I'm new on the forums but I have a big challenge to face - any tips?

[Lily79]

Hi everyone I am based in Europe and I have been reading Steve's words of wisdom for a while now. I had a very difficult (health and family, homelessness etc.) background which I have tackled, and now I have a degree and I am working towards a doctorate. Unfortunately past events have left me with great anxiety and self-esteem problems which seem to be linked in part or brought out in particular by study/research. I have tackled the resultant problems from a variety of angles and now I am meditating on the fact that I am not separate, that I am united with everything. I am hoping to use the Summer to actually concentrate on "following my bliss" and do some creative writing and painting to see where I want my life to go and how I want the phd to progress.

Now I have two deadlines, one is due in 8 days (a small paper of 5000 words) and the other 1 June (15,000 words) - I have done very little for them due to an overwhelming sense of fear. Now I am feeling less fearful (I have been following the various techniques outlined by Steve) I need a plan of action to get things finished and to avoid feeling overwhelmed - when procrastination will kick in.

I have been reading now about timeboxing and that could be a solution - do any of you have other tips?

thanks!

Lily

[Lily79]

PS would it be appropriate to put this up for a group intention manifestation on the manifestation board?

Blessings!
Lily

[Mayo]

My only tip is to stop looking forums, web sites and email that is not essential to your work.

[Dream Big]

Lily,
Write your 1 year goals and put them in such a way you can look at them at every time. I have put my goals in my washroom too so when I get up the first thing I do is wash my face and read my goals, it really pumps we up.
Stick to 5AM schedule, it has done wonders to me and from May 9th, 2007 I am joining a new company and it is all happening because of self descipline of waking up at 5AM. There is famous Quote from Will Smith
"You can't achieve anything if you can't command your mind to overcome your body".


I hope that helps

[Lily79]

thank you to both of you - I have already completely stopped watching TV, and I only check this forum (and only check email once a day). I am waking at 6.30am generally - though this morning I managed 5.15am, so I am getting closer to the 5am ideal.

I am also following an all-natural brain-food diet rich in the right nutrients for focus and good health.

I shall certainly put my year plan on my mirror and on my desk so that I always get flashes of it to remind me.

Blessings!

Lily

[Rin]

I can't write your papers for you, obviously, but I do wish you all the best!

Also, when I get that "paralysed" feeling, I find it helps to just move. Do anything, anything at all, but get your butt into gear! It helps create momentum.

(And try tapping? It has helped me with a lot of things, and that particular site I believe even has a special section on procrastination.)

Cheers, Lily!

[Gerald]

Break it down into bite sized tasks!

Then, do something that's completely unrelated to your task that's easy (i.e. - clean a room). That helps with flow.

I admit it's a bit unorthodox, but it's helped me

[RT Wolf]

Have you tried timeboxing?

Alternatively, dig deeper into your fears. What are you afraid of? Of doing badly? Imagine the worst case fear-causing scenerio. Its easier to fight against something concrete. Then, make the fear-causing scenerio so much scarier that it just becoems ridiculous and has no effect anymore.

HTH.

[Sunnybayes]

From my personal experience, I've posted 3 things before, hopefully they'll resonate with you:

Transitions/Explains why it is hard to shift to writing the paper, I've had a similar experience.
Make the transition faster using LOAThis helps to concentrate better.

And that I'd offer that you'll have 5x motivation that if you always have in your mind "the end result", which is to have the two papers holding in your hand.

If you are interested in RT_Wolf's advice, then I wrote an entertaining post about "Imagine the worst case fear-causing scenario. Its easier to fight against something concrete. Then, make the fear-causing scenario so much scarier that it just becomes ridiculous and has no effect anymore. " here:
Get over fear

[Sunnybayes]

Now, as for tips, when you are going to write your paper, go to the library. That'll will keep you from watching TV, and the fact that you are at the library serves as a constant reminder that you are there to get your paper done. So that when you hit your low points, say for example, you become highly unmotivated, and tiered, and your favorite TV show just happens so be on, and that, oh, it would not be so bad to take a "break", just a little one I promise...., you wont be able to succumb to temptation because you will be at the library. AND BY THAT you'll gain about 10 hours of extra time that you've might have wasted by succumbing to those temptations. OH, and pack your kunch and dinner as snacks and bring them with you, so you wont have a convenient excuse to go back home.

Also when you do become absolutely fatigued, recognize that, and don't keep working. Take a real break. When you are at the library, just set things down, and do a couple of laps around the library, for about 10 minutes, or even better, do this out side and be grateful for the beauty, and it will become another source of motivation for you to finish, because you'll be able to enjoy the outdoors even more when you are finished. I like to do time boxing of 50 minutes, then at then at the end I do 10 minutes of just walk around, and let the ideas spin in my mind and let them soke in, and to let my brain recover. Because if your body feels like s**t, then your mind is going to have a great excuse for making bad thoughts that will make you become unmotivated.