One thing I want to work on this year is my ability to get things done in a timely manner. It’s not that I’m a procrastinator (yes it is), it’s just that sometimes I tend to get distracted kind of easily. For example, I will have some work I need to do, so I’ll sit down at my computer and plan on getting it done, but after I work for a little bit, I’ll be like “oh, I’m just gonna take a quick break” and open up YouTube or a forum that I like to read or something, and I’m really only planning on looking at something for a minute and then getting back to work, but what always happens if that I see something interesting, and then that links to something else interesting, and so on and so on, and before I know it, my 2 minute break has turned into 30 minutes and I’m still not even done yet!
This happens with all sorts of things, not just computer stuff. The other day I had some work to do and I ended up cleaning my entire bathroom just to avoid doing it. It was like “well, my floors are a little dirty… let me just scrub them really quickly” and then I was like “well, if I did the floors, I might as well do the shower, too,” and then the rest of the bathroom, and like an hour later and I still hadn’t started on my work. My bathroom was really clean, though!
I’m not sure why I do this. In university I was the same way when it came to writing papers. I would put them off until the last minute, but then I would be really motivated to get them done, and I usually got good grades on them, too. Maybe it’s like I need to feel the pressure of something being almost due in order to do it. I know that’s not a good way to do things, but I also remember trying to start papers early sometimes and I just wouldn’t really produce anything good. It seems that’s an old habit that dies hard.
I even do the same thing with my taxes. I take a while to get all my tax stuff together, which means it takes longer for me to get it to my accountant, which not only probably gives them more stress, but it gives me more stress, too. And I fully admit that it doesn’t make sense to do it this way.
So I’m gonna try and stop doing that. I’m going to try and get the things that have to be done taken care of before I do the things that I want to do (like surfing the net). I’m going to start by making lists of all the things that have to get done each day and doing them in order, and not wasting time until they’re all checked off.