009 - 10 Ways To Stop Procrastinating
Topics discussed in this post:
đ§ 10 ways to stop procrastinating
đ©ș Wound healing
đRevision card: Types of wounds
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Productivity topic of the week: 10 ways to stop procrastinating
I spent this week reading a book called Eat That Frog! An amazing book by Brian Tracy on how to stop procrastinating and ways to get more things done in less time.
Letâs face it, every once in a while, no matter how organised we may be, we spend a lot of time procrastinating rather than doing the work we are supposed to. Think of all the time you spend âperfectingâ your study timetable instead of actually studying. Usually there is a lot that we want to do and may feel like we donât have enough time during the day to get it done.
Brian Tracy studied time management for more than thirty years and always kept an open mind about incorporating any good ideas that help with time management, personal efficiency and effectiveness.
Below I am listing the 10 ways suggested in his book on how to stop procrastinating.
1- Set the table
In this section he gives a powerful formula made up of seven steps in order to set and achieve goals which can be used for the rest of our lives.
Step one: decide exactly what you want.
Step two: write it down
Step three: set a deadline
Step four: make a list of everything you need to do to achieve your goal
Step five: organise the list into a plan
Step six - take action on your plan immediately
Step seven: do something every single day that moves you towards your major goal
âHere is a great rule for success:
Think on paper.â
2- Plan every day in advance
He says in his book that our ability to come up with good plans before we act is a measure of our overall competence. The better the plan we have, the easier it becomes to overcome procrastination, to get started and to keep going.
âPlanning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it nowâ
- Alan Lakein
3- Apply the 80/20 rule to everything (aka the Pareto Principle)
I have been reading about the 80/20 rule for quite a long time now, but never took it into action. Although it is widely used and talked about by most, I never personally implemented it.
He says that, before you begin a task, ask yourself âis this task in the top 20% of my activities or in the bottom 80%?â.
That way you can decide on whether to prioritise, delegate or delete the task.
My personal method of doing this is by writing down all the tasks and deadlines that I have, sorting them out using the Eisenhower Matrix method (You can read about it in my previous post). This is how I sort out my priorities.
4- Consider the consequences
âRule: Long-term thinking improves short-term decision makingâ
Successful people have a clear future orientation. They think five, ten and twenty years into the future. They analyse their choices and behaviours in the present to make sure that what they are doing today is consistent with the long-term future that they desire.
By definition, something that is important will also have long or short-term consequences if not accomplished. So whenever you are unsure about the importance of a task, ask yourself âwhat are the consequences of doing or not doing this task?â
5- Apply the Law of Three
Ask yourself the following questions
What are the three most important career goals right now?
What are the three most important family or relationship goals right now?
What are the three most important health goals right now?
What are the three most important personal and professional development goals right now?
Whatever you are going through, whatever career or study level you are at right now, ask yourself these questions and see if they bring change into your life and reduce your procrastination.
6- Upgrade your key skills
One of the major reasons why people procrastinate if the feeling of inadequacy, lack of confidence or an inability in a key area of a task. Sometimes you may feel discouraged if you feel weak in some areas and you tend to put off these tasks as they donât make you feel happy and accomplished.
Try to continuously upgrade your skills. Never stop learning and make it your personal challenge to get better at that particular task. This will help boost your confidence. It doesnât matter how you improve, you can always watch YouTube videos on that particular subject, ask a friend or colleagueâs help/opinion or read more about it. Whatever your method is, keep it a goal for you to tackle that tedious task.
âRule: Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any fieldâ
7- Identify your key constraints
âConcentrate all your thoughts on the task at hand. The sunâs rays do not burn until brought to a focusâ
- Alexander Graham Bell
What is holding you back?
Successful people always begin the analysis by asking the question âwhat is it in me that is holding me back?â
In your own life, have an honest deep look into yourself and try to identify any limiting factors that are reducing your speed to achieving your goals.
8- Motivate yourself into action
Optimists have four special behaviours, all are learned through practice and repetition.
One: Look for the good in every situation. No matter what goes wrong, try to look at any point that is beneficial. Learn from your mistakes and your failures.
Two: Try to see the valuable lesson in every setback or difficulty. Optimists believe that difficulties are not there to obstruct, but to instruct.
Three: Always look for a solution to every problem. Instead of complaining and blaming when something goes wrong, try to come up with a solution instead.
Four: Optimists continuously think and talk about their goals. (You donât have to tell everyone what your plans are, but it is good to say them out loud. This way you set things in motion and are more likely to change your behaviour in order to reach your bigger goals).
9- Create large chunks of time
âNothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all of your energies on a limited set of targetsâ - Nido Qubein
The key to success of this method of working in specific time segments is for you to plan your day in advance and schedule a fixed time period for a particular activity or task.
Most highly productive people schedule specific activities in pre-planned time slots all day long.
I previously wrote about time-blocking. If you havenât read it yet then I recommend that you do. It is one of my favourite methods of managing my own time and I have been using it for quite a long time. You can access it through the â002- Time Blockâ newsletter
10 - Develop a sense of urgency
âDo not wait; the time will never be âjust rightâ. Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go alongâ
- Napoleon Hill
There were 21 great ways mentioned in the book about how to stop procrastinating. Below are just a list of the 21-methods:
1- Set the table = decide exactly what you want.
2- Plan every day in advance
3- Apply the 80/20 rule to everything = 20% of your activities will account for 80% of your results.
4- Consider the consequences
5- Practice creative procrastination = since you canât do everything, learn to delay un-urgent tasks
6- Use the ABCDE method = before you work on a list of tasks, take some time to organise them by value and priority
7- Focus on key result areas
8- The law of three = Identify the most important three things you need to work on
9- Prepare thoroughly before you begin
10- Take it one oil barrel at a time = You can accomplish the big goals by taking it one step at a time
11- Upgrade your key skills
12- Leverage your special talents = find out what you are really good at
13- Identify your key constraints
14- Put pressure on yourself
15- Maximise your personal power = identify your best time of the day
16- Motivate yourself into action
17- Get out of the technological time sinks
18- Slice and dice the task = break large tasks into smaller tasks
19- Create large chunks or time = have time blocks
20- Develop a sense of urgency
21- Single handle every task = after you set your priorities, start immediately on your most important task and work till you finish it.
Surgical topic of the week: Wound healing
A- Classification of wounds
Wounds can be classified into clean, clean-contaminated, contaminated and dirty wounds.
Clean wounds are non-traumatic wounds with no break in surgical technique, no septic focus, and no viscus opened (e.g. hernia repair).
Clean-contaminated wounds are non-traumatic wounds with contaminated entry into a viscus, but with minimal spillage (e.g. elective cholecystectomy).
Contaminated wounds are clean, traumatic wounds or significant spillage from a viscus or acute inflammation (e.g. emergency appendectomy).
Dirty wounds include traumatic wounds from a dirty source or when significant bacterial contamination or release of pus is encountered.
B- Four stages of wound healing
Hemostasis (immediate) - occurs in response to exposed collagen, platelets aggregate at the wound and degranulate, releasing inflammatory mediators. Clotting and complement cascades activated. Thrombus formation and reactive vasospasm achieve hemostasis.
Inflammation (0â3 days) - Vasodilation and increased capillary permeability allow inflammatory cells to enter wound and cause swelling. Neutrophils amplify inflammatory response by release of cytokines, reduce infection by bacterial killing, and debride damaged tissue. Macrophages follow and secrete cytokines, growth factors, and collagenases. They phagocytose bacteria and dead tissue and orchestrate fibroblast migration, proliferation, and collagen production.
Proliferation (3 daysâ3 weeks)- Fibroblasts migrate into the wound and synthesize collagen. Specialized myofibroblasts containing actin cause wound contraction. Angiogenesis is stimulated by hypoxia and cytokines and granulation tissue forms.
Remodelling (3 weeksâ1y) - Reorientation and maturation of collagen fibres increases wound strength.
Do you have any specific surgical topic that you want to read about next week? You can always make suggestions as I plan to make this newsletter as useful to you as possible. Feel free to contact me at scrubsandsutures@gmail.com or on twitter and I will try to tailor the next one for you.
Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more topics next week!
