[KateAusten]

I'm guessing a lot of us have issues with this. How do you handle them?



I've tried writing to-do lists, which I love doing (think of all the possibilities of all the different things I could get done in a day!) but the day always seems to slip away without me having done half the stuff on the list. I've tried writing detailed lists, with every specific task I need to do in the order I should do it, and more general lists, with "Spend x hours working on homework, x hours working on cleaning," etc. Doesn't seem to work for me.

If I need to clean or organize (which I always need to do), I find some movie or TV marathon to watch and make an event of it. Lost marathon and clean out the closet day, Humphrey Bogart movie and clean my room day, play star wars drinking game while attempting to sort and fold laundry night, etc. But when it comes to tasks requiring me to sit still and pay a lot of close attention, like writing or job-searching and applying, I'm hopeless.

Right now I'm telling myself that if I spend the entire weekend (including tonight) finishing an application and applying to every job I can find in my region that I might remotely qualify for, that I can spend Monday having lunch, seeing Shutter Island, and doing whatever I want without worrying about all the things I need to get done. Hopefully this works but I'm curious about everyone else's strategies.

[WMDistraction]

I use WoW as a motivator, mainly.

I do have trouble motivating myself, but I usually put on something I like (music, mostly), and just plug away at it. I get extremely distracted, anyway, but singing and working seem to go hand in hand for me. The best thing for me is to just incorporate into something I have interest in, which isn't always easy, but that's when I'm at my most productive.

[stick]

I love lists! I love making them and then getting distracted by something else and failing to do any of the things on the list, haha. Seriously though I have sooooooo many lists.

I have a fantastically easy time writing about myself, but a difficult time doing more academic writing. I am working on making a website for standardized test prep and if I could put half the energy into that as I do into journaling (or reading random crap online, haha) I would be so much farther along. I have a huge list of article ideas! And a tiny handful of completed articles.

Breaking down tasks into smaller parts and then rotating among them helps me a lot. If I want to, say, clean the kitchen and finish an article, then I can start by unloading the dishes and then go make one image for the article and then go back and clean the stovetop. Something like that. It's tough sometimes to actually finish the large task (I will end up with an almost-clean kitchen with a few leftover dishes or a dirty floor or something.) I read a really interesting article somewhere, though, about the macro implications of micro behavior. It suggested that the way to improve your ability to complete tasks is simply to work on fully completing small goals. If I sit down and say to myself, I am going to wash the dishes, and then I go and wash all the dishes, I have just taught myself (on a small scale) how to accomplish things. Then presumably when I do this enough my ability to accomplish things will grow and spread to the point where I can be more productive with my time and set a large goal for myself and accomplish it. I have to work at it nonstop though (like everything: if the skill isn't growing it's dying.)

And I play my music really loud and sing all the time, too! I love to sing! Nothing makes cleaning the apartment more fun than having Lady Gaga at max volume and dancing with the mop and singing at the top of my lungs.

[spring]

I'd seriously like to hear more suggestions on this...

Like everyone else I also tend to sing and do chores. :D It's just so easy to do.

For anything else though, it's pretty hard for me to do it unless there's a deadline and reason for me to do it. I tend to just have to make a deadline for myself, and reward myself with little things along the way.

[Tridentus]

my sense of perspective is my greatest motivator. knowing what ill want at 30 is different to now is my greatest motivation.. i don't want to be 35 and regret not achie ing or doing things. u guys hav no idea what an achievement it is for me to write this stuff in my current state.....

[Dania]

trust me, when it comes to organisation and procrastination, a no bullshit attitude is what has worked the best for me.
i am not gonna lie now and say that while i talk my room is oh so neat (is a pigsty currently) and that all my homework is done.. but this is what i used to do

1. what you did, write a to do list (which is awesome) and not follow anything, forget about the list and find it again soo much later and be like..oh i was sooo determined to do all these
2. join website, read books and all that crap about how to keep the room clean. how to clean my room. how to stop procrastinating... nothing works

what i do now, (working, not 100% turn arounnd but about 50%.. which is awesome now)
1. when i see my room sloppy (like i will tomorrow) i know how cramped and clustered i will be all week, everything will be disorganised and i wont be able to go to school and study as i should, cook and eat and everything comfortably for another week. si a say NEW WEEK NEW SLATE. and i map out a to do list RIGHT THEN.. i number the activities simplest first. and i just DO IT! honestly that is how i do it.. just SHUT OFF THE (which i dont watch,, tv's are soooo useless, you are just wasting your own time and sabotaging yourself if you let something like tv defeat these tasks)

2. when i see that i have a chapter to read (i can only read it when the room or just my desk is clean and clear) i just open the book and my mind and read it. I turn on music in the background, but i have a short playlist or one repeated song i eventually tune out the music, thats how i study, with music.

how did i get the no bullshit attitude.. desperate times call for desperate measures! i have greater motivations as to why my grade HAVE to be A's for the rest of my college life and so i find this sternness to wha i HAVE to do.
yo dont have to complete the WHOLE list in one day. i probably wont do all the cleaning tommorow, but just enough where 1: i am satisfied and can study and b: to the point where i know it wont be soooo chaotic by say wednesday..

thursday/friday chaos is ok, because i clean on saturday :)

[Moby]

Yeah I only organize stuff I really like. Essentially my DVDs and alcohol...Maybe clothes too, but nothing else. Especially boring stuff like papers, or my room lol.

[daaaaanielaa]

I usually just convince myself while writing my daily list how much I love doing whatever it is, and how good it will benefit me once ive finished with it

[WMDistraction]

Anyone else here "organize as you go?" If I see the need to organize something, I do, but otherwise it just kind of sits there...