnect. When you’re busy on an important task, shut off your e-mail, MSN and your phone. Don’t have Facebook open. Says Leo Babauta, whose simple blog (http://zenhabits.net) mushrooomed from observations of everyday Zen into one of the world’s top 50 blogs, “Don’t check e.mail first thing in the morning. Do your three most important things for the day, or the thing you’ve been procrastinating on the most. Then check e.mail. If you are constantly checking email throughout the day, you will be distracted and not able to focus on the task before you.” To ensure his inbox is always empty, he decides what has to be done with each e.mail as it arrives: answer, print out for later appraisal if it’s long, mark for later action or archive it.
8. Go with the flow. Coined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi to describe the essence of experience described by high achievers, flow is “being completely involved in an activity for its own sake”. While it sounds mystical, it is very practical to institute, says Babauta. The direct antithesis of multi-tasking, which keeps you busy but not necessarily productive, getting into flow requires choosing a task that is challenging, ditching all distractions during a quiet period in your day, and pouring yourself into it without worry of self-consciousness. “Aside from the pleasure of getting into Flow, you’ll also be happier with your work overall. You’ll get important stuff done. You’ll complete stuff more often, rather than starting or stopping frequently. All of this is hugely satisfying and rewarding. Take time to appreciate this feeling (perhaps after the fact), and to continue to practise it every day,” he says.
9. Seize the day. While going with the flow sounds like a passive exercise, it really requires active participation and ownership. As Rachel Lim, an intern for Arrows With Soul (www.arrowswithsoul.com), a Singaporean community enrichment programme, says,“The word ‘seize’ means to take possession by force, and conjures for me an image of jumping up and grabbing hold onto to that moment, declaring, ‘It’s mine! It’s my moment!’, and then holding on to it for dear life.”
10. Set poetry in motion. Seize the moment, but make your 60 seconds of duty 24 hours of satisfaction. Says Taoist Deng Ming-Dao, “Just do what you can for the present, and leave everything else to happen naturally. Work. Wash. Meditate. Eat. Study. Urinate. Sleep. Exercise. Talk. Listen. Touch. Die each night. Be born again each morning.”
Published in Aquarius, Dubai. Copyright Sharon Marshall 2008.
