To ask how you give yourself a kick up the bum?

[kleew1]

I spend far too long on my phone, alas I'm here!

That aside, I need to get Uni work done but always find other things to do - today it was sort out my DD underwear drawer into trays and order. I KNOW.

AIBU to ask how you get your get up and go and give yourself a push? Seriously lacking in motivation and realise something needs to be done.

It's hard, I am a champion procrastinator!

I think chunking the work down into smaller quantities helps it be less overwhelming, and also just making a start, any start, even if not on the hardest task, even if it's not great quality work, providing it is something works for me! So if it's an essay or report, just getting some words down on the page, maybe just some bullet points or headings or a general structure outline stops that hideous 'blank page' feeling and once you are into the flow of writing you can get more into 'the zone'.

I do also like to make myself a nice plan, working back from the deadline of the submission date or the exam or whatever it is, and work out how many words/pages/tasks I need to do per day, that way I can see that unless I do 500 today I'll have to do 1000 tomorrow, and if I don't meet my targets this week I'll have an impossible amount to do the week after so I really do need to make a start (but can happily stop once I've done that much if I want). That being said, sometimes the process of making the plan, usually beautifully colour coded and organised can become a procrastination in itself so don't go mad!

Small treats, breaks and rewards, even just going out for a walk or having a nice hot drink during the day or similar can help but don't let yourself have them until you've done a minimum amount of work. I've found I can no longer 'treat myself' to telly or MN/social media or anything like that in the middle of the day as I'll never stop and go back to work, so those are things saved for the end of the day (says she on MN, not working right now ), I am 'allowed' to sit staring blankly at my laptop screen or re-reading the instructions over and over if I really am stuck but I can't just give up and do something else - usually my brain through sheer boredom I think will come up with something to put down and then I'm away

This is actually really helpful and cheered me up - whilst I still sit procrastinating. Going to write a backwards plan: had never thought of one of them before! Thanks @maxelly

The pomodoro method (easily google-able) is good if it's seemingly having more than enough time that's allowing you to procrastinate. I'm a bugger for not doing things until I'm up against a deadline. The idea with pomodoro is you only allow yourself 25 minutes to make progress on something. Then you take a short break and do something else for 5 minutes. The idea is both to learn to push back anything that can wait (replying to a text, putting the next load of laundry on, checking your email), but also to make sure you move and get a glass of water, or focus on something else for 5 minutes. Then you can either use your next 25 minutes for the next stage of the same task, or for something else.

I do a fair bit of mindmapping on paper as well. I hate staring at a blank page, so I'll grab a notepad and a pen (preferably one of those ones that will do several colours) and start scribbling. What might my headings be? What facts do I need to get across? What references must I make sure I include? I'll end up with lots of arrows, crossing out and bullet points that need to be expanded on, but I end up with a sort of direction map that I can use to keep me on track. If I get bogged down with one bit, I can move on to something else without worrying that I'm going to forget it completely because it's on my plan. If I realise that something isn't going to work, I can cross it off the plan.

Oh, and one of the best tips I was ever given (for exam stress but it works for lots of things) - if you feel yourself freeze up and start thinking you can't do what you're being asked to do, stop, and do something you do know how to do. In an exam situation you're often limited to something like sharpening a pencil or sketching out an essay plan outline, but it helps your brain to remember that it can do 'stuff' and unfreeze.

Thanks @Gliblet getting exam results back today for an exam I bombed... Next time I'll be using the exam tip!

Also Google "eat the frog first", along with the pomodoro method.

I try and reward myself with watching comedies on Netflix eg when folding laundry etc. That way it also doubles up as time alone which is hard to get in lockdown.

I also try and remember to just plan to do something for a few minutes eg studying and then if I get more done it’s a bonus.

And reminding myself it is better to do something to a low standard than not at all. For example yesterday I scrubbed the door handle areas downstairs - I don’t have time* or energy to do the whole door but I just focused on the grimy parts. Are they perfect? Hell no but they are better than they were.

*I say I don’t have time - I probably do but I am an epic procrastinator who spends far too much time on the sofa in a state of overwhelm. But I am trying hard to at least get something done!

In work we use Root Cause Analysis to work out why something happened or didn't happen. Sometimes when I really don't want to get up and do it, I use it on myself to discover why I don't want to. The results can be interesting or sometimes they just highlight that I'm lazy. You just keep asking yourself why. For instance, I've discovered that my business accounts aren't up to date because I haven't been saving the tax up as I've gone along, and by doing the accounts it will highlight how much I need to save in order to straighten them up. Of course that's nonsense, sticking my head in the sand isn't going to solve the problem, but part of my brain thinks it might so has stopped me from doing them. I want to do couch to 5k, but last time I got to week 4, it triggered a coughing episode linked to my asthma, I'm scared that this may lead to a period of self isolation while waiting for a test, meaning no work and as I'm self employed, no pay. Both of those, I could have just called myself lazy for, but it turns out part of my brain had a reason for not motivating me. Of course the fact the dishwasher needs unloading is just laziness!