Distraction and Procrastination (the REAL reason why I'm broke)

Something that helped me a lot was having a next step. When ever you feel the urge to procrastinate always ask yourself what the next step is.

Something that also helped me was setting myself up for success.

For example, to keep your diet clean, cook food for the week and store it. That way, you won't be tempted to eat what fatshits eat when you come home too tired to cook. Now you have no excuse to eat clean. Your food is already cooked and you just have to eat it. If you can't do that , then you don't want it enough.
 


boatBurner said:
eliquid, I'm actually trying to find ways to tie multiple tasks (personal and professional) into a combination that benefit a handful of existing (and manageable) priorities.

You and someone before you had mentioned the Pomodoro technique (and I mentioned it in my OP as well) - is this technique worth purchasing? I thought it sounded a bit too gimmicky, but having been the second mention of it, I thought you might be able to shed some light on it?
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What's there to purchase? You work for 25 minutes, and you take a 5 minute break.

focus booster - home; try the pomodoro technique this is for free
 
OP do you have an iPhone? I highly recommend 3 apps to the productively challenged:

* Daily Routine (lets you plan out a routine and nags you to follow it)
* Way of Life (gets you in the routine of executing your habits and recording them)
* 30/30 (Pomodoro style timer, excellent, excellent)
 
Dr_Ngo said:
Seems like this topic popups every week here.

I wrote a post about this a few weeks ago

How to Focus

Productivity can be complex because people have different reasons why they are procrastinating.

What really helped me was MEASURING my productivity. I started by using pomodoros of 50 mins work / 10 mins break. When I'm in a pomodoro, I don't get distracted. Why? All websites are blocked, my phone's in another room, my skype's on invisible.

If I get distracted, I ask myself WHY, and I make sure it doesn't happen again. So lets say I only worked 3 hours today. Good, now I'm trying to work 3 hours and 30 minutes tomorrow.

The ability to focus is a MUSCLE. You're not going to overnight just snap and become super motivated. You have to work and train at it everyday.

The 2nd part of productivity would probably be the WHY. No amount of productivity, GTD bullshit's going to work if you're not passionate about anything in life. Figure out what drives you, what you want to work towards. When you have that burning desire and passion, you don't give a fuck about surfing Reddit or checking Facebook.
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I think this needs special emphasis. No matter how much you tell yourself "today is the day where I'm going to get everything done that I want to get done" it won't happen unless you take small increments to get there by training your mind and developing self-discipline. You can't do everything at once or you will just get burnt out, mad at yourself for failing, and tell yourself "oh well, there is always tomorrow". Rinse-repeat. This will get you nowhere but depressed and pissed off at yourself. The mind is the same as the body.
 
music4mic said:
Cool article and applicable not only to those that are broke, but those that simply want to earn more. Income roadblock my #1 enemy and I'm always open to tactics to overcome it.
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I've been following Pavlina's work since 2005. Some of his material is a little "out there" for my tastes, but he nails a lot of stuff dead center. I thought this statement was insightful:

The simple truth is that most people who are struggling financially just aren’t creating and delivering much value.
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Side note about generating more income: Pavlina has been doing a series on passive income that has been interesting. Most of it is basic, but that's where folks tend to stumble: in the execution. Plus, he goes into his past (mostly in the context of his since-dismantled gaming company), which I dig. :)

If you're interested in a little reading:

Passive Income Series
What Is Passive Income?
The End Game of Passive Income
Set Your Passive Income Goal
Commit to Your Passive Income Goal
Jobs vs. Passive Income
You Earn Passive Income by Being More Generous
Is It Fair to Earn Passive Income?
Passive Income Systems
How to Earn Passive Income From Intellectual Property
Self-Discipline and Social Pressure
Passive Income is Not an Escape
Are You Still Broadcasting Doubt?
Passive Value
Passive Income From Real Estate
Virtual Real Estate
Generating Ideas
Why Ebooks Are Such a Golden Opportunity
Investing
Passive Income Walkthrough
 
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Dr_Ngo said:
Seems like this topic popups every week here.

I wrote a post about this a few weeks ago

How to Focus

Productivity can be complex because people have different reasons why they are procrastinating.

What really helped me was MEASURING my productivity. I started by using pomodoros of 50 mins work / 10 mins break. When I'm in a pomodoro, I don't get distracted. Why? All websites are blocked, my phone's in another room, my skype's on invisible.

If I get distracted, I ask myself WHY, and I make sure it doesn't happen again. So lets say I only worked 3 hours today. Good, now I'm trying to work 3 hours and 30 minutes tomorrow.

The ability to focus is a MUSCLE. You're not going to overnight just snap and become super motivated. You have to work and train at it everyday.

The 2nd part of productivity would probably be the WHY. No amount of productivity, GTD bullshit's going to work if you're not passionate about anything in life. Figure out what drives you, what you want to work towards. When you have that burning desire and passion, you don't give a fuck about surfing Reddit or checking Facebook.
Click to expand...

I've been doing the 50 minute blocks and it is clutch. I just tack a paper to the wall with the start and stop times and the task. Under that I draw a line and when I stop I put the actual stop time and a very short note if I need to. I also set a timer to regulate my break time.

I don't need to do anything else to focus for 50 minutes. Once I have a set task and time period, focusing is easy. Unfocused time for me is a product of a lack of discipline and clarity. The only time I have trouble focusing on a set task is if I don't understand what I'm doing, in which case, I just back up a little and work on gaining clarity.
 
JakeStratham said:
I've been following Pavlina's work since 2005. Some of his material is a little "out there" for my tastes, but he nails a lot of stuff dead center. I thought this statement was insightful:
Click to expand...

Logged in just to rep you mang. Some of this stuff is solid.

Reponsiblity: the ability to control your response
 
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EricVonDoobie said:
OP do you have an iPhone? I highly recommend 3 apps to the productively challenged:

* Daily Routine (lets you plan out a routine and nags you to follow it)
* Way of Life (gets you in the routine of executing your habits and recording them)
* 30/30 (Pomodoro style timer, excellent, excellent)
Click to expand...

I really like the 30/30 app. Will try others you recommended.
 
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