I think that I need to track down the old timer I used to have in the "office". And I knew that my hobby of collecting journals would pay off at somepoint.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this thread! I too am the queen of procrastination. I'm going to try that timer idea on Monday. Something in my nature absolutely hates schedules, but like all things, if you take it one small task a time, it probably doesn't seem so restricting. And besides, if I'm lucky, I'll get clients who will hire me to do the things I enjoy doing, so it won't be that hard to stick to a schedule anyway!

Bessings!

Sam

Thanks Erin, great tips again and again. Now I need is a timer and I'm ready to go!

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Joey Wong - Virtual Assistant Service - Your Partner in Achieving Business Success
Facebook

Thanks for this thread. Great suggestions. As I just got laid off from my day job, my priority is now getting my business up and running so I too can bring in the big bucks. I need organization and not procrastination. One thing going for me is my husband who also works from home. He is the King of staying on task. So if I start to sluff off, I just look at him working and that is motivation for me. We usually start at about 8:00am. Take a break at 11:00 to go the gym. And then work until about 6:00pm. It is a good system. He is going out of town next week, so we will see if I can stay on that schedule. I may need to go get the timer!! Having a weekly goal thread here has also helped me. Now before I quit for the day, I make a list of goals for the next day and check them off as I finished them.

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Pam
www.adminetcetera.com

Ok, I love this thread! Not only am I getting great ideas, it's nice to know it's not just me. lol I've discovered that I'm one that needs structure/routine, and I have a procrastination problem. I feel like I'm a mix of everything mentioned. lol My bed gets made, but my laundry lives in the basket. My office is in my bedroom, and hopefully some day I'll be able to walk back into my closet. I get all stressed out by 11:00am when I ask myself what it was that I actually accomplished.

I would love to eliminate all of those tasks that are hanging and move forward towards productivity. Two things I've been working on that seems to help are going to bed and getting up at the same time each night/day, and scheduling at least five things on my to do list for the next day. Wish me luck & I'll be doing the same for all of you.

Great tips! I'll have to put timer on my things to get list.

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~~*Miss Jaye*~~

The dollar bill is good visualization tool that I think I will try. I make lists and check things off; this makes me feel confident that I have made progress and also so I don't have to keep thinking about what I need to do as it is written right in front of my face. You could use Outlook's calendar program. It's a good tool.

Lisa.

It's always nice to know we're not alone. I even bought two books a few weeks ago ("Getting Things Done" and another one I can't remember the name of right now) to help me deal with and, hopefully, overcome procrastination. Now, if I could only quit procrastination and read the darn things...lol

I'm not the neatest person in the world although I love a neat and tidy space. I just can't seem to keep mine that way...lol One thing that I started doing a long time ago is making a list of at least ten things that I want to accomplish that evening. If I'm not feeling very motivated, I'll break my list down into the 10 tiniest things but there are always ten items. Then, usually, after I take care of one item on the list, I'll allow myself to read one page (3 or 4 paragraphs) of whatever book I have going. A lot of times, after I start seeing a good sized dent, my motivation will kick in and I find that I'm taking care of several things on the list before I sit down to read.

Another thing that I do is set the timer on my microwave for 15 mins. I still make a list but usually not as detailed as the reading exercise and I don't go item, stop, item, stop. I clean for 15 minutes and then I'll read a page out of my book or, what I've been doing lately, is I'll clean for 15 minutes and then play my online game for 15 minutes then go back and forth (usually when I do this, I tell myself that I'll do it for at least 2 hours so I at least get one hour of cleaning done). The only problem with this method (the game part anyhow) is that I have to be really careful not to let myself (and my time) get carried away with the game...lol

Anyhow, I've found that this method (the first one) helps a lot when I'm feeling unmotivated at work too. Either at night or first thing in the morning, I make a To Do list and then I'll complete an item and then allow myself to read and/or respond to one post or some other real quick pleasurable task (no more than 5 mins or so), then on to the next task on my list. I try not to do this too much but on those days when I can't seem to put one foot in front of the other, it helps me be more productive than if I allowed myself to start playing online or wasting an entire day rather than a few mins. here or there. Of course, if you're a VA and need to time track, it could be a pain because you'd have to account for those 5 min. goof-off periods...lol

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Stephanie
New VA in the research phase :daisy:

You know, one of the great things about servicing clients is that we can learn so much from them. One of my long-term clients (we've been working together for 12 years) specialises in productivity and office organisation. She used to be called The Office Organiser but rebranded 2 years ago to The Productivity Queen. While I've helped her a lot, I've also learned a lot from her and her materials. She has books, CDs, DVDs, courses, teleseminars, a discussion forum and much more. She is classed as a business coach and professional speaker - I look after both these categories with a number of clients. Lorraine often writes for the VA industry and promotes our industry to all her small business clients as the way to get organised.

If you look in the dictionary under "Procrastination", you will see my name. I just recently moved my office to the finished basement and I must say, the distractions have reduced. On top of that, I just keep visualizing my goals of success whenever I can't seem to focus on what I need to. I am the scatter-brain poster child, lol! One of the great things about moving my office to the basement is that the dogs do not come down there. They are my biggest distraction. The big thing for me was to make my office look like, well, an office! Having a professional workspace keeps my mind from saying, "Hey, you're at home." Good luck and best wishes to everyone!

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Winston Stewart
PennWin Administrative Services