Procrastination? Been There, Done That (Eventually)

Three weeks of putting things off

Part of an invoice, with THAT title (my own image)

When I worked from home as a freelance writer in 2012, I received regular monthly commissions from a management training company. I would be given between ten and fifteen briefs at the start of the month, and everything had to be submitted by the 25th. Each article had to be a minimum of 500 words, but I had all the time in the world.

Indeed, I would get straight to work, jotting down ideas for articles on such topics as time management, minute taking, and assertiveness. To keep track of my progress through the month, I printed off a spreadsheet with three columns, headed Title, Start and Finish.

I would enter the titles of articles as they came to me, and as soon as I had started typing an article, I would fill the Start cell for that project with a yellow highlighter. On completion, I would highlight the Finish cell in pink. This way I could see at a glance what was completed, and what there was still to do.

Never Put off Till Tomorrow What You Can Do Today

That all sounds very organised, but there was a flaw that presented itself every month; I was a terrible procrastinator. At the start of each commission, I made a pledge to myself that this month would be…