Motivation vs Procrastination
Projects that don't have deadlines imposed on them, even if they are self-imposed, will take a lot longer than they need to, and may suffer from feature creep and scope bloat.
By setting challenging deadlines you will actually get better results. It's all about manipulating the Iron Triangle of scope, resources, and time.
James Stanier • Parkinson's Law: It's Real, So Use It
This task is near the top of my list; it bothers me, and motivates me to do other useful but superficially less important things.
John Perry • Structured Procrastination
Regaining focus
The main thing I realized recently is how lost my mind has become. I stopped meditating, I stopped reading books, and I'm consuming an unhealthy amount of news. The worst part of all this is that I’m painfully aware of all this happening. I’m mindful enough to notice the inner workings of my mind going to shit but not mindful enough... See more
The main thing I realized recently is how lost my mind has become. I stopped meditating, I stopped reading books, and I'm consuming an unhealthy amount of news. The worst part of all this is that I’m painfully aware of all this happening. I’m mindful enough to notice the inner workings of my mind going to shit but not mindful enough... See more
Regaining focus – Manu
This resonates strongly these days.
This tempo and cadence is crucial for effective leadership. Even though you may not think that people want it, and even if people themselves think they don't want it, knowing that things need to be done by deadlines that are just on the cusp of the comfort zone forces real, tangible progress. If you think that a prototype might take a month, why
... See moreJames Stanier • Parkinson's Law: It's Real, So Use It
People generally underestimate what can be done in a well
Try writing about why the work is important, or spend some time reflecting on times in the past where you’ve felt most connected to it.
Dan Shipper • Why You're Not Doing Creative Work
The fourth one is that procrastinators tell themselves that succeeding at a task requires that they feel like doing it; and, fifth, is entertaining the false idea that working when not in the mood is somehow suboptimal—that it’s best to wait till the lightning of inspiration strikes before motivating ourselves to stop procrastinating.
Sharon Salzberg • Real Happiness at Work
Deadlines really help human beings get things done. The only way that I've written books is because I set myself a challenging, but not impossible, schedule with the publisher. This contract of external accountability keeps the fire going through the long slog, and it forces me to make clear-cut decisions about what to include, what to leave out,
... See moreJames Stanier • Parkinson's Law: It's Real, So Use It
“Many people (by which I meant me) seem to feel as if they start off each morning in a kind of "productivity debt", which they must struggle to pay off through the day, in hopes of reaching a zero balance by the time evening comes. Few things feel more basic to my experience of adulthood than this vague sense that I'm falling behind, and need to
... See moreThe Ju/’hoansi, for example, were often content to spontaneously take a day off from foraging simply because they didn’t feel like it. Even if they were hungry, they knew that putting off the food quest for a day would not have any serious ramifications. For farmers, by contrast, taking a day off just because they need a rest is rarely an option.
... See more