I don't know how many of you procrastinate, but it's one of my problems now and again. I recall a thread here a few days ago which had some interesting points, so I thought I might share one of mine, and see if anyone else had any similar hacks.
We all procrastinate for different reasons, that's true. The GTD system actually ameliorates quite a bit of that procrastinating urge, but there's one thing it doesn't deal with: when you've got an action that has unhappy connotations. That could be because the action itself is boring, or because there's something that makes you feel bad about the project. It might require you to deal with a particularly truculent piece of software, or to do something you don't like doing or aren't good at. Whatever.
I've found something that works for me, or at least it helps. I keep my action lists in 3 drawers of a 5-drawer plastic stationery tray. And I have those 3 action trays categorised as Nice, Numb, and Nasty. So I know that, if I reach into the Numb tray, I'll find work that's just work. If I reach into the Nice tray, I'll find something that has a positive meaning attached. And I know that I won't find anything unpleasant unless I reach into the Nasty tray.
Now it's quite true that I did this because I'm a complete coward who's liable to hide sobbing in the wardrobe rather than risk an unpleasant surprise. But I did get a couple of surprises from this system. The first, and most surprising, is that I'm actually getting much more of the Nasty stuff done. Weird but true: I find that I sit down, gird my loins, and reach in to grab something nasty and throttle it into submission. Usually early in the day.
The second and less surprising thing is that, when I take something out of the Nice tray, I may have forgotten why I put it there. So I have to think about it. So I remember what made me feel good about it. Which wouldn't have happened if I hadn't put it in the Nice tray to begin with. And that's a lovely big glob of positive reinforcement right there.
I see this as an extension of the 'corral your thinking' aspect of GTD. We need to nail down our next actions specifically. We need to collect all like actions into a context list so we can do them when in context. And this adds one extra wrinkle, which is a specific accounting of my psychological resilience. I know that I'm more likely to procrastinate if my NAs are all lumped together, because I've done it. The minute I think "I'll make some calls", my sad little mind says "Oh, but there's that icky one..." and I whimper and pull the blankie over my head. But when I know that I won't have to face the nasty things unless I actively choose to, I'm far more likely to get things done.
Actually, the one category that doesn't move as fast as the others is the Numb stuff. Not sure why, but when I'm feeling brave I dive straight into the Nasties, and when I'm not I seek solace in the Nice. I never want to go for just Numb.
Oh well, maybe that's something for NNN v1.1
We all procrastinate for different reasons, that's true. The GTD system actually ameliorates quite a bit of that procrastinating urge, but there's one thing it doesn't deal with: when you've got an action that has unhappy connotations. That could be because the action itself is boring, or because there's something that makes you feel bad about the project. It might require you to deal with a particularly truculent piece of software, or to do something you don't like doing or aren't good at. Whatever.
I've found something that works for me, or at least it helps. I keep my action lists in 3 drawers of a 5-drawer plastic stationery tray. And I have those 3 action trays categorised as Nice, Numb, and Nasty. So I know that, if I reach into the Numb tray, I'll find work that's just work. If I reach into the Nice tray, I'll find something that has a positive meaning attached. And I know that I won't find anything unpleasant unless I reach into the Nasty tray.
Now it's quite true that I did this because I'm a complete coward who's liable to hide sobbing in the wardrobe rather than risk an unpleasant surprise. But I did get a couple of surprises from this system. The first, and most surprising, is that I'm actually getting much more of the Nasty stuff done. Weird but true: I find that I sit down, gird my loins, and reach in to grab something nasty and throttle it into submission. Usually early in the day.
The second and less surprising thing is that, when I take something out of the Nice tray, I may have forgotten why I put it there. So I have to think about it. So I remember what made me feel good about it. Which wouldn't have happened if I hadn't put it in the Nice tray to begin with. And that's a lovely big glob of positive reinforcement right there.
I see this as an extension of the 'corral your thinking' aspect of GTD. We need to nail down our next actions specifically. We need to collect all like actions into a context list so we can do them when in context. And this adds one extra wrinkle, which is a specific accounting of my psychological resilience. I know that I'm more likely to procrastinate if my NAs are all lumped together, because I've done it. The minute I think "I'll make some calls", my sad little mind says "Oh, but there's that icky one..." and I whimper and pull the blankie over my head. But when I know that I won't have to face the nasty things unless I actively choose to, I'm far more likely to get things done.
Actually, the one category that doesn't move as fast as the others is the Numb stuff. Not sure why, but when I'm feeling brave I dive straight into the Nasties, and when I'm not I seek solace in the Nice. I never want to go for just Numb.
Oh well, maybe that's something for NNN v1.1