Just get started: how to overcome procrastination

I was just thinking how i'm overthinking about overthinking.
like i know i overthink.
i know i don't get a lot done because i overthink how i'm gonna do it
and i know that one of way of doing that...
one way of really getting past procrastination
is to break it down into steps and just get started
because if you get started
then it will always linger
that you have some task that you have not yet finished
and that will always
always make you anxious
there's a nagging feeling that you have not finished something that you've started
so just get started

give yourself say a minute to start the task
just one minute
what's one minute, anyway?
then worry about finishing it later
there are chances that you might like it so much
that you will end up finishing it in one seating

--

This post was written on December 30, 2018. The simplest way to overcome excuses is to set a timer for one minute (or maybe five?) and go do.

Comments

The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

This is the greatest love story ever told (and still being written). And I’m living in it! Since this blog has been instrumental in making it happen, it’s only fitting that I post it here. And so when people (me included) think it happened so fast, it’s actually years in the making. Having this blog fast tracked the “getting to know” stage. At least, that’s the logical part of me talking. But love is rarely logical. How it started A day after final exams for the summer term of AY 2023-2024, I received a bunch of anonymous emails. At first, I shrugged it off as a newsletter that I signed up to. A couple emails later, it became clear that it came from one of my former students. Didn’t know it was her until August 2nd. Realized feelings were mutual the day after. Made the relationship official on August 7th. I was the one who asked because “she didn’t wanna cross the line”. I used to say, in this blog , that I’m only interested in how couples get together, not really what’s ...

Dream high: My ideal dissertation topic

I want my study to be foundational . Something I and others can stand on. Seminal, I would say. I don't want it to just be a dissertation. Something you write and then forget. I want it to inspire me and others. The second criteria that I want is interdisciplinarity. It has to draw on two or more fields--not just mathematics. Something people outside math can appreciate. The T-shaped model comes to mind. The generalist-specialist. Source: Why T-shaped people? by Jason Yip I know it's a pipe dream. But if I have to dream, why not dream high, right? But I have to be careful that it doesn't stop me from even starting. I should not let perfectionism hinder me from exploring.

Happy new year!

I'm done with the dissertation. I sent it to my adviser and I'm just waiting for his feedback. This past month has been tough. I realized that I couldn't make it to the deadline. I could not graduate this semester. My break was not fun. It was no break at all. But it's over now. And strangely, I don't know what to do with myself. What do I do with my free time? Guess I gotta find a job soon.

Janeth Canama

Search This Blog