Can't get anything DONE!! Please come and give me a kick up the backside

[deathbyprocrastination]

Feel life is just slipping away from me. There are 101 things that need doing and yet I'm frittering away time staring at a screen. I'm not even frittering away time doing fun stuff like playing games with the kids or reading, I'm just ineffectually stressing about how little I've done with my life in the past year.

Huge amount to be grateful for: everyone is healthy and happy, lovely home and stable finances thanks to DH's job, but my career has gone down the pan in the past couple of years. I started up a company at totally the wrong time given Covid and I'm not sure whether to draw a line under it or give it my best shot for another year. I think it's got to be the latter because of all the time invested but I've just lost all my energy for it and i"m rubbish at marketing - the thought of trying to boot up my social media channels again just fills me with dread.

I finished writing a book a couple of years ago, before I set up the company, and it's just sitting on my desktop with me opening the file every month or so and tweaking a few words here or there. i've had ample opportunity to look for agents and send out query letters but I haven't done anything.

I've got loads of caring responsibilities with older relatives coming up in the New Year and I just know I should be using this time to get ahead with something but I can't stop dithering. I have no idea how to prioritise and flip flop between thinking I must declutter the kids drawers to spending hours trying to find volunteering opportunities to drawing up complicated timetables and lists of things that need doing and then getting side-tracked by instagram.

Can anyone give me some practical advice on how to get my shit together? I feel like such a useless waste of space.

And news sites... spending hours online just trying to predict what the hell is going to happen or be announced next

Come up with a 2021 plan. What do you want to be done by the end of the year? Then what does that need doing in each month. At the start of the month, break it down by weeks. Then you have a few concrete actions to do that week.

I use a notebook for this, with a single page for each month, then week. It’s basically a bullet journal. I have month goals, with week numbers next to them. Each week I copy out that week’s main tasks, plus other admin (ie make dentist appointment ) and tick them off as they are done. I also have a “week chart” on that page with daily tasks to colour as they are done (progress on main objective, exercise, write etc)

Can’t help with the internet one though. I could do twice as much if it wasn’t for the internet...

Also, am feeling less and less like seeing or talking to anyone. Have a lovely group of friends but am so sick of zoom stuff and I feel irrationally irritated when the phone rings. I sound like such a misery guts.

@MinesAPintOfTea Thank you - I'm really grateful for practical suggestions. I just fear I won't stick to any of that, I do LOVE lists and notebooks but I'm not sure they really help me to get anything done, they can just become another distraction. Feel I need to do something really drastic to shake things up, I just don't know what!

This is great. Bit of mindfulness, bit of saying goodbye/drawing a line under last year, bit of planning and articulating your hopes for next year. I like it. Did it last year and of course covid kind of ballsed things up but hey, the only way is up (I fecking hope)!

yearcompass.com/

@MinesAPintOfTea do you plan in 'contingency time' so when things get derailed by something unexpected? Because I think that's what I find most problematic - I'll plan to get a lot done and then something throws me off course and the whole thing goes out of the window

@RedLimoncello that looks really interesting - thank you

I plan with quite a bit of slack and timings shift through the year. If I only get two out of my main three objectives for January done, then when I plan February I’ll consider whether something needs to move back in February to accommodate that.

Reviewing if any progress has been made in the last month helps me keep going.

And one notebook, with all the lists is the way forward for me.

Write a list of all the things that need doing and then write numbers next to each one as to what priority they are e.g. number 1 to 20.

Then tackle one each day. Just one. But you must do one a day.

Tell someone that will hold you accountable e.g. friend or partner. Check in with them each day to confirm that you have done one task.

This is really helpful so far - thank you!

And break down tasks e.g. one task might be to edit/proof chapters 1 to 4 of your book, then the next day you do chapters 5 to 8, then the next day you research agents.

But also make it specific e.g. research agents might mean you end up spending hours surfing the internet. Instead your task is to find the name and email address of four different agents, for example.

Also you managed to write a book: that’s an impressive achievement. What I would do now is plan:
January: review manuscript as not been touched for a while
February: contract 3-5 agents (I’m not certain this is how it’s done)
March: follow up. If all rejections, find more to approach

For the business:
January: marketing plan
February: restart marketing activities. From here, social media activity becomes a daily task

Does that fine you the idea?

Would a timetable help? For example you have two hours every day for a task, such as 10am to 12pm. Give yourself rules e.g. you're not allowed to look at the news in that time, no-one is allowed to disturb you, shut yourself into a room/stay at your desk for the whole two hours. It might seem more manageable if you know you only have two hours to do the task but you can "reward" yourself afterwards by checking the news/social media or whatever.

Amazon £7.99

@Catsneezies

Would a timetable help? For example you have two hours every day for a task, such as 10am to 12pm. Give yourself rules e.g. you're not allowed to look at the news in that time, no-one is allowed to disturb you, shut yourself into a room/stay at your desk for the whole two hours. It might seem more manageable if you know you only have two hours to do the task but you can "reward" yourself afterwards by checking the news/social media or whatever.

A timetable would help. I'm just rubbish at sticking to them. This year has been particularly bad with all the disruption/everyone being at home so much, routines out of the window. It MIGHT be better when schools starts again. But that's absolutely what I need - I just have to rediscover my discipline

@MinesAPintOfTea

Also you managed to write a book: that’s an impressive achievement. What I would do now is plan: January: review manuscript as not been touched for a while February: contract 3-5 agents (I’m not certain this is how it’s done) March: follow up. If all rejections, find more to approach

For the business:
January: marketing plan
February: restart marketing activities. From here, social media activity becomes a daily task

Does that fine you the idea?

That does sound practical i.e. having the different categories for each month. I don't fancy my chances of sticking to the social media routine though, once that is back on again, I am just so dreadful at it.

What is your business? Is social media absolutely essential, or can you manage marketing a different way? The key thing is to pick goals you can achieve.

@MinesAPintOfTea

What is your business? Is social media absolutely essential, or can you manage marketing a different way? The key thing is to pick goals you can achieve.

It's education related and I think I really do need at least one social media channel to keep building profile. I built up a mailing list last year and will need to start sending out newsletters again too but they have the benefit of being just once-weekly. Anyway, I digress. I do feel a bit better armed to move forward after reading all the responses on here.

@MinesAPintOfTea I've been thinking about your journal idea - would you be up for posting a pic of a sample page? No worries if it feels too personal - just interested in the layout

A couple of layouts from this year. Scrappier than they had previously been, but illustrate the idea. The same notebook contains reading lists, weight tracker, Christmas planning etc.

I've just started reading the organised time method which may be of help to you x

@MinesAPintOfTea

A couple of layouts from this year. Scrappier than they had previously been, but illustrate the idea. The same notebook contains reading lists, weight tracker, Christmas planning etc.

This is great - thank you!