Five Simple Actions that Makes You Move Forward and get Unstuck
Procrastination solution that you can easily do to overcome getting stuck
It is so easy to just not post nor do any kind of work for I am suffering from jet lag and lack of sleep. In the past, I will just let myself sleep and not do any work. I did that two years ago and got stuck. This time, I know how to make myself move and start working. In this post, I will share five simple actions that made me move forward and got me unstuck.
I just arrived from Asia to figure out if I can be a full time digital nomad and geoarbitrage my way to a lower cost of living while earning in dollars or any other currency. I apologize for missing my regular post schedule and will systemize my work and travel schedule better next time. However, my travel gave me a fresh perspective and more practical ideas to share with you in the near future.
#01 - Behavior Chain
Behavior chain or chaining is a powerful special education technique for students. Teachers simplify a complex task by dividing it into smaller steps that lead from one task to another until the whole project is completed. I started using this on myself when I was neglecting exercise. I asked: what is the simplest task that will make me exercise at home? It was putting on my running shoes. Effective. Later, I did a simple behavior chain to start working:
go to my standing desk
turn on my computer
open the software I use to start designing or writing
These tasks are simple yet it helps me move forward and start working.
#02 - Two-Minute Timer
Now that I am in front of the computer, it is also easy to do nothing else. If I felt stuck again, I get my phone timer and give myself two-minutes to just start writing or designing. Before those minutes are up, I am on the flow.
#03 - Personal Work Structure or Process
It is better if you have a personal work structure or process. Please refer to my post about differentiating process and content tasks. Your work structure helps you create products and/or content. If you don’t have one, it is better for you to create one. For instance, I am highly visual. I can write content after I designed my post graphics. Thus, my work structure to finish an online newsletter post is to:
visualize my content through designing post graphics
outline
write and publish
I use a similar work structure while creating educational materials and other media. However, ideas flow constantly in my mind. I capture it by typing it on an app that syncs on all my apple tech. I also have a work system on how to filter and decide what I will do with those ideas.
#04 - Deciding the Day Before
Having a lot of ideas will get you stuck unless you decide in advance what to do next. When I was teaching, I never went to school without knowing what my students will do for the day. Now, before I go to sleep, I decide what to do next day. It helps me get going the moment I start working. If you will decide what to do during the day, it might cost you precious minutes and get stuck.
#05 - Having Deadlines (and value of online newsletters)
Lastly, deadlines have this magic effect on people to get moving. But they are self-made deadlines, you can easily move it. One advantage of having a weekly online newsletter is that you are committed to write something for your subscribers. Moreover, it makes you think, filter and distill important concepts swimming in your mind. And hopefully, it will help others too. I will talk about the possibility of increasing productivity using AI (Artificial Intelligence) even if you are a non-tech person next.