GTMD (Getting Too Much Done)

[JDC]

As many other problems - procrastination can be overcome only from the outside of the problem area - you must find the real cause of the procrastination (in most cases some kind of fear).

It's not necessarily fear. I procrastinate like crazy about doing my taxes. It's not fear, it's boredom.

Add up how much money I spent on office supplies, add up how much money I spent on airfare, add up how much money I spent on phone calls, add up how much money I spent on postage.... Maybe there's some multiplication if I need to do currency conversion, but addition and multiplication stopped being interesting in grade school.

The whole process bores me to tears and I avoid it, but there is no fear.

 

[CosmoGTD]

Fear of being bored?

It's not necessarily fear. I procrastinate like crazy about doing my taxes. It's not fear, it's boredom.

The whole process bores me to tears and I avoid it, but there is no fear.

 

[JDC]

Fear of being bored?

Cute. But no.

 

[CosmoGTD]

I was being glib, but its actually probably accurate.
There is some type of avoidance, and that means "fear" of being in the emotional state of "feeling bored". That is, if that is what is really going on. It could be something else.

Doing taxes is not about basic maths anymore, as you can just plug the numbers into software these days, and it does all the calculations for you. Doing taxes is more of a legal obligation, than a math problem, it seems to me.
Some people don't due their taxes, due to the fear of feeling STRESSED, DEPRESSED, angry, overwhelmed, arguing with their spouse, etc.
Some people don't do their taxes as a type of rebellion against being "forced" to do something.

Some folks HATE doing their taxes, as there was a sense that it is going to cost them money, or be made aware of how much $ is going out.
But if you reframe it in your brain, to how much money you can SAVE by being smart, you can calculate doing your taxes to earning you an hourly rate of many hundreds of dollars an hour.
I doubt any person would be bored when adding up numbers, if those numbers represented large amounts of money going into their pocket, unless theywere richer than Oprah.

Regardless, whatever it is that we are AVOIDING, there is some type of "reason" for it, even if it is totally illogical and even nonsensical.
I don't see any psychological evidence that "everything" we avoid is due to "fear", although Anxiety-Fear is the #1 reason we don't do things we want to have done.

But the bottom line is that is doesn't really matter the "reason" why we want to avoid things.
As far as I can see, no matter the so-called "reason" there is only one solution, and that is ultimately using Behavioral Exposure to DO it. That is, just breaking the task (Next Action) we are avoiding down to the very next physical action, and then "forcing" ourselves to do it over and over, until it no longer provokes the avoidance response. This is the same method used for actual phobias, and it can also be applied to simply doing mundane tasks that we want to have DONE.

Many of us fall into a trap called "Emotional Reasoning" where we think "I can only do it if I FEEL like doing it". The best psychological methods these days actually counsels the exact opposite. If its something we want/need to have DONE, and we don't "feel like" doing it, then we simply force ourselves to do it, until we feel like it, or even if we don't ever feel like it.
There is a fallacy that is not healthy to "force" oneself to do something one does not "feel like" doing. But the reality is that is the best treatment in dealing with everything from basic procrastination, to full-blown irrational phobias.

I have researched this, and thought about this for a long time, and I cannot find or think of any exceptions to this. If anyone can think of an exception, I would like to hear it.

 

[JDC]

Doing taxes is not about basic maths anymore, as you can just plug the numbers into software these days, and it does all the calculations for you.

And why is typing a year’s worth of receipts into a software program any more interesting than typing them into a calculator?

Some people don't due their taxes, due to the fear of feeling STRESSED, DEPRESSED, angry, overwhelmed, arguing with their spouse, etc.
Some people don't do their taxes as a type of rebellion against being "forced" to do something.

And some people don’t do their taxes because the whole process bores them to tears.

That is, just breaking the task (Next Action) we are avoiding down to the very next physical action,

For me, divide-and-conquer seems to be the most effective strategy (something I discovered before I discovered GTD). I used to try to do my taxes all in one sitting. Now I do them piecemeal. Figure out the phone calls one day; figure out the mileage another day. It’s still boring, but it’s boring in small doses.

Let me also be clear that I am not requesting advice on this. I was simply making the point that procrastination is not necessarily the result of fear.

 

[Rainer Burmeister]

Delegate your Work

Some people don't due their taxes, due to the fear of feeling STRESSED, DEPRESSED, angry, overwhelmed, arguing with their spouse, etc.
Some people don't do their taxes as a type of rebellion against being "forced" to do something.
Some folks HATE doing their taxes, as there was a sense that it is going to cost them money, or be made aware of how much $ is going out.

Cosmo,

because of all the reasons you mentioned I gave up on doing my taxes several yeras ago. Now I pay a tax accountant for doing my taxes.

Rainer

 

[CosmoGTD]

As far as entering tax receipts, I do it each week as part of the Weekly Review, and also download them directly into the software monthly, so I don't mind it at all. I just save them in my wallet, and when its full I enter them. Its not fun, and its not boring, its like taking a shower, its just something that one does.
Receipts are then functionally part of the Inbox, and get processed as they come in. They don't get stuffed into an envelope, which then would take 8 hours to enter into software once a year.

David Allen must have made some comments somewhere about how to handle receipts, but it seems logical to me to just make them part of the Inbox, which is processed completely at least each week.

I actually never said all procrastination is the result of "fear".
It can be LFT (low-frustation tolerance), or many other things.
But whatever the causes of procrastination, it seems to me there is only one solution to it, which I have outlined above. I can't think of an exception to this way of dealing with procrastination, and if anyone can, I would like to hear it.

Let me also be clear that I am not requesting advice on this. I was simply making the point that procrastination is not necessarily the result of fear.

 

[avrum68]

I can't think of an exception to this way of dealing with procrastination, and if anyone can, I would like to hear it.

I suggest heading on over to Yahoo Groups, search for The Now Habit, and observe the multitude of reasons why:

a) People procrastinate
b) Why GTD, The Now Habit, etc., don't work (for some)
c) Why "Just do it", while seemingly obvious, doesn't work for all procrastinators, all the time.

 

[CosmoGTD]

Hi there, I read The Now Habit, but it didn't really do anything for me personally.

I agree that "Just Do It" is not the answer to procrastination.
But after looking at all the possible approaches to procrastination I could get my hands on, there ultimately is only ONE way to deal with it, in the end.
People can do various psychological analysis, to try and figure out WHY they are procrastinating about something, and that can be helpful.
GTD even puts forward the concept of modifying how the Next Action is languaged, as a way to spur activity, and that is extremely valuable.

But in the end, no matter what kind of procrastination it is, serious, or trivial, phobic, or even traumatic, it always comes down to...

-specifically identifying the Very Next Physical Action to be done.
-deciding on a specific time to do this specific behavior.
-then forcing yourself to carry out this Very Next Action for at least 5-15 minutes at least.
-keep repeating this cycle.

I literally cannot think of an exception to this. No matter how huge, complex, or trivial the procrastination is. Ultimately it is going to boil down to finding out a tiny Very Next Action, and the actually DOING that behavior at a specific time.

Professional psychologists who have studied this for years suggest that once you figure out the specific behavior that you need/want to do, then when you don't "feel like" doing it, then you have to FORCE yourself to do it in that moment, according to a schedule, and then rinse and repeat this, over and over, until the avoidance response diminishes.
While you are doing this, you also can practice cognitive-emotive restructuring, but the reality is the best way to do this is to have the new behavioral learning experiences by forcing yourself to do it!

And even if the emotional avoidance response does not diminish, then its healthy and proper to "force" the behavior. They call it Behavioral Forcing.
Of course, you need to do it in a way that is not "self-shaming", or angry, etc, as that can make it worse.

If you look at the literature, this is what it all boils down to, whether you are dealing with a literal phobia like fear of flying, or not cleaning the garage, or not doing taxes, or not paying bills, or whatever it is.

If there is something we are NOT doing, that we have decided we want/need to do, then obviously the solution to this is to figure out a way to get it done! Of course, we can hire someone to do it, but this is still getting it done.
But anything we want to do, and are not doing it, ultimately is going to come down to us carefully figuring out what needs to be done, and then literally forcing ourselves at a specific time to do it, even though our emotions are screaming "don't do it! I'll do it later!" etc.
The very act of carrying out this new behavior creates new learnings in the brain, so then the brain can learn that doing X, is not that bad, and its better to just do it.
Also, many things in life are boring and unfun, and its essential we just admit and allow this, and just do it anyway.

Like I have said, I literally cannot think of one single exception to this. If someone can think of a specific exception to this, and give a specific example, I would love to hear about it, and have a look at it.

I suggest heading on over to Yahoo Groups, search for The Now Habit, and observe the multitude of reasons why:

a) People procrastinate
b) Why GTD, The Now Habit, etc., don't work (for some)
c) Why "Just do it", while seemingly obvious, doesn't work for all procrastinators, all the time.

 

[flexiblefine]

CosmoGTD makes good points

But in the end, no matter what kind of procrastination it is, serious, or trivial, phobic, or even traumatic, it always comes down to...

-specifically identifying the Very Next Physical Action to be done.
-deciding on a specific time to do this specific behavior.
-then forcing yourself to carry out this Very Next Action for at least 5-15 minutes at least.
-keep repeating this cycle.

In the end, the only way to not procrastinate is to do the things you've been putting off. CosmoGTD is right about this.

No matter why we procrastinate (and we all have our own reasons) and how we end up fighting against it (again, we all have our ways), in the end we want to do the things we haven't been doing. The end point is the same, without exception.

Professional psychologists who have studied this for years suggest that once you figure out the specific behavior that you need/want to do, then when you don't "feel like" doing it, then you have to FORCE yourself to do it in that moment, according to a schedule, and then rinse and repeat this, over and over, until the avoidance response diminishes.

Any change in our thoughts and actions requires that we step out of our comfort zone. No matter whether we choose to look at it as "force" or something else, breaking out of our habits requires doing things we don't "feel like" doing.

In "The Now Habit," Neil Fiore suggests "persistent starting" as a way to help unlearn procrastination habits. This is pretty much the same thing CosmoGTD suggests above, just expressed differently. Get started, work for a while, and keep starting. Eventually we should learn to start on our own, without having to wind ourselves up with extra motivations and "force" ourselves to get to work.

The very act of carrying out this new behavior creates new learnings in the brain, so then the brain can learn that doing X, is not that bad, and its better to just do it.

CosmoGTD is not expressing this view as someone who sees his own procrastination as a powerful force that will be difficult to overthrow. For those of us in that position, "just do it" sounds a little contemptuous. "Just do it" doesn't show any respect for the 50,000-foot mountain we feel like we have to climb to overcome our problems.

There's no other way of doing things but to do them. You can't ask a pretty girl out for a Saturday evening without actually doing it, and you can't do the things you've been putting off until tomorrow without picking a step and doing it.

For those of us who have turned tasks into 50,000-foot mountains, we have to keep trying, step by step, until we learn that focus dissolves difficulty, and it's really not that bad in the end. (The mountain, after all, is imaginary.) But it's an ongoing process.

 

[kewms]

CosmoGTD is not expressing this view as someone who sees his own procrastination as a powerful force that will be difficult to overthrow. For those of us in that position, "just do it" sounds a little contemptuous. "Just do it" doesn't show any respect for the 50,000-foot mountain we feel like we have to climb to overcome our problems.

There's no other way of doing things but to do them. You can't ask a pretty girl out for a Saturday evening without actually doing it, and you can't do the things you've been putting off until tomorrow without picking a step and doing it.

That's exactly it. No matter what the goal, and no matter what the (internal or external) obstacles, in the end it comes down to identifying a physical action, and then doing it. To run a marathon, you start by lacing up your shoes and running around the block. To write a novel, you start by writing a paragraph.

I can actually see how a goal like "stop procrastinating" can itself contribute to procrastination. It's too big and vague to be doable. What's the desired outcome? What's the very next physical action?

Katherine

 

[CosmoGTD]

For the record, I have had lots of procrastination problems myself, and have read a zillion books about it, often as a way to procrastinate further!
I consider "avoidance" and procrastination the same thing, I have even created a special GTD category called !ANTIAVOIDANCE, which lists the Next Actions I am resisting, avoiding and procrastinating. (sadly, I often AVOID looking at this list! The mind is a tricky thing.)

But, that being said, even a 50,000-ft mountain of procrastination, or even a literal technical PHOBIA, that blocks people in an extreme way, can only be overcome in this way.

People have tried everything, from hypnosis, to chanting, to praying, to magic spells, etc, etc.
But in the end, it is going to come down to some type of tiny Behavioral Next Action moving ONE STEP in that direction.

If one looks at the current treatments for extreme phobias, for example, the first step after figuring out what is going on, is to do mental exposure, and to IMAGINE yourself doing the action. This is actually the first Next Action, even though it is mental.
But it is part of a hierarchy of actions, from tiny, going on up to more difficult.

An example would be a fear of flying, as a fist step, you would get in your car and drive past the airport, and look at the planes. Over a period of weeks, that Next Action increases by a tiny step by step, one small step at a time, until you are actually having coffee in the airport, boarding planes that do not take off as part of a Fear of Flying program, etc. Over a period of time you EXTINGUISH the emotive response that is blocking you from flying through graded behavioral exposure. As you EXPOSE yourelf to the situation, the emotions begin to calm down over many exposures.

In my mind, this applies to all forms of procrastination I can think of, as well. So again, I am opposed to "Just Do It", unless of course you can do that. Its usually better to isolate that tiny specific Next Action, and then DO that, until its not a problem anymore, and then you move on carefully to the next step.
A great book that explains all this is...
The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook: by Edmund J. Bourne
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/15...102-9353852-7829716?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Again, I cannot see or imagine an example where it is not going to boil down to doing some tiny Next Action that moves you in the direction you want to go. That is what is great about GTD and procrastination, defining the Next Action is the critical step, but then its going to take some type of PUSH to get that action done. There is no other way, and believe me, I have tried them all. If its a serious problem, its best to have a trained psychologist help you work through it, in terms of Behavior Therapy.

The interesting thing to me, is that this applies from the most grandiose of personal projects, to the most difficult procrastination and even mental health issues.
For example, for someone who is clinically depressed and can't get out of bed, the Next Action is "move your arm". The next one might be "move your leg", with the Outcome being "walk across the room", and then they build from there, with the help of a psychologist.
So it seems to me, that across the broadest area of human behavior, it boils down to the GTD idea of defining that specific behavioral Next Action.

The one area for me anyway, that is a little bit missing in GTD, is that sometimes, even after the Next Action is properly defined, we need to PUSH ourselves to do it. (Behavioral Forcing). We often have the idea that if the Next Action is properly defined, that we will automatically do it, or "feel like" doing it. The psychological literature states this is not the case at all, and as a matter of fact, is very often not the case.
The amazing thing is that if we can learn how to give ourselves that PUSH, to "make" ourselves DO the defined Next Action at a precise time, and use penalties and rewards for this, we can break the back of procrastination.
Does it always work, forever?
No way.
But for me anyway, I know that no matter what it is that is causing me trouble, that once the Next Action behavior is properly defined, that it is going to take a PUSH to do it. If the Next Action is small enough, then it is doable.

Again, I have wracked my brain over this, and cannot think of an exception, discounting someone with severe mental illness. (but even in those cases, the treatments often are this type of very simple Behavior Therapy)

CosmoGTD is not expressing this view as someone who sees his own procrastination as a powerful force that will be difficult to overthrow. For those of us in that position, "just do it" sounds a little contemptuous. "Just do it" doesn't show any respect for the 50,000-foot mountain we feel like we have to climb to overcome our problems.

There's no other way of doing things but to do them. You can't ask a pretty girl out for a Saturday evening without actually doing it, and you can't do the things you've been putting off until tomorrow without picking a step and doing it.

For those of us who have turned tasks into 50,000-foot mountains, we have to keep trying, step by step, until we learn that focus dissolves difficulty, and it's really not that bad in the end. (The mountain, after all, is imaginary.) But it's an ongoing process.

 

[ActionGirl]

Cosmo, that was a very helpful description of the problem!

It's hard to argue that fact that it eventually comes down to "do it," but I find that "just do it" sets off a more complicated response that usually doesn't result in getting it done.

 

[flexiblefine]

Thank you, CosmoGTD

I consider "avoidance" and procrastination the same thing, I have even created a special GTD category called !ANTIAVOIDANCE, which lists the Next Actions I am resisting, avoiding and procrastinating. (sadly, I often AVOID looking at this list! The mind is a tricky thing.)

I've been considering doing something similar with my lists. I date each item, so I know how long things sit on my lists, but I find that I keep working my lists from the bottom up, so old items just get older. Having a special category to review each week may help me get some of these stuck items unstuck.

A great book that explains all this is...
The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook: by Edmund J. Bourne
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1572244135

I'm going to add that to my R&D list of procrastination books. Thanks for the pointer!

The interesting thing to me, is that this applies from the most grandiose of personal projects, to the most difficult procrastination and even mental health issues.

I think that's one of the most interesting things about GTD, too. You can use it to deal with things you have to do at work, you can use it to deal with clutter in your house, and you can use it to deal with things in your head.

The one area for me anyway, that is a little bit missing in GTD, is that sometimes, even after the Next Action is properly defined, we need to PUSH ourselves to do it. (Behavioral Forcing).

I've noticed the same "deficiency." GTD is not a motivational program -- it will help you figure out what to do next, but it won't make you take that next step. This is how GTD brought my procrastination into focus -- well-defined next actions were simply not getting done.

Even if GTD did nothing but bring my procrastination to light, it would have been well worth the reading and effort. But it has done more -- for example, I don't spend a lot of time looking for stuff because I decide where it belongs! (This drives my wife mad, by the way.)

But for me anyway, I know that no matter what it is that is causing me trouble, that once the Next Action behavior is properly defined, that it is going to take a PUSH to do it. If the Next Action is small enough, then it is doable.

That's probably the way I should look at my delayed next actions. Pick a small action, give myself a good nudge, and get going. I know that starting the day with work helps set up momentum that can carry me through the rest of the day, and I should look at my individual actions in a similar light.

 

[CosmoGTD]

Just for the record, I am actually opposed to Just Do It! The fact is, if a person could Just Do It, then by definition, its not really a serious procrastination problem! They are doing it!

But that being said, it does seem to me that no matter what it is, it needs to be CAREFULLY defined, and a tiny Next Action selected, and then that Next Action has to get DONE, somehow.
Of course, we can DELEGATE this, like some folks have done with taxes, or cleaning, etc. (hiring someone is delegation)
But even that is going to come down to CALLING the cleaning company and booking a maid, and then the Next Action of paying the bill, etc.

For the sake of research, I would love if some folks could give some specific examples of certain specific cases where they feel this concept does NOT work, and then we can have a look at it and see.

But a point I am making, for myself, is that in the end, even a tiny Next Action can cause us to feel very strong resistance. I have several blocks right now myself, dealing with some difficult, complex and emotion-based situations.
I KNOW what the precise Next Actions are, but my brain is still resisting doing them. But that's ok. I know what they are, and they are in my !ANTIAVOIDANCE list, so their days are numbered.
But I still FEEL the resistance and avoidance, but I know there is literally NO WAY OUT, then at one point FORCING-PUSHING-MAKING myself to that specific small Next Action, no matter how I feel about it.

It was a revelation to me, that PUSHING myself to do these Next Actions, even though it feels very uncomfortable in the moment, often makes you feel terrific once they are DONE, and the ball starts rolling.

By the way, I am just writing this stuff out, to continue to drill it into my own brain, and also see if others can find an exception to it.
For me the revelation is that even if a Next Action is perfectly defined, in CERTAIN cases, it can still be procrastinated on, for various reasons, usually emotional, or in come cases, even phobic.
But even with a phobia, which is extreme irrational avoidance, it comes down to selecting that tiny Next Action, and then making yourself do it, over and over again.

I just took my own advice today, and banged off and mailed an imperfect letter concerning a very difficult situation I put off for a long time. I just FORCED myself to bang it off, and mail it, and now I feel great that its done.
I have another one of these I am going to PUSH myself to do tonight, and MAKE myself do it. For these, its very clear the only way for me to get it DONE, is to set a specific time, and then simply MAKE myself do it in the moment.

So I guess I am saying that David Allen's concept of modifying the languaging of the Next Action is not always enough for me. Once that is done, sometimes I still have to PUSH myself to get started.
I almost use a Martial Arts metaphor, even though I know nothing about Martial Arts. You can even stand up, do some "air Karate" and get your nerve up, and then just plough through it.
Again, many top psychologists specifically encourage this, and this was and is a revelation for me.

Behavioral Forcing.

There is a whole other aspect to this, on how to deal with your EMOTIONS when this is happening. But again, according to the literature, the main idea is we have to learn how to TOLERATE PAINFUL EMOTIONS, and not try to avoid them. That is a large topic right there, but there are specific techniques in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, CBT, that are able to help deal with the emotions.
So its not about getting angry, or gritting your teeth, as that will make it worse.
To me its more like bungee jumping, your EMOTIONS do NOT want to jump, but you PUSH yourself to jump, as you know you are safe. But for me, it does take that PUSH in many cases, or a certain Next Action can just hide on a list somewhere, to the point you "don't even see it" anymore.

Cosmo, that was a very helpful description of the problem!

It's hard to argue that fact that it eventually comes down to "do it," but I find that "just do it" sets off a more complicated response that usually doesn't result in getting it done.

 

[CosmoGTD]

!ANTIAVOIDANCE is a good category for me, as the ! puts it at the top of the list of contexts. What I do is just put a FEW Next Actions there which are creating trouble and not getting done, and in Outlook, you can put a Task in more than one category. So if I am AVOIDING writing a tough letter, I leave it in my @Computer list, and also add it to the !ANTIAVOIDANCE list.
Yes, I know, the GTD Police are going to hunt me down, but such is life.

That book, The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook, 4th Edition, is not so much about procrastination, is it is about dealing with Anxiety and Phobias. BUT, anxiety is behind most procrastination, and the book shows the specific methods of dealing with this Behaviorally and Emotively. Its one of the best books I have seen on the subject, very practical.

I've been considering doing something similar with my lists. I date each item, so I know how long things sit on my lists, but I find that I keep working my lists from the bottom up, so old items just get older. Having a special category to review each week may help me get some of these stuck items unstuck.

I'm going to add that to my R&D list of procrastination books. Thanks for the pointer!

 

[CosmoGTD]

One thing I have not mentioned, but I think others might be referring to, is the fine-line when "forcing" yourself to do a Next Action.
For instance, if you make it a "must", as in, "I absolutely must do X right now, or else" then these extreme and rigid Thoughts, will actually backfire. This is covered in great detail in CBT.

So its important to mention, that this "pushing" of yourself, is not to be done in an angry way, or a raging way, or a self-shaming way.
Also, if you are thinking, "I must do X right now no matter what...GRRRRR" then this is going to backfire bigtime.

There needs to be a type of relaxed detachment to it, and keep it a "flexible choice" and not a "must". As a matter of fact, making it a "must" is usually the cause of you resisting it in the first place.
So its a subtle balance, between being relaxed and "letting it happen" and also giving yourself a PUSH, without too much pressure. If you put too much pressure, it can literally backfire.
In the case of phobias, you can literally retrain your brain to fear the phobia EVEN MORE, and make your phobia worse by doing this overexposure.

So its a balance, to carefully relanguage the Next Action, keep it small and specific, and set a specific time, try to make it fun and detached and relaxed, and then also give yourself a fun PUSH to get it moving, even if the emotions are still resisting. Sometimes the only way to retrain the emotions is through new behavioral experiences.

But if you push yourself to the point you are raging, or feel like smashing your computer, then that is counterproductive.
It really is a fine line, and its tough to put into words.

 

[flexiblefine]

Procrastinating on small NAs

But a point I am making, for myself, is that in the end, even a tiny Next Action can cause us to feel very strong resistance. I have several blocks right now myself, dealing with some difficult, complex and emotion-based situations.

In my case, a lot of my delayed actions are derived from projects that I have built up in my mind to be Large and Difficult. When I do get started on them, they turn out to be regular, un-scary things. My anxiety isn't based on reality, but on perception.

I KNOW what the precise Next Actions are, but my brain is still resisting doing them. But that's ok. I know what they are, and they are in my !ANTIAVOIDANCE list, so their days are numbered.

I'd like to have the confidence that delayed actions' "days are numbered." I'll try to spend some time in my weekly review putting together a list of next actions to redefine or push, to get some of these old things done.

It was a revelation to me, that PUSHING myself to do these Next Actions, even though it feels very uncomfortable in the moment, often makes you feel terrific once they are DONE, and the ball starts rolling.

I seem to rediscover this fairly regularly -- why can't I remember this, or set up a persistent reminder? I know that getting started generates a lot of momentum, but I don't seem to remember it at the right times.

Moving this discussion into a new thread is probably a good idea, since we've drifted a long way from the original question. I'll see you over there...
http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5012

 

[rwarren]

A jewel of an idea!

CosmoGTD writes:
I have even created a special GTD category called !ANTIAVOIDANCE, which lists the Next Actions I am resisting, avoiding and procrastinating.

This was a great suggestion! I created this category last Wednesday with three next actions that had been hanging around for several weeks: writing a letter, and writing two thank you notes. By Thursday, they were completed! All told, it took less than an hour to do them and they had caused me hours of guilt and grief.

Thanks, CosmoGTD!

 

[CosmoGTD]

Hey, that's wicked.
I find that this !ANTIAVOIDANCE category works as long as only a FEW things go in there at a time, and its used sparingly and precisely, and the goal is to actually have it EMPTY.

In a way, its really not that different than putting a special Next Action onto the Calendar, to get it done that day, but its not day specific.
But I find it does work, just to deal with various NA's that have gone beyond a normal delay and have some type of "issue" blocking them. I find with me its usually some type of emotion about something, or maybe some type of "dread" about the NA somehow.

Another trick is that I have a nice procrastination knowledgebase-checklist that I have put together over time. It contains some of the techniques I use from CBT and other areas to overcome procrastination. I keep this info in the body of a Task in the !ANTIAVOIDANCE category.

So when I open the !ANTIAVOIDANCE category, I not only have a few Next Actions that are not getting done, I also have ALL the answers to getting that task DONE.
All the answers?
Well, at this point, I really do feel I have all of the knowledge to literally overcome any type of procrastination in the moment, even a literal phobia. If I work it, that is.

So the !ANTIAVOIDANCE category really is the end of the line, once a NA goes into there, its days are numbered, and the know-how to do it is right there as well. There is literally no escaping it, once it is there.

Once the procrastinated NA goes in there, you become AWARE that you want to get it done (cognitive), and often this is enough.
If its not enough then you use Behavioral Pushing, and other Emotive techniques to get it done, no matter what.

It is a pretty good idea, if I do say so myself!!!

CosmoGTD writes:
I have even created a special GTD category called !ANTIAVOIDANCE, which lists the Next Actions I am resisting, avoiding and procrastinating.

This was a great suggestion! I created this category last Wednesday with three next actions that had been hanging around for several weeks: writing a letter, and writing two thank you notes. By Thursday, they were completed! All told, it took less than an hour to do them and they had caused me hours of guilt and grief.

Thanks, CosmoGTD!