The Chatbox is working again.

With our increase in membership, the Chatbox usage is too high for the shared server, even with our business account. If we kept the chat software we are using now, we'd have to move to a dedicated server, which would cost $150/month - way too much.

Here are some links to help you get started:

How and why check-ins work (by pro)
How to use the daily check-in board - short version (by pro)
How to use the daily check-in board - long version (by movingalong)
On creating the thread starter for the daily check-in thread (by pro and movingalong)
How to use the Chatbox for check-ins (by movingalong)

This is a really important book, and if you haven't read it, you need to read it. I'm not going to summarize the whole thing, but here are the important points you need to know:

I moved some of the articles from the front page to a dedicated section in the forum because things were getting lost on the front page. So when you click the Articles button at the top of the Web site, you won't see all the articles anymore. Also look here: Helpful Web Sites and Techniques

The sticky posts at the top of this board are articles about good anti-procrastination tools and techniques I've found on various sites around the internet.

IF YOU JUST REGISTERED FOR AN ACCOUNT:

1. You will not get access unless you respond to the email you receive saying why you want to join. This is to keep out spammers, and trust me - it is necessary. It takes time and it's a PITA for me, but I must do it because when I didn't, this site was much less pleasant.

If you find this site helpful, please contribute towards the cost of maintaining it.

I've always had a hard time getting started. If I can only get started, I'll keep going. But often getting started can feel all but impossible.

I recently found a solution that is startlingly effective. I hope I can do a good job explaining how it works because the first time it was explained to me, by a coach, I didn't get it. Later I stumbled upon it myself by accident, and then realized it was what that coach years ago was trying to explain to me.

Online 12-step meeting of Procrastinators Anonymous

Sundays 7:30pm GMT (UTC) standard time year round.

• That's 2:30 PM Eastern USA STANDARD Time Sundays or 3:30 PM Eastern USA DAYLIGHT Time Sundays
• That's 7:30 PM British STANDARD Time Sundays or 8:30 PM British DAYLIGHT Time Sundays
• That's 6:30 AM Sydney Australia DAYLIGHT Time Mondays or 5:30 AM Sydney Australia STANDARD Time Mondays
• That's 8:30 AM New Zealand DAYLIGHT Time Mondays or 7:30 AM New Zealand STANDARD Time Mondays

NOTE: Meeting is on GMT standard time year round. Therefore, when your clock changes with daylight savings time, the meeting time will change. Be sure to check above link in RED for the correct time in your time zone.

Click here to find your timezone equivalent

Location: Chatbox on this website, "meeting" room (first tab)

From the P.A. Meeting Materials...

1. Break It Down: Break down projects into specific action steps; include preparation tasks in the breakdown.

2. Visualization: Plan what to do, then imagine yourself doing it. The more specific and vivid your visualization, the better. See yourself doing the task, and doing it well.

Demand Resistance - Is It Hurting Your Business?

by Mitch Meyerson

Over the last twenty years, I have seen many forms of self-sabotage. The following psychological concept is one of the more common, yet least identified patterns that holds people back from success.

Simply put, demand-resistance is a chronic negative response to obligations or expectations. It is almost always unconscious.

Here are some common examples:

There are two important levels to the planning process:

1. Planning what to do.
2. Imagining yourself doing it.

Planning What to Do

A common source of procrastination is the idea that we have to wait until we have a big block of time before starting on a task - any task. One of my great frustrations in life is not being able to get done everything I need to get done even when I am trying. I think this is because I don't make good use of the many small pockets of time that are available throughout a day.

This list of tips for getting started was posted by Procrastinator's Anonymous member, Milo (original post here). I'm re-posting it, with minor editing, as an article so it won't get lost:

1. Visualisation. Visualise the task being completed and how good it feels to have it off your list and out of your head.

2. Break it down into small steps. (But don't overanalyse; that's another form of procrastination.)

3. Exercise brute-force willpower. Grit your teeth and say, "I'm just going to do it, dammit!"

There's a saying that, "If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing well." This is emphatically not true! One of my favorite sayings is this:

"Some things require completion, not perfection."

Perfectionism can stymie us in many ways. Often it prevents people from doing a thing at all. They feel so much anxiety about whether they'll be able to do it perfectly, or feel so overwhelmed with the enormity of trying to do it perfectly, that they're unable to even get started.

One common reason that people never get done what they want to get done most is that they are trying to fit too much into a 24-hour period. The solution isn't better time management. If you're like me, no amount of time management will allow you to do it all. The solution is to realize which items on your to-do list that you don't actually have to do.

A quote from Chinese writer and educator Lin Yutang expresses this well:

Basic Principles of Efficacy

This is adapted from work by Dr. Robert Boice, PhD. The principles are his (word for word except the word "writing" in #5 is replaced with "actual work". The explanations are in my own words. The principles are based on controlled studies - not just his opinion.

1. Wait. Do exercises to calm down and focus.

2. Begin before feeling ready. This helps you to develop systematic ways of finding imagination and confidence.

3. Work in brief, daily sessions. Be very consistent in this; make it a habit.

Not a Laughing Matter!

The jokes about procrastination infuriate me. This is not a funny problem - not if you are suffering from true, chronic procrastination. Lawyers have been disbarred due to procrastination. Small business owners have lost their businesses due to procrastination. People's lives fall apart and are destroyed due to procrastination. This is not a funny problem.

Categorizing Reasons

The Procrastinators Anonymous Web site focuses mainly on the addictive aspect of procrastination since that's literally addressed no where else, but addictive compulsion isn't the only reason for procrastination - even for people who struggle with compulsive procrastination.

Compulsive procrastinators may not have all the signs listed here, but if you identify with many of these characteristics, you are probably a compulsive procrastinator.