Send
Print
pexels
This is one of the forms of procrastination. Perhaps the most painful one, because you are actually motivated to do the work, but do not know what to do and how to achieve results. Let's fight it.
Step 1. Start an alarm
When you cannot definitely answer the question of what to do right now, you need to look at the work as a whole and think over a long-term strategy. Whenever you fall into this state, set the alarm clock so that it rings in thirty minutes, and start planning. At first you might think that the whole idea is just a terrible waste of time. You may sit idly without writing a word during the first fifteen minutes, and think that you only create more problems by wasting time that could be spent on real work. In fact, no habit will take root without strong motivation, and no work will be performed without a clear plan.
Step 2. Look from above
The easiest way to start planning is to look at the situation from above. Why do you want to achieve this goal? How you will become successful? There is an optimal path from your current position to any goal set, which you will find only when you fully understand the task. Start with imagining how this path may look like. Rise above your stereotyped perception and imagine how someone else is going to success. What are the main signal milestones in this way?
Step 3. Write it down
Take a piece of paper. Write the final goal or several goals on the right edge. If it is not clear yet, write everything that came to your mind. Starting from the right edge, record the signal milestones in chronological order so that what should happen next was closer to the left edge. Finally, on the left side of the sheet, make a to-do list with which you must proceed immediately. Write everything that can be done to implement this plan, regardless of whether any particular task is the best possible option.
Devote twenty minutes to this lesson. Perhaps you will flood the list with a stream of ideas and you will not have enough time to write down everything that comes to mind. Such inspiration comes in case if before you were not able to make any decision and did not understand what to do next. At other times, you may produce no ideas. Just fill the paper with thoughts that come to mind. If you are working on a list of urgent matters or are considering how to better formulate the goal, do not sit over each item for long, just write.
Step 4. Find the essence, cut off excess
Now you have a map with a messy image of possible ways to achieve goals. Spend the last ten minutes of the session on reading everything you wrote; try to see the paths that lead from the left edge of the sheet to the right. What goal do you want to achieve the most? What milestones seem most important? What you can do right now? At this stage, you can begin to delete unnecessary. You gave the brain the opportunity to release all ideas and plans that were waiting for their time, and now you have the right to cut it down a bit. The goal of this process is not to find the only way that will lead you to success, but rather awareness of what is not suitable for you.
Now take a look at the list of priority cases and start executing them one by one. Such 30-minute planning is a way out of a jam, a fresh look at the situation and a new impetus to development.
Based on “Superhuman By Habit. A Guide to Becoming the Best Possible Version of Yourself, One Tiny Habit at a Time” by Tynan
Step 1. Start an alarm
When you cannot definitely answer the question of what to do right now, you need to look at the work as a whole and think over a long-term strategy. Whenever you fall into this state, set the alarm clock so that it rings in thirty minutes, and start planning. At first you might think that the whole idea is just a terrible waste of time. You may sit idly without writing a word during the first fifteen minutes, and think that you only create more problems by wasting time that could be spent on real work. In fact, no habit will take root without strong motivation, and no work will be performed without a clear plan.
Step 2. Look from above
The easiest way to start planning is to look at the situation from above. Why do you want to achieve this goal? How you will become successful? There is an optimal path from your current position to any goal set, which you will find only when you fully understand the task. Start with imagining how this path may look like. Rise above your stereotyped perception and imagine how someone else is going to success. What are the main signal milestones in this way?
Step 3. Write it down
Take a piece of paper. Write the final goal or several goals on the right edge. If it is not clear yet, write everything that came to your mind. Starting from the right edge, record the signal milestones in chronological order so that what should happen next was closer to the left edge. Finally, on the left side of the sheet, make a to-do list with which you must proceed immediately. Write everything that can be done to implement this plan, regardless of whether any particular task is the best possible option.
Devote twenty minutes to this lesson. Perhaps you will flood the list with a stream of ideas and you will not have enough time to write down everything that comes to mind. Such inspiration comes in case if before you were not able to make any decision and did not understand what to do next. At other times, you may produce no ideas. Just fill the paper with thoughts that come to mind. If you are working on a list of urgent matters or are considering how to better formulate the goal, do not sit over each item for long, just write.
Step 4. Find the essence, cut off excess
Now you have a map with a messy image of possible ways to achieve goals. Spend the last ten minutes of the session on reading everything you wrote; try to see the paths that lead from the left edge of the sheet to the right. What goal do you want to achieve the most? What milestones seem most important? What you can do right now? At this stage, you can begin to delete unnecessary. You gave the brain the opportunity to release all ideas and plans that were waiting for their time, and now you have the right to cut it down a bit. The goal of this process is not to find the only way that will lead you to success, but rather awareness of what is not suitable for you.
Now take a look at the list of priority cases and start executing them one by one. Such 30-minute planning is a way out of a jam, a fresh look at the situation and a new impetus to development.
Based on “Superhuman By Habit. A Guide to Becoming the Best Possible Version of Yourself, One Tiny Habit at a Time” by Tynan
