Perhaps a bad habit? Relationship between lists and self

[wishgtd]

I tend to put things down in lists and then I go about doing other things entirely that are not on lists thanks to the mental freedom I feel.

That feels really good at first but then I realize my commitments are not complete or well captured enough in the system and later it sinks back in that I have not met the goals I am supposed to be doing and I tend to feel discouraged. In other words, I am getting distracted from my lists and doing other stuff.

Any perspective appreciated.

 

[ataylor]

Are you just avoiding the tasks entirely? By having them in lists are you giving yourself a false sense of completion?

I miss(ed) a lot of items because I just don't have a handle on all of it yet. Of course there are a few things on my list(s) that take longer than 2 minutes so they have found themselves on the defer list. Partly because I just don't know how to tackle them all and partly because I just don't have the mental energy needed to knock them out. YET!!!

So I guess the question is are you truly avoiding these items or are they things you just don't need to be doing at all?

 

[wishgtd]

Are you just avoiding the tasks entirely? By having them in lists are you giving yourself a false sense of completion?

Yes!!! The false sense of security, that is what it feels like!

So I guess the question is are you truly avoiding these items or are they things you just don't need to be doing at all?

I am avoiding them because I do not enjoy doing them as much. It's like the have tos you have to do at the job even though you do not like the job.

 

[pxt]

A couple of things I read about procrastination, which is all about resistance:

Firstly, switch your focus from completing the task, to starting the task. See how many times you can start in a day, and don't worry about completing, which can feel daunting. Decide what defines starting in this context. Maybe it's five minutes sitting at the desk, not thinking about anything else. You can do that then go do something you like.

Secondly, you mention the feeling of 'have to'. Instead of trying to schedule in time to work on your have-tos, with the reward of doing what you feel like; schedule in the things that you feel like, so they become your have-tos, then your mind may flip to wanting to get something done in the gaps in-between.

With regards to the GTD workflow, I find that high quality processing makes everything else work better. So as you go through your collector, slow down and really put in the time to specify an atomic next action, with say a ten minute duration to guaranteed success. I enjoy picking these off and it makes me want to press on with the next steps. Looking at an action list full of items you are not sure of is very off-putting.

These help me and I read about them in a book recommended by people on this forum. It is Neil Fiore's 'The Now Habit'.

 

[bishblaize]

Great book, an essential bit of reading for anyone interested in productivity, not just for serial procrastinators. (Just close your ears when you reach the bit about A-B-C priority codes)

 

[wishgtd]

A couple of things I read about procrastination, which is all about resistance:

Firstly, switch your focus from completing the task, to starting the task. See how many times you can start in a day, and don't worry about completing, which can feel daunting. Decide what defines starting in this context. Maybe it's five minutes sitting at the desk, not thinking about anything else. You can do that then go do something you like.

Fascinating pxt I did that yesterday for some tasks but I never phrased it as such. I think I am going to do just what you mentioned and start viewing it from that perspective to make it easier on myself.

Secondly, you mention the feeling of 'have to'. Instead of trying to schedule in time to work on your have-tos, with the reward of doing what you feel like; schedule in the things that you feel like, so they become your have-tos, then your mind may flip to wanting to get something done in the gaps in-between.

This is where my biggest issue is: I am not sure what to consider an appropriate reward for that period of time. I suppose it is a manner of experimentation.
Any suggestions as to what you or anyone else uses are appreciated.

Schedule in 10 minutes for reading fun related stuff perhaps? I think I will go with that.

With regards to the GTD workflow, I find that high quality processing makes everything else work better. So as you go through your collector, slow down and really put in the time to specify an atomic next action, with say a ten minute duration to guaranteed success. I enjoy picking these off and it makes me want to press on with the next steps. Looking at an action list full of items you are not sure of is very off-putting.

These help me and I read about them in a book recommended by people on this forum. It is Neil Fiore's 'The Now Habit'.

High quality processing is definitely something that has been missing in my repertoire for a while now.
I will start putting in times to encourage myself.
I did read that book a while ago, implemented for a week, felt great, figured I could continue without it and never went back to using that tool.