Procrastinators Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from chronic procrastination.

Procrastination / Productivity Software

2 April, 2012 - 10:52am - Primox

Hi Folks,

I was curious as to whether anyone had stumbled upon software for procrastination or productivity. I have a lot of techniques rostered for personal use, from therapy, from Counseling the Procrastinator in Academic Settings, from The Procrastination Equation, from The 60 second Procrastinator and so forth--but the application of these techiques is a psychologically/emotionally labourious task. Actually, applying procrastination techniques is something about which I procrastinate most heavily.

If anybody knows of a program in which guided techniques and engagement is offered, I would be interested to hear about it; a program in which the individual is lead through the techniques.

Thank you in advance for your responses :)

Warm regards,

Primox

‹ Link to article on dealing with rebellion Insight on Big Picture vs. Details ›

The Pomodoro Technique - free timer apps

jack - 23 Oct 2012 - 6:07pm
Following on from below I've also found the Pomodoro Technique using 25 min microburts of activity (and the free or the illustrated book that goes with this) very useful. You can get free computer based Pomodoro Timers here. (E.g. the e.ggtimer.com is one no-fuss webpage-based timer; and I'm finding the windows 7 pomodoro gadget very handy.) Or buy the real thing originally inspired by an actual kitchen tomato timer here! Tongue out
 
I've also come across some other productivity software here & here, though I haven't tried any of these yet. There's also this interesting article on how to allocate time to attack to-do lists. There is also time-tracking software with more features and other office tools (though again I can't vouch for any of these), or old school time sheets here!
 
(However if one is feeling very resistant to getting started then I'd suggest going back to basics with microbursts to help get going.)
Wink 

Pomodoro

Mole - 23 Oct 2012 - 8:32pm

If you're using google chrome, I really recommend their app - timout ( not a misspelling!) it is very simple. You state your intentions for the next 25 mins, you get a digital count down and the a sound to alert you that time is up and it is time to take a break. I find this last bit absurdly positive. You ge a sense of task well done and break deserved! The break IS timed( 5 mins and this is important too - not enough time to get absorbed in something else) 

mole

The other aspect of the technique that I find helpful is to make a note every time your mind wanders off topic and then get back to the main task. It gets it out of your head and also makes you more aware of when you are doing it. 

software

journey - 4 Apr 2012 - 8:24am

It sounds like you have read most of the books, although I'd recommend Getting Things Done and The Now Habit, which might help you develop your own program.  It sounds like you might be looking for something more like a life coach.   I've never had a coach but some people on the site have used one and I think Pro is doing some coaching now too.   Good luck! 

Some things I forgot to mention:  The Pomodoro Technique and Instant Boss.  I use  both of these.    

"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter.  Try again.  Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett

Hi, I used LeechBlock for

Dunya Putoff - 3 Apr 2012 - 11:05pm

Hi, I used LeechBlock for awhile, but then I couldn't undo all my blocking settings when I didn't need to use it anymore.

Lol

hidden_motives - 4 Apr 2012 - 11:29pm

There are ways around leechblock. Several iirc. I just thought of two that should work in case you lock yourself out forever but I don't want to share them. Thought of another. Three!

 

The type of software he's asking for isn't blocking software though. I don't know of any such software :/ 

Ha! That might not be such

Primox - 4 Apr 2012 - 12:12am

Ha! That might not be such a bad thing. I've got a blocker already, and it's pretty easy to dismantle, but the password (of which, there is only one copy and it's incredibly difficult to reproduce) is held by a friend in another province. He works often and it's a long distance charge so the accountability measure is pretty high.

I guess what I had in mind was more something along the lines of organizing tasks, along with cognitions, feeling-states, long-term goals, rewards, punishments, motivators, etc into a functional, visual whole. I used a program called Productivity Engineering, but it's presentation and organization was unattractive and cumbersome. It also didn't really have much for filtering out options that weren't helpful. There were no reminder alarms. If the job is incumbent upon me to use the software in the first place, it's just not going to happen. I need software that's going to prod me along.

Thanks for the tip!