How I scaled back my procrastination 30% last semester.

Hi guys,

 well as you've known I passed all my classes in medical school last semester because I learned to scale back my procrastination. Using various techniques. this semester I'd say I scaled it back another 20 percent. So I'd say I'm running at about  50% of my optimal work output. I'd like to share some of my tips and would like for others to share there tips so together we could get closerto 100. 

Technique 1: Read one slide, one sentence, one idea, open to the first page of the chapter. Just do something tiny tiny to get started.

Technique 2: Understand inertia, just like a physical object the more we do the easier it is to do, once you start and overcome that initial force of friction and get rolling it's diffcult to be stopped. Whereas the less you do the heavier you become the harder it is to begin. This is offcourse within extremes life requires balance between work and play.

Technique 3: Understand the stupid less evolved part of your brain: your brain stem evolved first, then your mid brain and other areas involving insitincts feelings emotions, then finally your cortex (involving higher thoughts and integration of information). In other words your emotions have a very strong part in motivating actions. Hunter gatherers didn't care about writing dissertations they cared about eating, sleeping, and reproducing. These actions all have heavy emotional motivators. Your brain will become lethargic and resist more mundane tasks , for instance writing a dissertation. You have to learn how to overcome this and stop caring about how you feel in regards to a task. The intertesintg thing is though often when you begin and start doing the task it can become interesting. 

Technique 4: Be cool and accepting you won't overcome procrastination in one day especially if you took a lifetime developing the habit also realize that everyone is different so no one technique or idea will apply to everyone. You must move a step at a time, a step at a time period. Real change is slow and consistant, that's how are brains learn and encode things well.

Technique 5: Recgonize what procrastination is costing you. "But I already did that's why I'm here," yeah this is true but have you taken the time to really notice how much it's retarded your goals and life aspirations, your social life, your happiness, your love life. And what it can cost you in the future. "sorry son I missed your baseball game again cause I procrastinated my work and now I have to make a last minute deadline."

Technique 6: Be organized if it takes you 20 minutes just to get started working because you can never remember where your things are then well you're probably going to stop working by the time you find your items.

Technique 7: Be courageous being alacratious (eager/willing to begin) requires stepping into the unknown it requires shutting off that incessant brain chatter which follows you around all day and focusing, it requires being present and in the moment. This place seems scary at first, so you have to be brave and learn to shuvv it to the stupid part of your brain and say i'm gonna do this and then just take a tiny step.