Hot answers tagged self-management
10
First of all: Willpower is similar to a muscle: It needs exercise, so you can really train that (source: own experience, Timothy A. Pychyl, Ph.D).
In my experience there are two aspects to this:
Setting goals. If I don't know why I should do something, than there is really not worth in spending my time doing that task. So think about why you should e.g. ...
9
I think that this is a common phenomenon, although in some people it occurs more frequently and more strongly than in others. The acting out (throwing things, etc.) is a sort of tick that your mind uses to quickly distract you from the unpleasant thought. I find that one solution is to stop avoiding the embarrassing memory and think through it all the way. ...
7
There are tons and tons of what you're asking for! Since the question is rather vague I will list some resources that I either have found useful myself or that are generally widely popular.
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
I think Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen is worth mentioning due to it being a highly acclaimed method ...
7
Whoa ... slow down. :)
Let's look at what you have.
You have a great degree and a full-time job. Your basic needs and many of your wants are met.
You've talked a lot about your weaknesses. What are your strengths? List those. (You don't have to tell us if you don't want to. This is for your benefit.)
You have passions, right? Something that really ...
7
Have you watched "No arms, no legs, no worries"? Nick is one of my heroes.
You sounds like you are disappointing with yourself. Don't be. That kind of thinking is not productive.
You have a long list of improvements that you want to do. That's good. Started with an easiest one. Rewrite that list sorted from easiest to hardest. Stick it on your door so that ...
6
I've always known it as the '30 day challenge'.
There are many blogs about it from people trying it out for themselves. It's basically to find out if your body can cope, and if you like it.
For example I tried the challenge of becoming an early riser, which worked for a short while before my girlfriend got annoyed.
I would say, make sure the challenge ...
6
Side projects do not need to be related to your primary vocation.
I don't find side projects, they find me: I have a need, I see the need of others, I'm intrigued by an idea or research, I'm learning a new technology, ad infinitum/nauseum.
Re: love life–build a two-person, gender-appropriate Sybian with biofeedback, sensors, and automation.
Bam. ...
6
Let me share my story. I also had a very high level of anxiety and thought a lot about things in the future. With that, I could not do a good job when I had to give demos to the customer. I went to see a psychologist, he prescribed medicine for me and he suggested that the medicine is just a helper. The only way to actually get away from the symptom is to ...
5
Schedule "relationship time" as one of the projects that needs to be done, and include it in your lists. Create metrics that allow you to track the time you spend investing in the relationship, and make sure you achieve whatever goals you set for those metrics.
In GTD (Getting Things Done) terms, make sure you are allocating your time appropriately across ...
5
As describe in Hyper Productivity Theory, you need four factors to become hyper productive: Responsiveness, Motivation, Communication, Courage.
The first three are enough to bring you back to the brighter side.
Reponsiveness: Don't work on big piece of works, split it to several smaller tasks. More time you found that you can make them done, your ...
5
Seems to me your mind is clouded by negative thoughts. You should give mindfulness training a try. It's basically a very simple meditation technique (inspired by Buddhism) where you quietly sit down and focus on your breath, actively trying to eliminate all other thoughts. If done 7 minutes per day for a couple of weeks, this training has been shown to ...
5
Have no patience, Have a very low self confidence, Have become a
negative thinker, Loosing focus on doing tasks or other things, Memory
loss, easily forget things, Procrastination (even to post this
question), Can't make decisions.
sounds like a depression to me (but I am no expert). Would you consider a visit to a shrink? (try your best to find ...
5
You have listed a lot of typical symptoms of depression. Try to get medical opinion on this. Check out what assistance your health insurance gives you, or as SteveV says, check out the option of paying for treatment.
Explain your feelings to friends and family. Ask them for help and advice. Make social interaction a priority, even when you don't feel in the ...
5
It's wrong to think about people as "passive" or "active" thinkers. We're both, only at different times (for example, i'm really passive when i've just woken up, but active after a class). The point is to move from a passive state to an active one, which is a pretty hard process.
I'd advise you to build up a varied study patern: go to classes, read the ...
4
Reading between the lines, I'm guessing that you are being unproductive because of procrastination: you distract yourself with non-work to avoid finishing the projects. Perhaps the root cause, in your case, is your fear of failure or fear of success. If this is true, a good way to force yourself to finish the details quickly may be to "burn the bridges ...
4
While to do lists have their place, there are some things which need to be more human, and one of these is your relationship.
It sounds like you and your husband have very different goals and while you may see your successes in your career, he may see you as failing in your relationship.
You need to look at how you can make all aspects of your life a ...
4
I think that you have already done the hard work here. You have identified that a problem exists and now the only thing that is left is for you to fix it.
This is not a productivity issue, but rather a priorities issue. You have to decide what your priority is at different times during the day and throughout the week and then make good decisions based off ...
4
Talking about worrying about the future, I recall a day in my high school 15 years ago. I forgot my homework and I know that I'm going to be punished for it. I kept worrying all day long. I can barely eat my lunch. I cannot focus on studying in any subject. It was a very long day. I pictured myself being beaten on my ass by a long stick again and again. I ...
4
I do consulting during the day, and run an online business on the side (evenings and weekend) and I learned a few things to help me get enough energy in the evenings:
I play video games for 30 minutes, or watch a tv series: as counter intuitive as it seems, video games will give you an adrenaline kick that will refresh you. I noticed that tv series with ...
4
First, don't be hard on yourself. It kinda seems like that is what you are doing. What you are experiencing is natural. Commonly know as "senioritis". I'm one year into my second Master's and I'm already experiencing it.
My advice, remind yourself why you are getting this degree. Remind yourself of all the energy and effort you have spent getting this far. ...
4
I don't think it's about your mind being active or passive, but more about knowing how to read a book. Adler's How to Read a Book could be a good start for you. And since the question asks for some practical tips, I am going to share some here as well. Granted I wouldn't call myself an active reader, but I do embrace interactive reading, which to me is a ...
4
Everyone does stupid things. Nobody can do everything perfect. Don't think of it as a mistake, think of it as feedback. You need feedback to improve, and the best kind of feedback are mistakes.
Analyze what you could have done better, so you come out of it a wiser person than someone who never made the mistake in the first place.
3
IMO, the key is that if the dependencies are part of that task, let the pomodoro continue.
For example, you must google sth or ask someone for complete the current task. If the content of google results or what are you talking about still bound with the goal of the task, it's mean you still focus. And that what you want from the pomodoro technique.
Why? ...
3
I am in a similar situation, working full time as a software developer while completing a degree. Here are the things I've found that work.
Study well, not long. Use Spaced Repetition to memorize things instead of attempting to cram. Try to spend 15 minutes per day (more than that and you hit diminishing returns anyway). I like to use anki for spaced ...
3
So, embarrassingly, and against a number of sources of advice, my next action list is sorted by the time that the task arrived in the box, newest tasks at the top, oldest at the bottom.
One of my ways of dealing with the inefficiencies that the sort-by-entry-time method causes is to make a rule that everyday I must do the oldest task in the list and I make ...
3
I can very much identify with this feeling. I love spending time with my girlfriend, but I sometimes have to forcefully push that anxiety of productivity loss to the side.
My solution has been around boundaries. Let's face it, you could try to work for 14-16 hours a day, but I'm assuming that you don't. Why? Well burnout for one. But in addition, at ...
3
R90 is about 10 USD right?
If so, that's probably too cheap. See the thing is, it's very easy to get caught up listening to audiobook after audiobook without really taking the time to reflect upon them. Your mind needs quiet time, devoid of sensory input to assimilate that information. Brian Tracy's very strong on this and it took me a long time to ...
3
Kanban came initially from the Toyota production model and then was adapted for knowledge work. So these application are on the business level where tasks are expected to be completed and "failure" to complete a task is not part of the model.
Personal Kanban is newer - there's been one book on the subject, and I think it's fair to say that since it's an ...
3
Starting something new is usually the hardest step. Whenever I have trouble starting I usually try one of the following remedies:
Schedule your time off. If you are supposed to start a task and find yourself procrastinating, set a timer for say 20 minutes where you are NOT supposed to do any work and start working after that. What this does is reduce the ...
3
I have also been looking for something to spice up work, and make me feel challeged and make all completing tasks more fun. I find giving my self rewards and punishments for completing or not completing my goals helps motivate me.
I originally tried superbetter but did not enjoy the UI. I have used the trello platform for a while now at work. Its not bad ...
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