My name is Siobhan and I'm a procrastinator.
Hey guys.
I'm Siobhan, a first year medical resident. Keep watching if you want to learn how I
overcome being a procrastinator by nature and actually get things done.
Do you ever wonder why you procrastinate? For me I'm pretty sure it's because when I get overwhelmed I just
decide ''Okay, this is a little bit too much.
I'm just going to push this to the side and I'll deal with this tomorrow.'' When tomorrow comes around, I say ''Okay,
this is a bit overwhelming,
so much to do. I'm just going to push that until tomorrow.''
And then
finally it comes to the day where the next day is the deadline and I have to do it. And there
I am, a procrastinator, late at night typing away on my computer or really freaking out to get a deadline. Sound familiar?
So the first thing to do is actually to deal with that feeling of being stressed or overwhelmed
in the moment. and so rather than pushing things away, you stop and you deal with that feeling. And
I actually made a whole video about how I deal with stress in the moment.
So you can look at the link above and try that out and let me know if that helps. Okay,
so once you've dealt with feeling stressed, then we get into some hardcore
planning and time management. Step number one is to list everything.
Everything that you have to do, so for me that's
studying medicine, doing research, being part of committees, practicing the violin, doing youtube, spending time with friends and family,
working out and
relaxing. Clearly
I can't spend a whole bunch of time doing each of those things every day.
So the next thing to do is to choose one or two priorities for that day. You can't choose all of them,
just one or two. I actually do this before I go to bed.
So when I'm thinking about the next day, then I have a plan when I wake up. And my
sleepy brain can't trick me into procrastinating, because I already know what I'm supposed to be doing when I wake up. So that might be:
I have to work on a research paper
and that's my focus each day that week, but my second priority is to make sure I'm staying active and go to the gym often.
So the next thing you need to
do is write a list out of all the things that you want to just do a little bit of.
So just a little bit.
It's not a priority, but you don't want to proscrastinate it and this is the key to not procrastinating.
So on a day where I'm focusing on research and working out,
I don't want to just not study for a whole week, because next week
I'll be freaking out, because I'll be behind on my studying.
So the key is to say a little goal that you can actually keep. So I usually say ''Okay,
I'm going to do one online study question.'' And that would take me maybe three to five minutes,
there's no way
I don't have time to do that. And it's sort of like tricking your brain, because if I just do one question,
I'll often just click and do the next question online as well.
So then I'm just tricking myself to get started, that means I touched my studying each day of the week and then by definition
I'm not procrastinating anymore. Then I create a bonus list, so that's pretty much everything else
that's on my list that's not a high priority.
I just write it down and if I get it done, it's sort of like pat on the back bonus.
I'm all excited that
I got a little bit extra done.
But I'm not going to feel guilty or disappointed if I don't get to it. So that might be
replying to some emails or maybe I need to do some reading for committee at some point in the next week.
So it's not a priority and if I do it, great! If I don't, oh well.
Finally the most important step and that's scheduling in breaks and rewards.
I think it's crazy to start a day and say I'm going to study all day.
Your brain is just going to actually go on strike. It's going to say ''That's crazy,
I'm not doing it.'' But if you start the day and you say ''I'm going to study all day,
but I'm also going to watch Netflix over lunch. And I'm planning a dinner,
so I'm going to see my friends and
then I'm going to come back and study again and watch Netflix at the end of the day'', that seems more doable. Then I just
have three or four hours at a time that I'm working and not just saying that I'm going to work all day.
So that's how I prevent procrastinating and it really really works for me.
So one: I figured out that I'm stressed and I'm at risk for procrastinating. Two: I figure out,
what are my priorities for that day that I have to get done?
Three: I figure out the things I just want to do a little bit of and then...
Four: I create my bonus list, so the things I don't really have to do,
but if I do, that's awesome.
And then last of all I build in my rewards and my breaks, so I don't feel like it's just a day of work.
So I hope you guys found that helpful.
Let me know in the comments below something that you've tried or if you have other ways to stop
procrastinating. Don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already to see all my new experiences as a medical resident.
Thanks for watching and bye for now.