Oh cripes, you HAD to pick procrastination, eh?

*groans*

Seven tips comin’ up. Can’t resist a challenge

Think you’re finished with memes? Bwa-hah-ha! I tag you with the Roar for Powerful Writing Award. And I enjoyed your procrastination tips. Now, if I could just get around to trying them…..

Love these tips…very useful!

Just wanted to pop in and say welcome to entrecard.

@ James: Of course, it’s a terrible condition I’m sure all writers suffer to some degree so it would be great to find out how others attempt to combat the beast. I’m looking forward to reading your procrastination busters.

@ PlaidEarthworm: Wow, thanks for the Roar Award. I’ll have to write up that meme today.

@ Hope: I’m glad you’ve enjoyed these tips Hope. Do you have any procrastination buster tips of your own you could add?

@ Mikster: Thank you for the welcome! I feel like I’m flooded under the incredible results of Entrecard. It’s a lot of fun and the amazing blogs to explore are great. I’m saving my credits and looking forward to advertising elsewhere.

YIKES!! PlaidEarthworm beat me to it? I hadn’t gotten to the comments on this yet. Sorry!! You DO deserve it times TWO though.

Some great tips, they’re very useful (especially to someone like me who spends much of the day procrastinating).

I know exactly what you mean about procrastination, Rebecca, I think I’m the worst at putting things off until “later.”

Thanks for the tag! I’ll get to it soon. What? Promise! I won’t keep procrastinating – um… for too long.

Honest, I’ll be back to let you know when I’ve written my post!

Smiles,
Michele

Oh, I love your tips by the way. I have no clue how I’ll write anything that compares to this!

*thinking*

Smiles,
Michele

Ok, here’s my tips:

Procrastination Roadblocks: How to Get Around Them

Thanks for the tag!

*chuckles* Actually, I’ve been giving the ROAR award three times over now. I’d crow about it but that would show off my big head. You know, if you want to get recognition be slow to follow up on these things. Because I hadn’t done an official ROAR award post three wonderful friends gifted me this fabulous award and the recognition does wonders for my writer’s soul.

@ Rebecca: I’m glad to know I’m not the only writer struggling with the evils of procrastination.

@ Michele: I love your procrastination busters, Michele! Thanks for joining in.

@ James: Fantastic follow up, James! Thank you for taking part. I’ll remember your eagerness for challenges when I have to tag people in the future.

Hi Rebecca, I’m ashamed to say I do procrastinate on some things. If you have an awful project that really needs doing, sometimes you’ve just got to put it to the top of your list and not allow yourself to do another thing until it’s done.

Also, make sure you have everything right in front of you that you’ll need before you begin – that way there’s no excuses.

It is wonderful to know I’m not alone when it comes to procrastination. In the end you really do just have to get it done. If only there were some easy ways to get past the procrastination and encourage action.

Thanks for sharing your great, “Be Ready” tip. Being organized is very important. Of course, being unprepared is another procrastination technique my sneaky mind likes to use. Is it a no-win situation sometimes?

Hello Rebecca,

My biggest procrastination comes in the form of filing office paperwork. As much as I try to stay caught up on it, it multiplies like a wild fire. Like Catherine mentioned, I literally prepare for filing..both mentally and physically.

I also find that I create self induced pressures. Even though I know when deadlines are, I love to wait until the last minute, and then get it all done at once. I don’t know if this comes from working in the corporate world, in high pressure jobs (which I loved), or what, but I do function better under pressure.

So, if I can create a “pressure cooker” of sorts that motivates me to get my filing done, before I know it, all of the papers vanish.

I ask myself, what’s that all about?

My friends and I laugh. We say, if you want to get your house clean fast, plan a party. Amazing how quickly we get it done, when we have the right motivation.

I’m a “pressure cooker” kind of person too but I can’t use the “working in corporate” as my excuse.

You are SOOOO right about the best way to get your house clean fast. I’ve just decided to move house. I have a real estate agent coming through tomorrow and my house is a nightmare. Wow! I’m motivated to spend all night and tomorrow morning before she gets here scrubbing floors, washing walls and windows, folding laundry and pulling weeds.

These are great Rebecca! I’ve just done this meme as well and hope to have your blog up on my blogroll shortly!

Okay! Mine’s up. But you knew that already. I’m late to the party as far as submitting my entry… well I was busy procrastinating! Thanks for the tag, Rebecca. I had fun writing this one

Melissa

I love your entries Beth and Melissa! Great tips and creative procrastination busters! Thanks for joining in!

My tip: Stop surfing the web, and get to work NOW!

Well, all right, ten more minutes, and not a minute more!

Actually, I got an idea: If every single blogger can post a topic called “Stop Reading and Get Back to Work!” on the exact same day, imagine the effect of that.

I can see it now. It’ll be talked about on the local news, at the end of the show, with something about “No Email Friday” as a segue way into the segment. Of course, blogs won’t be able to report on it, because they will all have that message. Think it’ll work?

Nah.

*chuckles* Now we could ALL put that tip to good use, Nez. I know in the past I’ve spent SOOOOO much time online when I could be putting it to much better use. The past two weeks have felt full of accomplishments. Not business accomplishments of course but I’ve still felt very busy while having very little time online.

Even last night I found I worked harder in 1 hour on the laptop (no internet there) than I’ve done some full days when I have internet access. Of course, deadline looming helps too.

Your idea, while interesting is doomed. Everyone will be too busy going about reading everyone’s “get back to work” blog entries and not actually GET BACK TO WORK!!! lol I wonder if I can set up a blinking message that pops up every ten minutes if I’ve been reading emails or surfing the web that says, “Get back to work!” lol Perhaps I should design it and patent the idea. It could be greater than google. Then again, perhaps not, odds are people would do what I would do and turn it off or ignore it.

I have a procrastination buster of my own that has worked well for me both in getting uni assignments done, writing lectures and articles in my (past) professional life and in starting a blog entry.
I start off with “Wanna say…” and make a list in absolutely free form language- no spelling correction, punctuation virtually ignored, any old random thoughts and connections that pop into my head as I’m writing; I allow myself to repeat things in different ways with different slants- no holds barred- no technical terms if I can’t think of a word- gross overuse of the words “thing” and “stuff”. I even allow myself to jot down things like “I don’t know what the hell this lecturer wants me to say about ethics- who cares?- ethics are just a set of old rules- stuff him- he’s just being conventional..” etc.
This works for me without fail, even when I’m sooo depressed that I’d rather slice my own hand off than write something at the time! [Those who've ever scanned my blog will know I am famously depressed!]
Try it if the other techniques don’t work and let me know what happens!
Kay/Grumba/Murf shares: Mucking about with theme, header