Tag: time-management

Living life in portions

Hannah TelluselleLeave a comment

I’ve realised again, that when I have several things to do the same day, they all tend to flow better, whereas when I have one thing to focus on, I tend to procrastinate more and become more exhausted. Perhaps it’s a matter of not having to concentrate so much on one thing, or the variation of doing different things, makes it more stimulating and inspiring.

When we can decide over our own time, we can choose what to do and when, as well as be flexible about which day, we can do what. This isn’t as possible with commitments to others of course, unless we take charge of when, in those instances too. Taking deliberate breaks and doing something else helps, where scrolling on social media can be a break if it’s time constrained and not too engaging. We all need down-time and that isn’t possible when others crave our attention all the time, whether online or in life. Watching TV instead for an hour and a half, suddenly feels like the best luxury. Imagine that, when it used to be what we “doom-scrolled” on.

Another way to create portions of each project, is to set a limit for how much we’re doing every day. When I wrote on my thesis, for example, I made sure to not write more than a part of a chapter, or one chapter, my planned days to work on it, to ensure my quality wouldn’t become lower with the pure extent of it all. Likewise, I made sure to finish what I intended, regardless of at which time of day I did it. Dealing with constant interferences made it tougher, but nonetheless with perseverance, I pulled it through. And because of these outer interferences, I haven’t been able to stick to a pre-set schedule for many years, so to me, it’s been a matter of waiting for a time with less, to do more then. Often, our stress becomes less, when we do what we set out to do, and have our own little rituals before the end of the day, even if this takes a little longer. Eliminating stress before bedtime, obviously makes it easier and faster to fall asleep too.

Deciding to divide our activities into portions, enable us to economise our energy, which makes it more fun and rewarding when we continue our undertakings. How does your days or weeks look like?

Turning procrastination into preparation

Hannah TelluselleLeave a comment

Have you ever felt like wanting to put off something, or to just wait a little longer, or to just do something else first before you dive into the task? We all are procrastinating from time to time. Sometimes it’s about doing our chores around the house and sometimes it’s about getting things done for work or finishing reading the next book for your class. How do we then best overcome procrastination and does it even have a role to play?

I’ve found that if I look at my procrastination from the lens of first needs and then as a time to prepare, I can get energised and easier get going. First of all, if I’m physically tired or have had an emotional hard day, I might have to postpone something so that I know I’m in my best position to, and rest up first. Neighbouring to this feeling, is discipline. When I make a conscious decision to do something and then follow through with it, it provides me with energy to carry it out, especially if I do it directly. So to find discipline, make a decision.

We can also look at procrastination as a matter of getting time to prepare. For example, to do other things that also needs to get done, so we can focus better, or even begin doing the planned task in our minds. As a writer, I always begin my writing in my thoughts, so while it may seem like I’m not doing anything, I might be writing my next blogpost or even my next book in my mind while I sit in my couch. Then it becomes easy to just sit down and write it out. And to prepare, I might just see to that I have everything I need set up. When the time is right, we feel it in our bodies. This way, we become more in a state of flow, which even makes the task easier.

What are you procrastinating about, and what do you need, in order to overcome that?