For the past week I've been coasting by, completing just the bare minimum amount of work I could get away with. That leaves me today with a mountain of tasks that seems impossible to finish by their deadlines. All of my usual techniques have failed me, I've been avoiding my calendar that lists the dates I would like to have each task completed by, my laziness has led to many failed attempts to work from home instead of trying to get things done in the lab, and of course the huge mistake of telling my future self that I can just do it tomorrow. I could go on and on with the excuses, but if I'm going to get through this without getting fired, or failing a class, I need to get back to the basics fast. So what am I going to do?
Set Goals! - The first thing I should start with is writing down my goals. As stated in Trent's book, “The Simple Dollar,” - “Simply writing down the goals resulted in a 42% increase in achieved goals, and written progress reports resulted in a 78% increase in achieved goals.” But writing down what I need to get done isn't enough. I need to break down each task into smaller specific tasks that I can start on right now. “finish my masters project by monday” is not a good goal. It is too vague, and will just lead to me getting frustrated and overwhelmed as soon as I sit down and think about everything involved in completing that project. “customize view templates for 2 hours” is much better. I know exactly what to get started on when I sit down, and I know I can complete this task today. I am going to write down the top 3 tasks I want to complete today, ordered by priority, and then get started.
Eliminate Distractions! – My biggest weakness is that I'm easily distracted. A single call from a friend can lead to hours of time spent chatting on the phone, checking my email leads to clicking through to my Hulu, or YouTube subscriptions wasting an entire day. My favorite place to buckle down and get work done is the Engineering lab on my school's campus. They have tons of other students there doing homework and setting a good example for me, the computers have all the tools I need to get my work done, without any of the junk that can easily get me off track, and I can easily step outside for a quick break. No Television, no bed, no guitar, no junk food to lure me away from getting back to work. I can just take a little walk around, stretch out my legs, get a little sun, and my mind is clear and ready for the next task.
Make it a Habit – During the school year, I have a great routine and can usually stick to it. The summer however, is a different story. I've been slowly falling off track, almost without even knowing it, until I've lost almost every good work habit that carried me through the school year. I need to transform myself back into the well oiled task completing machine of Fall and Spring semester. I'm a strong believer that the best way to do this is to ease back into it. If I make too many drastic changes at once, I'll quickly burn out and take another step backwards. The key is to focus on one or two small changes I can make today, repeat it until it becomes the norm, and then go on to the next change. So I am going to focus on setting my 3 goals everyday, and going to the lab to eliminate distractions and complete them. If I can string a few weeks of doing this everyday and make it a habit, I can focus on my next step towards a more productive day.
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