This is one of my favorite weeks of the year because it is when many of us make resolutions to do something in the new year that we have been putting off. It’s time to stop procrastinating and start taking that new course, start writing that book, or do whatever else we’ve been putting off.
a couple of months ago TED-Ed posted a short video lesson that does a great job of explaining why we procrastinate. The most interesting part for me was the explanation of why we procrastinate when faced with tasks that are actually not that difficult or time consuming.
If you watch the TED-ED lesson, you’ll learn that some of us (I’m raising my hand) just need a little mental nudge to start making lists. To that end, I have a few tools that I’ve used successfully over the years to help me stop procrastinating when faced with tasks I’d rather leave for “later.”
focusable
Earlier this year I dedicated an entire newsletter to focusable. It is a service that aims to teach you to focus through a series of progressive blocks of time. Between each block is a short breathing or centering exercise to complete and a short journal entry to reflect on your work. Here is a little video I did on how I used Focusable to stop procrastinating.
stay focused
Before using Focusable, I used stay focused (intentionally misspelled) to force me to focus on completing my to-do lists. StayFocusd allows you to set time limits for accessing the websites you are prone to wasting time on (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.). With StayFocusd installed in Chrome, you can set a daily time limit for the sites you tend to waste time visiting. When that time limit is reached, you cannot visit those sites for 24 hours.
BeTimeful
If you have a bit more discipline than me when it comes to avoiding the rabbit holes of social media, the BeTimeful browser extension could be for you. It is a browser extension that is designed to hide the distractions of social media during your work hours.
What sets BeTimeful apart from tools like StayFocusd is that instead of completely blocking your access to social networking sites, BeTimeful hides all distracting content such as “related”, “recommended” and “trending” content. . What that means is that you can post to social media with BeTimeful installed, but you can’t see anything other than your own updates. BeTimeful can work on Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. It will work on your laptop, desktop, phone, and tablet.
Turn off pop-ups, turn off your phone
I forcefully click NO! whenever a website or web app asks me if I want to enable notifications. And when I have something I really need to focus on, I put my phone in “Do Not Disturb” mode.
A new course to start 2023!
A few weeks ago I hosted a webinar on creating and selling digital products for teaching. There were so many follow up questions that it quickly became clear to me that I needed to create a longer course on the same topic. So that’s what I did. How to Create and Sell Your Own Digital Products is now a four-part course starting January 10. Learn more and sign up here!
50 Tech Tuesday Tips and Workshops
50 Tech Tuesday Tips is an eBook I created with busy tech trainers, help desk staff, and media specialists in mind. In it, you’ll find 50 ideas and tutorials that you can use as the basis for your own short professional development sessions.
I offer face-to-face and online workshops on a variety of educational technology topics. Book me for an in-person workshop in 2023 and I’ll include copies of my eBook for all your staff. Email me or complete this form Learn more.
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