Hello - it’s been a while

To say I’ve procrastinated writing this email is an understatement. It’s been a weird few months.

So with that in mind, here’s a few anti-procrastination techniques I think about and will certainly be trying to use more. What do you do?

And do me a favour - share this with someone if it’s useful. Might help me procrastinate less next time… You can always subscribe here (one click).

Eat your frogs 🐸

It’s an interesting one, this. ‘Eat your frogs’ was coined by American wrtier Mark Twain, quoted as ‘the greatest humorist the United States has ever produced’.

He worked as a printer’s apprentice as well as, for a short time, a miner. Turns out he was a rubbish miner (his words not mine), however, eventually turning his hand to writing.

In 1884 he published The Great Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, said to be the ‘Great American Novel’. Safe to say he turned out pretty well.

Here’s the quote:

If there’s something hard or unpleasant that needs to be done, get it out of the way first. Simple. Everything afterwards will be plain sailing.

Now - Mr Twain was by no means an anti-procrastination expert. I can’t actually find any evidence that he coined the phrase with any reference to getting shit done. Or if he followed it himself.

But productivity nerds have been around for a long time (just ask Henry Ford). Productivity consultant Brian Tracy is one of them, coming across the phrase and somehow writing a *checks notes* 120 page book on the matter.

How he’s expanded the concept across 120 pages is beyond me, but it’s here if you want to check it out.

The humble Pomodoro 🍅

I am a lover of all things tomatoes, and they don’t come better than the trusty ol’ Pomodoro technique.

Set yourself a 25 minute timer, make sure you can see it at all times. Get to work.

Once the timer ends, set it to 5 mins and take a break. Ideally leave your desk, move around a bit.

Repeat x 4, then take a half an hour break. Congrats - 2 hours of solid work done!

This technique works so well becuase as your attention wanes and you start to be distracted (i.e. going to check your phone), the timer will make you think ‘I only have 12 minutes left, I can wait’.

Level this up by drawing a mark for each ‘Pomodoro’ you do (25mins + 5 mins). Knowing I’m on a roll keeps me going. Here’s an example:

1 25 min work, 5 min break

2 25 min work, 5 min break

3 25 min work, 5 min break

4 25 min work, 30 min break

This can work with a phone timer, a chrome extension, anything. But - the best timer is one you can see at all times. The technique is named after a kitchen tomato timer. You can see how long is left and can even hear it tick away - great for staying focused.

And if you don’t want to take my word for it, take it from a 2023 study published in the British Journal of Educational Psychology which concluded:

If it takes less than 5 minutes, do it now ⏱

Simple. Folding washing, responding to a text/email that’s been unread for a while, washing up.

Small jobs can put as much pressure on us as the bigger ones, so if they’re easy to tick off then it’s worth doing.

Planning is not doing ✍🏻

This is a personal one but I think it’s worth thinking about - the more I talk about doing something, the less likely I am to actually do it. It’s as if my brain is tricked into thinking that talking about the thing is the same as doing the thing.

Planning itself quickly becomes a form of procrastination. Try something, figure out what works, adjust, go again.

Sometimes you just have to sack it off ❌

It’s worthwhile thinking about why the hell I’m avoiding the thing. Surprisingly often, I come to the realisation that the thing isn’t worth doing in the first place.

Reducing friction - make the thing as easy to do as possible 🔨

Reduce friction: making it as easy as possible to do the thing is absolutely essential. Join a gym that is close by or en-route to work, put your gym clothes out and pack your bag the night before. Don’t give yourself an excuse to not do the thing.

What’s your go to technique when you’re procrastinating?

This week I'm: ⬇️

Some interesting stuff worth sharing.

📖 Reading Food For Life by Tim Spector - essential reading for all of us. We often focus on how we aren’t taught about money in schools but you could argue food education is neglected even more.

🎧 Listening Sherlock & Co. on Spotify. This podcast is ridiculously well produced, the voice actors are great (and sound exactly like Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman from the amazing BBC series). Sherlock and Watson often find themselves in their local pub, The Volunteer, and when they’re in there it really does feel like you’re sat in a busy bustling London pub. If you’ve been hoping for another series of Sherlock, give this a try.

🎞 Watching Fallout on Prime Video. Amazing series and even better if you’ve played the games.

📱 Reading Wait But Why’s recount of the total eclipse in the US a few months ago and getting FOMO

🤔 Admiring Andrew Hodgson - I randomly saw thsis guy on Twitter talking about how he created and animated some of the vehicles in Dune 2 which are, quite literally, out of this world. Especially the big spice harvester things. I made a note that he only started to teach himself about 10 years ago and now is winning awards left, right and centre. I can’t find the actual quote to link it but take my word for it!

🌼 Playing Pokemon HeartGold on the Delta Emulator app that’s now available (for free) on the iOS App Store. At least while it’s still available…

🇺🇸 Looking forward to a trip to Texas in September - all recommendations welcome

📸 Enjoying the Milky Way photographer of the year awards - spellbinding stuff. Reminds me of seeing the actual night sky in a desert in Bolivia for the first time ever. Not too far in fact from the ‘Lion’s Den’ photo you can see in the competition entries. If you click on anything in this list, make it this one.

📱 Using Isidewith - a series of questions which help determine your political values and party, and what better timing with an election later this week?

Thoroughly enjoyed thinking and researching things I haven’t considered before, such as whether the UK should continue funding Trident, immigration and foreign aid.

📱 Recommending The Know - a daily newsletter that highlights 3 key bits of news that are worth knowing with a quick summary as to what’s going on and why it’s relevant. Quality stuff

💬 And finally, a quote

As always, feel free to reply to this email if you found this useful!

Thanks!

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📸 BONUS: Photo of the Week