Part of my new years resolution, was to combat procrastination. Now turning the habits of a lifetime overnight isn’t easy. I decided on the fifteen minute challenge – short enough to fit in during a busy day – the train wait if I have just missed one – and long enough to do something constructive. It helps to have a smart phone – so I can
Draft an article
Learn French vocabulary
Search a course
Do a mindmap
Read a book which is on my list.
Do a rich picture.
Well I’ve discovered, being an options person (Lab profile Shelle Rose Charvet,) that if I give myself a choice of an activity then I am very likely to do one of the options. If its one thing only, then the procrastination habit creeps in.
So what’s the learning behind this?
Although spontaneity is great in seizing the moment, I’m with setting the positive intention the night before. Being accountable to someone else makes it a great discipline: How embarrassing to say I didn’t even try.
The other great aspect of the fifteen minute challenge is it gets me back on track. So each day is a new challenge….. a chance to start afresh.
I’m also going to learn using voice speech for those moments when writing is difficult. And keep a tally of what I did. For the next fortnight I have given myself a list of what I am going to achieve in supporting clients.
I think February is the real opportunity to start the New Year: January is the luxury of procrastination – or incubation: February is the time to do.
Next is to find out how long it takes to establish habits so I feel unsettled if I don’t do what I have committed to.