Progress instead of Procrastination

Feeling frustrated because you supposedly have so much more spare time now that you are working from home?

Wondering how to get started on one of those longer term projects? This nails it:

“If you’re putting off a long term project, particularly one where the result is uncertain or the reward will take a long time to arrive, find a way to reward yourself as fast as you can. Just for getting it done, that short term anticipation will keep you going, even if it’s hard to see your long term progress. And then there’s another tactic. Make the hard choices easier.”

Dan Ariely

But how do we find a suitable short term reward?

If you like bouncing ideas off people – phone a friend and ask them to get a pen and write down what you say for five minutes. Then start talking about what you love to do when you aren’t working and see if you can generate an ‘aha – I could use that as my reward’.

If you like being by yourself, get a piece of paper and make a list of “things I love to do”. As an alternative, draw a heart in the middle of the page and give yourself 5 minutes to write down anything that might be a reward.

If you want to know more, click here to listen to Charles Duhigg interviewing Dan Ariely on this topic (advice is at 19.05).  Or click here to  download my e-book: 21 Ways to Get Unstuck, Keep Moving Towards your Dreams.

Subscribe to our Blog

We won’t spam you – ever. We do promise to send you interesting information, hints and tips.

Leave a Reply