I did not procrastinate today. At least not on anything important. I spent the day working, and then with my kids, and then some more working. Now I’m tired.

We watched Merlin today, a show I happen to love watching with my kids. We also watched an old episode of Monk, a show we used to watch together a lot but then of course it went off the air. If you don’t know what Monk is, here’s a link: http://www.crimemysterytv.com/monk/. Watch a few episodes and see if you don’t fall in love with it. Don’t let the crime mystery stuff fool you. Monk is a comedy through and through.

I use TV a lot to keep from having to do other things, like, you know, clean and stuff. :) But I have cleaning down pat anyway. Do what you need to do when you need to do it, instead of feeling guilty because you didn’t do a whole bunch of stuff every day. Seriously. If something isn’t dirty, why in the world would you want to bother with it when there are so many other great things to do with your time, like, you know, watching tv or posting on a blog? <g>

There are many crutches I use when I’m avoiding work that also help me avoid feeling guilty about not accomplishing my goals.

For years, I’ve been using procrastination in this way to get things done.

I love to learn. I know that doesn’t sound like something I should limit, but more often than I’d like, I procrastinate by learning something new. These things that I learn are usually important skills for the work I do (and for the hobbies I pursue).

However, I can spend 70%-80% of my day looking for and reading information online about whatever it is I’m working on. Continue reading this article »

Can’t get anything done because of email? You’re not alone. One of the most popular (and easiest) ways to procrastinate is to check email, I don’t know, like 300 times a day.

Maybe this is an exaggeration, then again, maybe not. Either way you look at it, if you can learn to shut off all the notifications of email and the auto checking functions, you’ll be that much closer to not having an instant procrastination pal. Take heed, so you don’t end up at the end of the day wondering just where the heck your day went.

Shut off all the email interruptions that could pull you away from what you are doing and send you spiraling out of control. Continue reading this article »