For as long as I know it, I have always been a procrastinator. And it worked for many years. Until it didn’t. Today, I’m struggling to get things done, struggling to concentrate, and struggling to start my online businesses despite all the mental planning I have done. I have started and stopped so many blogs and YouTube channel over the years that it really haven’t been beneficial to me financially to continue on the path of being a professional procrastinator.

Why I am I a procrastinator?

I never really asked myself that before because it was just something I did. However, after thinking on it recently, I came to the conclusion that I get bored easily. It’s not so much that it’s ADHD (which I don’t have) but when I find something I’m truly interested in, I get tunnel vision. I will study or complete the work because it’s interesting, mentally stimulating, and sparks my curiosity to know more as well as see the end results. When something doesn’t interest me, I don’t want to start it.

I also don’t like repetition. Having to do something day in and day out everyday becomes mentally challenging to me. It shuts my brain down and basically kill my soul. However, I know there are some things I need to do everyday in order to be successful such as blogging and getting my traffic up on this blog.

Looking for ways to become more productive

Right now, the best course of action is to find something to track my productivity. I have been looking into apps and a journal.

I have looked around my house and realized I have a lot of paper and very old journals that haven’t been used. Unfortunately, I’m not the richest person in the world.  Times are tough for my bank account (Hence the need to hang up my professional procrastinator hat). Therefore, I’ll be re-purposing and modifying the journals to fit my needs. I think I like this particular format:

Daily Top 3 To-Do List Notebook: Prioritize, Focus, and Be Productive Every Day Using the Simple Daily Checklist for Your Top 3 High-Priority Tasks

Starting off slow with “Top 3” Method

I realize that each time I had tried to stop procrastinating, I got overwhelm by the number of tasks (sometimes numbering 20+) I wanted to complete in the day. Now, I’ll start off slowly by focusing on the Top 3 tasks I want to get done daily. That doesn’t mean that I will only do three things per day but I will focus on completing 3 things on a daily basis regardless of whether it’s repetition or boring to me. Small steps into a productive life.

Pomodoro Method

Until I can develop my concentration when it comes to things that aren’t interesting to me, I will be using both paper method and the Pomodoro Method.

The Pomodoro method is a time management technique where a timer is set to 25 minutes for working and concentration with 5 minute breaks in between each 25 minute study/work session. After 4 25-minute session, a longer break of 15 to 30 minute can be used and the cycle repeats.

Right now, I haven’t found a Pomodoro App or website that I’m 100% comfortable with so I’m going to use https://pomodoro-tracker.com/ for now until I have tested and paid for a pomodoro app that I’m comfortable with and know I will use on a daily basis.

I would prefer to have an app where I can sync both on my computer and on my phone. I don’t particularly like typing on my phone all that much.

I have tried to use Google Calendar but I don’t like the time blocks and would prefer a “to-do” list format over time blocking method.  Once I get comfortable with focusing on task I don’t like to do and being more productive with my time, I will switch over to the time blocking method. But for now, I’ll stick with Pomodoro and a paper journal.