How not to Procrastinate Pt. 1

So yeah, last night Wicket wanted to go for a walk, and then the phone rang and then I wanted to play Tetris for awhile. I never did get around to doing any videos. I mean… why do today what I can put off until tomorrow with?

Video Transcription

Wait, just hang on, I'll get to you in a second, maybe. I've been kind of putting off this video for a while now. It was submitted to me back in 1998, top five tips on procrastination. Actually it was a submitted just yesterday. So I am not that far behind, I am not a procrastinator, I like to get things done as soon as I need to get them done, as soon as I know they need to be done. I do not like putting things off to the last minute I can't stand it. I work okay under pressure, not as well as I work, when I've had time to deal with something. In fact, we've been talking about doing this video for about five hours now, and I asked someone five hours ago to change the topic to procrastination, they did, but it took them to this point, to make that a capital P. Rewind the video, and you'll see what I am talking about, that was a lower case p, five hours ago, and finally, they got around of it, I appreciate, sorry. I'll stop procrastinating, and I'll read the tips on procrastination. I am very grateful I am not mad at the chat room Ops, at live.pirillo.com, not at all, just trying to have fun with this. We all procrastinate depending on what it is. That's how I know, someone doesn't want to do something, when it doesn't get done. They are procrastinating for a reason, usually because they don't want to do something, or maybe just because they are lazy. Hi, this person writes, I am Rudiger, a rigger in the chat room and in real life, and I've been watching your stream, and all your videos, and reading all your blog posts, sounds kind of crazy? Yeah, actually now that you say it, it is kind of freaky. I've noticed lots of talk about procrastination, specially in the top five tips people send you. So I thought I'll submit some top tips on ways to steer clear of putting things off. Number one, how much, look at what you have to do, if you have a few days to do it like for a project, do a little each day. The quality will end up better, and you won't be rushed to finish it. If it is a short assignment, and it's due tomorrow, then do it when you get home from school. Don't save projects until the night before, but don't do it all on the first night, it's kind of funny. I've got a story, and I am not trying to procrastinate with the rest of the list. I ran away from home in the fifth grade, because I was given three months to write a book report on Greece, and didn't do it, all away up till the last night, I didn't do it, and the next day I was suppose to present, and so I ran away from home. Talking all my Star Wars figures and some potato chips and was eventually turned in by a friend. My parents let me stay home that next day, and I did an entire report on Greece with 50 note cards and annotations. In the fifth grade, long before the Internet -- and I still have that too. I've got it around and I think I should have dug it out, I have been meaning to, but I haven't done it yet, just to show you that I still have it. Number two, consequences are rewards. What happens if you don't like to do the work, and what happens if you don't do it. Will you fail and you'll get yelled at? What happens when you do to it, and get a good grade. Look at what you get from the doing the work on time, and not being rushed. If you don't do it, you're most likely get yelled at and possibly grounded. You can tell that Rudiger is likely in the age range where he could still get grounded. If that was the time he would have taken to do the homework, you may think it's pointless right now, and you just want to chill, but look at the bigger picture. Most of the time it's obvious that the time it would take to get the work -- to do the work, is a lot a less than the time spent, getting yelled at or being grounded. Even being married, I am still getting grounded, mostly from the things that I say, not so much about the things that I don't do. Number three, timing, don't rush yourself by putting the work off until the last minute, not only are you going to have a reduced quality piece of work, but you'll get stressed. If you have more than one day to do it, use those days. If there is only one way to do it, do it, do it early, like when you come home from school, will work. Then look at it again later, or have a parent look at it. Look for mistakes, and make it a bit neater. So he's specifically taking there about homework, but I think that's a advice that stands up to just about any task that needs to be done. Number four, what else is there, if you want to go out with friends, try to get some work done first, if you can't, when you get home, do it. Getting it done while you are awake, is important, I agree, because sometimes getting things done when you are asleep is very difficult. But you don't have this task consume all your time. If all you do is spend time on work and projects, then you are going to get stressed out, and in the end you'll probably give up easier on work down the road. Have fun, and get your work done. Find the balance that's right for you, but remember, the work still has to be done. I think that's very -- it's a key phrase in there, find the balance that's right for you. Find what works for you. There are fantastic software for all sorts of operating system, web based software, that'll help you task, track -- you've got to find what works for you. For me, it's annoying me, I have to be annoyed by something in order to take care of it, that's why you don't see a lot of yellow stickies. If you see a yellow sticky on my desk, that means I am trying to annoy myself to get me to do something. That's how I hack my mind, because I can't stand a messy desk.