The Cure for Chronic Time-Wasting: How to Make Yourself Just Do It
Years ago, Steve Pavlina–motivational speaker and blogger extrodinare–graduated from college with a 3.94 GPA after just three semesters. To accomplish this incredible feat, Pavlina averaged more than 30 credits per semester. On his blog, he reflects on what he learned during that time about productivity. The core of time management, he argues, is simple:
- Decide what to do
- Do it
That’s it. Productivity in a nutshell. But concealed within this deceptively simple philosophy lies the biggest resason why some people fritter away their time while others live their dreams: Some people avoid “doing.”
A good time management system (like our own TRO training) helps you easily decide what to do. Your task list should remind you of critical deadlines, suggest the most important tasks, help you focus by grouping similar tasks, help you quickly pick your next task, keep you informed while away from your office, and help you focus energy on the things you care about most. A good system can make you the world’s most efficient decider, but some days it’s still hard to cowboy up and be a doer.
Why do people fail to do what they’ve decided to do? Why does it take some people twice as long to do the same task? Everyone has their own reasons, but a few factors tend to be fairly consistant:
- Motivation. Apathy begats procrastination. The more intensely you desire the outcome and believe it is connected to doing the task, the more likely you are do