Wow! What a productive day! What came over me? you ask. Well, I'm not sure. I'm just tired of squeezing all my productive time into the last few hours of my day (at the same time stressing myself out immensely) and not even enjoying the hours prior to that because I'm feeling guilty I haven't started anything yet, tired of going into class feeling unprepared because I didn't start things early enough to get everything done thoroughly, tired of doing the bare minimum when I know I can do so much more and so much better. I just got tired. And so I took a deep breath, grabbed the thing I knew I needed to get out of the way first for Monday, and did it. At 1 pm this afternoon. Two days before I absolutely needed to have it done. And not only did I do the very least I could get by with (coming up with questions for my class and posting them online for them to answer), I did more (actually answering the questions myself - writing them out so I'd have them in front of me when we go over them in class Monday).
Today, I actually tried out some of the things I've been wanting to experiment with, to see if they would work for me. Since everyone is different and everyone works differently, at a different pace, whatever, I tried to work with my own patterns, etc. Here's what I did:
1. I made sure that I took a leisurely morning. I don't wake up well, and I enjoy lingering over breakfast and coffee and getting ready. So I let myself do that. Fortunately, I woke up at 10 (another good thing - woke up before noon!), so I could be a little leisurely and not feel bad about it. That having been said, I did make sure I kept watch on the time; not like a hawk or anything, but I just made note of how long I was spending especially on Facebook - one of my biggest black holes in terms of time.
2. Once I had my leisurely morning, I did a couple of chores to get the blood pumping a bit. A little physical activity is good for the brain, because, as I said, it gets the blood pumping, and that blood gets oxygen into the brain, which helps you think better. Good thinkin', huh? ;)
3. I turned on music, I sat down with all my stuff (readings, paper, pen, phone, something to drink) in my comfy chair with the lap desk - and I STARTED. Before I did, though, I set a goal: to get through the readings and write out the questions. That's it. Whatever I did after that didn't matter, as long as I did that. If I needed to stop before for a mini-break, then that was fine, and that's what I'd do. But then I'd get back to work until it was done. And that's exactly what I did.
4. When I was done, I rewarded myself with a lengthy break and a snack (or, in this particular case, lunch). One of my big problems with putting tasks before fun is my fear (irrational in a way, but common for many procrastinators) that I'll do the tasks and then not have any time left for fun. That's why I think it's important to take the lengthy breaks - to make sure I do something that I like to and want to do. To provide balance throughout the day, I suppose, rather than put all the "fun time" off to the very end of the day. This way, I also have a reward for putting in effort and getting something - or, in the case of bigger projects, and I'm thinking of paper writing and research coming up, even a piece of something - done. Rewarding right away is a good way to get procrastinators motivated to keep going....
5. ....which brings me to another part of the "making sure I have breaks for fun" plan: making sure the breaks are not too long. Today, in experimentation, I took at least an hour break between tasks. After I'd done a couple of fun things, had a snack or a meal, did a little physical activity (walking down the driveway to get the mail or finishing the laundry), and prepared for the next task, I made sure I went on to actually DO it.
6. When I'd done quite a few tasks (the ones on my mental list) for today, I stopped and relaxed. In a way, at this point, the urge was strong to keep going. But in the interest of the fear that there would be not any time left for fun, I stopped. Pacing oneself is important too. I didn't want to burn myself out today and then remember it not as a productive day but as an oppressive day.
7. I made a list for tomorrow and I prioritized it. Not everything on the list HAS to be done tomorrow, but I hope to make a good start on it.
This method seemed to work pretty well today. I will see if it works tomorrow. Everyone has to find their own rhythm and what works for them. And it'll probably take some trial and error and forgiving self for error and tweaking, but I think this type of schedule could work for me. At least on days when I don't actually have to BE in class. Those I'll work on in due time (and for those of you who think I'm procrastinating on THAT, just know that right now, for the summer, I'm only in class two days a week. So if I can get to a point where I'm doing well on my out-of-class days, I can then work on my in-class days, particuarly when I go back to four of them in the fall. In case you didn't realize this, SOME procrastination is actually fruitful. But you have to know which is which! Usually, I don't, but I think I might be learning....).
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