procrastinate less

_{Not necessarily anything to do with procrastination, but I don’t really have a more appropriate goal for this.}

Scott Adams, the guy behind Dilbert made an interesting post to his blog today about what he calls ‘Champagne Moments’:

I remember the day I got a call from United Media telling me they wanted to offer me a contract to be a syndicated cartoonist. Yay!

But hold the champagne, I thought…

And so the sequence goes on, to the point that he still hasn’t cracked open the champagne, because there’s always that next level to achieve. Now, obviously, I haven’t achieved the same level of success as Mr Adams, but it’s interesting (to me) to note the pattern.

Of course, the other aspect is the commitment:

I worked for ten years without a day off. During one particularly busy year, I held a full-time job at the phone company, wrote and drew Dilbert, and wrote a book called “The Dilbert Principle.” I didn’t sleep much that year.

You didn’t sleep much? No kidding!

I feel like I’m still looking for what it is that I do. I don’t feel drawn to anything in the way that Adams obviously was with his cartooning. I’m good at a bunch of things without necessarily being excellent at any of them. This seems like it might be a good thing, but it means I struggle to define what it is I actually do. I don’t even have a job description to guide me!

When I read my books, I can see connections, influences and gaps everywhere. Does that make me the world’s best reader? How do I impact the world via reading? I suppose it makes me a good example for reading and general curiosity! I feel like I have (at least) one book in me (who doesn’t?!), and I even have some ideas – but what are my credentials? Although I’ve had some successes, I don’t (feel like I) have done anything that gives rise to me credibly proposing a book on (for example) creativity, even though I may have lots of ideas around that.

I’ve heard that if you read for one hour a day on a topic for three years, you’ll be a world expert. That may be so, but would you read a book by someone whose only claim to expertise was that he’d read more about a given subject than anyone else?

I have a pretty good understanding of how I procrastinate, but I’m not exactly sure why I do it. Something to think about as I go and buy some running shoes, another way to procrastinate doing the important stuff!

I’m supposed to have some notes typed up and circulated tomorrow morning. I’ve been procrastinating over doing so since 4pm on Friday. I should probably make a start at some point tonight.

...but I still feel like I’m wasting too much time through the day.

Utility = E x V / (Gamma) x D

• E = Expectancy for succeeding at a given task or self-confidence
• V = Value of completing the task
• Gamma = its immediacy or availability
• D = the person’s sensitivity to delay

Apparently.

...I should have spent the last hour doing some testing on a couple of games. However, I made the mistake of sitting still for too long, which meant I ended up just surfing instead.

This is a pretty neat video=, though, so I feel like it was worth it. :-)

This was definitely me when I was at university, and ever since I graduated you could replace “Research Paper” with “Work” (and of course remove the blonde chick – I only have eyes for one person these days). :-)

I’ve had a pretty good first half to the day in terms of getting some things done (including walking 5,156 steps), so here’s some things which will-be-done by the end of the day:

• Laundry
• Declutter that box in the corner
• Rearrange my reading stack
• Rearrange my book shelves
• Outline my next book review

1. Set a major goal, but follow a path.
2. Finish what you start.
3. Socialize with others of similar interest.
4. Learn how to learn.
5. Harmonize natural talent with interest that motivates.
6. Increase knowledge of subjects that inspires.
7. Take risk.

_(Original.)

Interesting article on ‘time maps’:

A time map is a powerful tool for becoming proactive amid the swirl of demands that come your way. Simply put, a Time Map is a budget of your day, week, or month that carves out distinct times for each of the key departments of your life. Instead of feeling that you have to act on every request the minute it crosses your path, your Time Map guides you, helping you determine whether you have time to handle an unexpected task, how much time you will devote to it and when you will do it.