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- Ten ways to build momentum and achieve your goals
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- Cruz
- Getting Started
- Spending Smart
- Leckey
- Futures trading: Likelihood of huge losses, not tax concerns, should be first consideration
- The Week Ahead
Do you feel like your worth is defined by what you've produced? Every time you forgo productivity in favor of TV, golf or gardening, aren't you wasting life's most precious resource -- time? Try the following ways to reduce procrastination: \
Set a big goal: What's the most exciting goal you might achieve if you put your mind to it? Even if you're unsure you could do it, would partial achievement or the process be good enough?
Picture the benefits: Money? Fame? Self-esteem? A more meaningful life? Getting your spouse off your back?
Success lies mainly within you: Stop believing such nonsense as "The world is abundant. It will provide," or "It's in the hands of fate." Luck matters, but success is mainly in your hands, though it can require the help of others you trust..
Recruit a partner: Compensate for a lack of drive by adding some firepower to your project.
Moment of truth: That's when you decide, usually subconsciously, whether you should work or play. By making that choice consciously, you'll more often choose the productive activity.
Start now: It's tough to determine how long a big project will take. So waiting until the last minute greatly increases the risk you'll do a bad job. Besides, if you start right away:
You'll avoid the stress of trying to get it done well at the last minute.
You'll have time to play with the parts you like to do.
You may finish early and have a chunk of free time to enjoy.
You'll likely have done a better job, which will make you proud of yourself.
Make it fun: More will get done when you ask yourself, "What's the fun way to do this task?"
One-minute struggle test: If you haven't made progress in a minute, more struggling probably won't help. It merely will make you procrastinate more as you recall the pain of previous tasks. After a minute, get help or figure out a way to do the project without that part.
Avoid perfectionism: Get it on paper. It's far easier to revise your way to perfection than to generate it out of thin air.
Embrace discipline: Intelligence and discipline are the biggest things distinguishing successful people from unsuccessful ones. What's discipline? Staying focused on a task, taking breaks only when necessary, until the task or a component of it is complete.
Fighting past the discomfort of not knowing: Struggle to master something, be willing to expose your deficiencies by asking a co-worker or hire a tutor or mentor to accelerate your learning.
Working longer hours. The longer you work at your profession or avocation, the better you'll get.
moneypower@kiplinger.com
Set a big goal: What's the most exciting goal you might achieve if you put your mind to it? Even if you're unsure you could do it, would partial achievement or the process be good enough?
Picture the benefits: Money? Fame? Self-esteem? A more meaningful life? Getting your spouse off your back?
Success lies mainly within you: Stop believing such nonsense as "The world is abundant. It will provide," or "It's in the hands of fate." Luck matters, but success is mainly in your hands, though it can require the help of others you trust..
Recruit a partner: Compensate for a lack of drive by adding some firepower to your project.
Moment of truth: That's when you decide, usually subconsciously, whether you should work or play. By making that choice consciously, you'll more often choose the productive activity.
Start now: It's tough to determine how long a big project will take. So waiting until the last minute greatly increases the risk you'll do a bad job. Besides, if you start right away:
You'll avoid the stress of trying to get it done well at the last minute.
You'll have time to play with the parts you like to do.
You may finish early and have a chunk of free time to enjoy.
You'll likely have done a better job, which will make you proud of yourself.
Make it fun: More will get done when you ask yourself, "What's the fun way to do this task?"
One-minute struggle test: If you haven't made progress in a minute, more struggling probably won't help. It merely will make you procrastinate more as you recall the pain of previous tasks. After a minute, get help or figure out a way to do the project without that part.
Avoid perfectionism: Get it on paper. It's far easier to revise your way to perfection than to generate it out of thin air.
Embrace discipline: Intelligence and discipline are the biggest things distinguishing successful people from unsuccessful ones. What's discipline? Staying focused on a task, taking breaks only when necessary, until the task or a component of it is complete.
Fighting past the discomfort of not knowing: Struggle to master something, be willing to expose your deficiencies by asking a co-worker or hire a tutor or mentor to accelerate your learning.
Working longer hours. The longer you work at your profession or avocation, the better you'll get.
moneypower@kiplinger.com
