First of all, i think you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. I think sometimes i list 100 things i must do today, right now, this week, both work and personal, and then i get so overwhelmed i am lucky if i complete 2. So. I try follow a top 3 essential things for today, and a bigger top 3 for the week say. This mindset comes from the 'Full Focus' teachings of Michael Hyatt and co. But i try follow such. What are your 3 most important things this week? And yes out of 100 how can 3 help? But identifying just the top 3 or even any 3 at one stage, helps lift the move from procrastinating. And what small 3 things can you do today to get those for the week done? I work as an accountant 8am to 5pm weekdays often with overtime evenings and some weekends, and i find when i turn back to writing down my weekly top 3, and then every day determining what is most important today to fit into the bigger weekly picture, i tend to "get things done'...there is of course annual and quarterly goals but when i am overwhelmed with demands and too much to do, i come back to really short term, weekly and daily short term. And once you have done your daily 3 and really see progress to the weekly 3, you find you procrastinate less. It isn't all easy going but i find the.methodology of writing my daily 3 or weekly 3 in my planner and doing them as urgently as possible takes the edge off the 'overwhelmed procrastinating' and then i get back on track. Maybe this idea can help you ? 💖
We definitely set our expectations of ourselves too high don't we with the 100+ things that MUST be done today or else! I really like the top 3 things approach, I've heard of it before but rarely do it. BUT today I did. I read your reply this morning and though, yes let's do that and see what happens. You know what? I got those 3 things done ☺️ So I'm mega pleased, thank you!
Seconded on trying to zoom right into the small manageable things you can actually do in a given day or week. Though like you say having the bigger annual or seasonal goals can help drill down to what those 3 things should be. Do you ever listen to the Best Laid Plans podcast with Sarah Hart Unger? I like her idea of nested goals. Her blog is good too (though I have to set aside my feelings about getting up at 4.45am every day - that’s one area where she and I will never be kindred spirits 🤣)
Hmmm yes 4.45.am is definitely not a time I like to see. The only time I ever used to see that was when I was young and out out and those days have passed thankfully. But thanks for the recommend, I like the sound of nested goals and I always love a pod recommend.
This is super interesting. If anything I think I’m the other way round - I procrastinate with work even though it’s really important to me and always find it pretty easy to be tempted away by the ‘fun stuff’. Though I guess this might just be cos I *can*. Since I finished my film and stopped doing any external freelance tv work all my work projects have to be completely self-generated and it can be so exhausting even figuring out what to do next that I leap at the chance go meet a friend for coffee or whatever - as it’s mentally so much more straightforward. Or something! Love that AI procrastination image. I recognise that pit for sure..!
That's really interesting, but is your work self driven? I'm interested to understand what you mean by self-generated work. I work freelance so everything is client generated and client driven which means a whole lot of external accountability. Being accountable to yourself is hard for most people I think, like you say you *can* procrastinate so you do. I still leave all my work stuff till the last minute because why do it now when you can do it in a mad dash at 11pm ? 🤪
Yeah it’s all completely self driven - I was freelancing part time for a tv company until I left to have my daughter in early 2020. I’d hoped to go back after mat leave but then the pandemic tanked everything and there’s a massive work crisis in TV now with about two thirds of factual freelancers chronically out of work 😱 So I’m trying to create new opportunities for myself - hopefully making more independent films but I also have my new business idea (which I’ve so far done almost nothing about!) and also being here on Substack. I’m pretty good at getting stuff done in the end - but rarely to any of the deadlines I try to set for myself. More external accountability definitely helps. I’m very happy to be an amateur ‘fun stuff’ accountability partner if you ever need one…!
According to some work test thing years ago I'm a completer finisher. Which I am, most of the time. However in my personal life I'm a fully paid-up procrastinator. How does that work? Means I never get to the good stuff. I feel you Han!
That’s so interesting Amanda. I think we definitely behave differently at work vs at home. We probably don’t put the same importance of the good stuff and only focus on what other people need from us. That’s why we do the work, pay the bills, cook the dinner etc. but don’t do the extra fill our cup things
First of all, i think you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. I think sometimes i list 100 things i must do today, right now, this week, both work and personal, and then i get so overwhelmed i am lucky if i complete 2. So. I try follow a top 3 essential things for today, and a bigger top 3 for the week say. This mindset comes from the 'Full Focus' teachings of Michael Hyatt and co. But i try follow such. What are your 3 most important things this week? And yes out of 100 how can 3 help? But identifying just the top 3 or even any 3 at one stage, helps lift the move from procrastinating. And what small 3 things can you do today to get those for the week done? I work as an accountant 8am to 5pm weekdays often with overtime evenings and some weekends, and i find when i turn back to writing down my weekly top 3, and then every day determining what is most important today to fit into the bigger weekly picture, i tend to "get things done'...there is of course annual and quarterly goals but when i am overwhelmed with demands and too much to do, i come back to really short term, weekly and daily short term. And once you have done your daily 3 and really see progress to the weekly 3, you find you procrastinate less. It isn't all easy going but i find the.methodology of writing my daily 3 or weekly 3 in my planner and doing them as urgently as possible takes the edge off the 'overwhelmed procrastinating' and then i get back on track. Maybe this idea can help you ? 💖
We definitely set our expectations of ourselves too high don't we with the 100+ things that MUST be done today or else! I really like the top 3 things approach, I've heard of it before but rarely do it. BUT today I did. I read your reply this morning and though, yes let's do that and see what happens. You know what? I got those 3 things done ☺️ So I'm mega pleased, thank you!
Great to hear Han, one of the few Time mgt things i find that is actually doable and sustainable...
Seconded on trying to zoom right into the small manageable things you can actually do in a given day or week. Though like you say having the bigger annual or seasonal goals can help drill down to what those 3 things should be. Do you ever listen to the Best Laid Plans podcast with Sarah Hart Unger? I like her idea of nested goals. Her blog is good too (though I have to set aside my feelings about getting up at 4.45am every day - that’s one area where she and I will never be kindred spirits 🤣)
Hmmm yes 4.45.am is definitely not a time I like to see. The only time I ever used to see that was when I was young and out out and those days have passed thankfully. But thanks for the recommend, I like the sound of nested goals and I always love a pod recommend.
This is super interesting. If anything I think I’m the other way round - I procrastinate with work even though it’s really important to me and always find it pretty easy to be tempted away by the ‘fun stuff’. Though I guess this might just be cos I *can*. Since I finished my film and stopped doing any external freelance tv work all my work projects have to be completely self-generated and it can be so exhausting even figuring out what to do next that I leap at the chance go meet a friend for coffee or whatever - as it’s mentally so much more straightforward. Or something! Love that AI procrastination image. I recognise that pit for sure..!
That's really interesting, but is your work self driven? I'm interested to understand what you mean by self-generated work. I work freelance so everything is client generated and client driven which means a whole lot of external accountability. Being accountable to yourself is hard for most people I think, like you say you *can* procrastinate so you do. I still leave all my work stuff till the last minute because why do it now when you can do it in a mad dash at 11pm ? 🤪
Yeah it’s all completely self driven - I was freelancing part time for a tv company until I left to have my daughter in early 2020. I’d hoped to go back after mat leave but then the pandemic tanked everything and there’s a massive work crisis in TV now with about two thirds of factual freelancers chronically out of work 😱 So I’m trying to create new opportunities for myself - hopefully making more independent films but I also have my new business idea (which I’ve so far done almost nothing about!) and also being here on Substack. I’m pretty good at getting stuff done in the end - but rarely to any of the deadlines I try to set for myself. More external accountability definitely helps. I’m very happy to be an amateur ‘fun stuff’ accountability partner if you ever need one…!
According to some work test thing years ago I'm a completer finisher. Which I am, most of the time. However in my personal life I'm a fully paid-up procrastinator. How does that work? Means I never get to the good stuff. I feel you Han!
That’s so interesting Amanda. I think we definitely behave differently at work vs at home. We probably don’t put the same importance of the good stuff and only focus on what other people need from us. That’s why we do the work, pay the bills, cook the dinner etc. but don’t do the extra fill our cup things