Some four weeks ago I got struck by a spell of procrastination. A lot of new things happened during a short period of time, which seems to have plunged me into the abyss. But I also learned (and am still learning) a lot from Mr. Procrastination himself.
You see, when you have to deal with big changes in life, it can feel like having the carpet swept under your feet. You might still think that you’re in control but that’s just the protective part of your brain that’s trying to comfort you with encouraging thoughts. So, you’re most likely not in control.
We humans have to live through various changes in life: unemployment, new jobs, promotions, firings, the loss of loved ones, relationships, marriage, breakups, graduations, pregnancy, parenthood, surgery… things that alter our daily lives, and things that can instantly make our laboriously developed habits crumble.
You can be living a very controlled and productive life, but all that is very prone to collapse when a single event sweeps you off your feet.
Escape the Hell of Lost Ideas: Carry a Notepad for Thoughts You Want to Remember Later
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Getting Organized
Remember how teachers used to harass you for failing to take notes in class? Yeah, I was repeatedly told off because my desk was empty during history class even though I was sure I would remember the facts during the exam… Turned out I was totally wrong. But I didn’t heed the advice until much later.
You can avoid a lot of frustration and mind-rending horrors if you faithfully carry a journal (or smartphone) for jotting down notes during the day. At least have a magic marker in your back pocket for lettering emergency keywords on your forearm (palms are sweaty and can easily rub them off).
You might be walking home from the metro station when an ingenious idea springs into your mind. But if you neglect to record that idea just because you are just five minutes away from your desk, you are in great peril. Our brains (mine especially) tend to be rather clumsy when it comes to keeping things organized, as one thought will lead to another, and before we realize, the former has already escaped the grasp of our thought tendrils, blasted into oblivion.
Stop Procrastinating by Setting Time Limits for Daily Entertainment
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Lifestyle, Productivity
We all have different schedules and commitments each day. Some of us are busier than others while others have more time on their hands. Many “successful” people, or those who tend to attract a lot of money, are often seen as busy because they supposedly have more (money-related) commitments to attend to. Well, I’m not here to judge whether that’s true or not… and, in fact, I’m starting to digress, so let’s move on.
What I actually want to talk about is time management, or more specifically, managing the time spent on daily entertainment. After all, we all want to relax at least a bit every day by watching TV, reading trashy novels, playing video games (my favorite), and so forth.
But if we don’t manage our time properly, we easily become consumed by all the entertainment that we have access to. The entertainment starts to control us, when it should be the other way around. And when we should be productive, we lose it because we fail to safeguard our schedules from unwanted shortcomings.
Studying at school and studying by yourself are like the yin and yang of education (terrible cliché, I know). The government takes you to school, and makes you learn a bunch of things, mostly related to subjects that are of no interest to you. But this raises a huge problem. Many of us didn’t like studying in school, especially in junior high school, and that impression about education has developed into a mess of negative emotions that flare up whenever we face the need to learn something new.
Your boss might tell you to get an additional certificate, and for this, you need to invest your free time in studying the materials for the exam. Or you might be thinking about going to college because it will bring you more job opportunities, but a bachelor’s degree is quite difficult to earn without studying. When we are forced to study, it naturally makes us resent studying.
Napoleon Hill is my favorite writer on success. His texts are an invaluable source of inspiration because of their practicality; anyone can start applying the principles immediately if he so chooses. So today, I would like to borrow the title of one of the chapters in his book, The Master-Key to Success (which I highly recommend you read), to illustrate how you can gain practical knowledge and skills by applying to rule of going the extra mile.
Self-Learner is a blog about self-education and self-improvement based lifestyle design. Goal? To become the best "version" of yourself, and feel excited to jump out of your bed every morning.