Do you ever feel like you know that you need to plan out your day but that just becomes yet another thing you have to do?
This morning, I was having difficult getting started with my list of tasks for the day. I have previously written about how I usually plan for my next week on Friday afternoons.
I find that looking ahead helps me allocate my time and helps me keep on top of any important deadlines, meetings, etc.
This past weekend was a three day weekend, so I didn't get to planning on Friday. This happens sometimes and that works for me. I just try to do some planning on the first work day of the week.
But, I was tired after my wonderful weekend and on Tuesday, I didn't end up doing much work in the morning and my afternoon was full of counselling clients.
So when I started my work day this morning, I noticed it was taking me a while to get started. I checked in with myself to figure out what was causing this procrastination:
Am I having strong feelings about something?
Is there something I'm dreading doing?
Am I having trouble prioritizing?
What task do I want to start with?
Do I need to start with easier tasks and work my way up to harder tasks?
Asking yourself these types of metacognitive questions can help uncover what is going on. By doing this, I realized that part of my procrastination was due to the fact that I actually had a lot of things I wanted to get to do today and my enthusiasm was making it hard to choose!
This week is reading break so I have a rare full day at home, and I realized that I was procrastinating because I wanted to get so much done but didn't know where to start!
Step One: Write it all down and use the environment to help
I made a list of all the things I needed to get done, including specific emails I needed to writing, and as many details as possible about the task. I did this while sitting on the couch with my dog and drinking tea.
Step Two: Group your tasks together
Then, I tried to group them by theme - for example, counselling work, teaching work, writing, etc. This helps me see how much I need to do for each area, which helps me understand if I have a lot to do for all areas, or a lot to do for one area.
Step Three: Categorize the tasks based on time, emotion, etc.
I wrote next to each item how long I thought it would take for me to do each task. As I did this, I realized I had quite a few things on my list that I had been putting off for a couple of weeks. This often can happen with small tasks.
I've also written down the deadline, the emotion I have about the task and whether it's positive or negative, the importance, or any other qualifier that helps me see the task in a different light.
Step Four: Choose a place to start
Finally, I decided to start with the tasks that would take the least amount of time (5 - 10 minutes each), and spent about an hour doing a series of these tasks.
Overall, building momentum works really well for me, and it's something I did a lot of when I was writing my dissertation. But, often for me to build this momentum, I have to do some planning.
When I've categorized my tasks by emotion, for example that looking at feedback on my dissertation was increasing my anxiety, I would put myself in an environment that helped, or did that task sandwiched in between two tasks that were more calming, such as looking at data sets.
So, the next time you are having trouble getting started and need to plan when you don't want to plan, try these steps to see if that helps you get over the planning hump and get started.
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