7 tips to beat the COvid-19 times' procrastination

​Enough repeating that the times are weird. This is what I told myselfat a couple of weeks ago. I don’t want to use the current situation as an excuse for my procrastination. Yes, it’s hard to stay focused and calm. Yes, the kids are roaming the house 24/7. Yes, I don’t have my regular working days. But I do have a choice. A choice of trying to make the best out of the quarantine time or lie down and be miserable. Well, when I put it like this, there is no need to choose at all. I don’t want to be miserable. Period. 

So, here are my tips to keep focus and beat procrastination:

1. Plan in advance. Go through your tasks the evening before and outline your to-do-list for the next day. Blocking slots is a good option, too. X min for answering emails, X hrs for the project, X min for a Zoom call, etc. You can go wild and assign a colour to each block. 

2. Use Toggl to keep track of the time spent on a task/project.

3. Tackle a couple of easy tasks and go over to the BIG FAT annoying job you ought to do. Completing a few simple things first will boost your energy, productivity and satisfaction. But do not leave THE task for after the lunch. Make sure to start working on it before noon. 

4. Lower your expectations. It is not possible to complete in 4hrs what you used to finish in 8hrs of your workday.  You will catch up in its due course. 

5. Find a work buddy. Having someone keeping tabs on you works as a massive motivator. Agree with a friend or a colleague to touch base every so often to keep track of your progress. 

6. Don’t forget to have breaks and creative pauses when your brain can rest from your regular work tasks.

7. Take action. Having something half done is better than having nothing at all. 

​Do you find that you tend to procrastinate now more than you used to?