Reading Notes: Procrastination Psychology

The practice of GTD has been around for 20 months, and the symptoms of previous delays have been reduced a lot. My omnifocus cutoff list can be completed in advance, and it is getting a little stuck.

I picked up this "Procrastination psychology" for the sake of children. When she was just in the third day, she did not expect any delay, I often see that she dragged her math homework to more than 10 o'clock to start her work. My previous procrastination is definitely different from her. I read this book to find out the plot that matches her procrastination, find some countermeasures.

The problem of procrastination is amazing. Now, when I think about the previously delayed scenario, I cannot remember why I dragged a PPT or document to 4 o'clock in the morning.

This book is rated at 8.3 points on Douban. Many readers recommend this masterpiece and it should not be missed. However, this 200-page book is not too thick, however, reading this book has always made people unable to mention it. Half of the books have been turned over. The symptoms, psychological reactions, and brain principles of procrastination have been explained a lot, and no solutions to procrastination can be found. I talked to Sun about this book on QQ a few days ago. In the words of sun:

Procrastination psychology is almost finished. I insist on reading this book. I personally think that the failure of editing this book directly causes the delay of reading. Take the four factors involved in the book as an example:

① Lack of confidence in success: the book is so arrogant that it is skeptical about its effectiveness;

② Refuse to be assigned a task: there are too many preaching methods in the book, too few;

③ Easy to be distracted: I often don't know what to say in the book;

④ The goal is too ambitious and far away: too thick.

However, psychological analysis is in place.

This passage is the same as what I felt when I read this book. I cannot read the book after I picked it up several times. Let's smile:

You can read this psychology of procrastination without delay, which indicates that you have cured procrastination.

Old sun's words trigger my thinking: The book should not be read backwards, but should be read backwards! Find several useful suggestions, briefly check the explanations in the previous chapters, and practice them now!

The most useful part is Appendix 2 at the end of the book: a compilation of processing delays. Directly Google paste:

1. Establish an operational goal (observed, specific, and real), rather than a vague and abstract goal.

2. Set a pragmatic goal. Do not start from a trivial matter. Instead of being too idealistic, You must select a target that is acceptable to the minimum extent.

3. Break down your goals into short and specific mini targets. Each mini-goal is easier to achieve than a large one, and a small goal can be accumulated into a large one.

4. Treat time in reality (rather than in accordance with your own wishes. Q: How long will this task actually take me? How much time can I spend?

5. Just start! Don't try to finish the whole thing at once. Every time you take a small step.

6. Use the following 15 minutes. You can endure everything for 15 minutes. You can only finish one thing in 15 minutes. Therefore, what you do within 15 minutes is quite meaningful.

7. Prepare for difficulties and setbacks. Do not give up when you encounter the first (or second or third) difficulty. Difficulty is just a problem that you need to solve. It is not a reflection of your personal value or ability.

8. If possible, assign the task (or even discard it !). Are you the only person who can do this? Is it really necessary to do this?

9. Protect your time. Learn how to say no. Do not do additional or unnecessary things.In order to engage in important transactions, you can decide to ignore "urgent" things.

10. Pay attention to your excuses. Do not habitually use excuses to delay, but think of it as a signal for another 15 minutes. Or use your excuse as a reward for completing a step.

11. reward you for your progress along the way. Focus the rewards on your efforts, not the results. Be careful. Either way of thinking: You can say that the cup is half empty, or that it is half full.

12. Think of delay as a signal. Stop and ask yourself, "What information does the delay send to me ?"

The second is the last chapter of the book (Chapter 18th: the wisdom to get rid of the strange circle of passive procrastination). There is a special section "advice to parents" in which we talk about how to help children with procrastination. These techniques are not only effective for children, but also for all delayed patients. This part is the main purpose of reading this book. I copied it all after Google: 

1. Help your child set small goals

Teach your child to break down a task into several components;

Each task can be divided into several parts;

Any task can only be performed step by step;

Set a brief rest time for work-10 minutes or 15 minutes each time;

If 15 minutes is too long, it will be shortened to 5 minutes.

2. Help your child identify the duration

Exercise makes it less practical than ideal;

Exercise prediction the time required to complete a task;

Go backwards from the last phase to get an accurate start time;

Look at the schedule and think about how much time is actually available;

Teach your child to use timers.

3. Set clear limits and results

What exactly must be done and what the consequences cannot be;

It is not to set the start time of a task, but to decide when the task must be completed;

Consider writing down a written agreement;

Pragmatic and unremitting achievement.

4. Use corresponding rewards as encouragement

Reward all efforts for creativity and persistence, rather than rewards for results;

It is important to reward him for every step he takes, not just for the completion of the last step;

Rewards for the completion of a goal and the completion of each step along the way;

Convert the interface into a reward-for example, if you are hungry, write another 15-minute essay and then eat something.

5. Remember who it is: who is the master of the job? Your child, not you

Your child is not your extension;

Your child's performance is not a reflection of your personal values. Adjust your own disappointment, embarrassment, jealousy, and other emotions;

Never do what he can do for your child;

Don't save! Let your child taste the bitter fruit. (You can try "time transaction ")

6. Respect your child's need for independence

Try to be flexible and give the children as much choices as possible;

Is it more important to choose whether to win or prove that you are right than to maintain good relationships and help your children develop in their own way?

7. Whenever you discover a perfectionist tendency on your child or yourself, you must fight against it.

Make a wrong conversation and acknowledge your mistakes with humor;

Be sure not to exaggerate and acknowledge people's limitations and shortcomings.

8. Talk about fear-your own, including your children's

Fear is a universal human experience, and there are many reasons for fear;

We can still take actions when we are afraid;

Courage is not fear, but fear.

9. Listen to what your child tells you with curiosity rather than judgment.

"Why don't you do it directly ?" In particular, do not speak to your child in an angry, untrusted, arrogant, or similar tone;

Never describe, humiliate, ridicule, or despise your child or her procrastination;

No matter how hard it is to comprehend the fact that he has his purpose and usefulness, this must be respected without prior judgment, it is easier for you to help your child manage the emotions that bring obstacles and take actions to break through the resistance.

Further useful is chapter 1, which provides some suggestions for people with impaired attention and delays in execution.

Then there is Chapter 13-15, operational methods A, B, and C.

Chapter 4 combat weapons are worth reading.

The content from Chapter 1 to Chapter 2 should be read quickly. The sooner the better, the better. I feel that this is written for procrastinating psychologists. It gives you a bunch of theoretical bases, but it will not translate into any action. The contents of these chapters have deviated from the purpose of reading this book, and I am not very interested in organizing the notes of these chapters.

Why can GTD cure procrastination? Based on the relationship between the previous 12 items and GTD, we found that the practices in a GTD system satisfy at least 10 of them, and we were prepared to write an articleArticle, The title has already been ready: why don't the gtder be delayed?(This article was completed without delay in March 17).