RTG WIT lecture / Procrastination &; time management handouts

1. Procrastination and
Time Management
Julija Melnika
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmelnika/

2. About me
● 15 years in IT
● Started as Consultant, turned to real
projects
● Currently - Business Line Manager @Helmes
Latvia
● PMP, CSM, CSPO, ITIL

3. Agenda
● What is procrastination?
● How it works?
● How to fight it?
● Why is it so important?

4. Small test
1. Do you see life as queue of obligations? Constant
to-do lists, constant “I must” in self-talk?
2. Do you have problems with time-feel? Don’t know
where the time has gone, often being late?
3. Do you have problems with owns plans and values? Is
it difficult to understand your own priorities?
4. Do you have the feeling that you are not realizing
your full potential?
5. Do you suffer from perfectionism?
6. Do you feel that if you were more self-confident,
you’d work better?
Yes - 1 Maybe - 0.5 No - 0

5. Procrastination

6. Some basic terms
● What is procrastination?

7. Procrastination is not time management problem. It is
psychological problem.

8. Procrastination mechanism
Tim Urban - Why Procrastinators
Procrastinate (WaitButWhy)

18. Procrastinator has low confidence, allowing himself to
become enslaved by a self-defeating, self-fulfilling
prophecy - Storyline
The root of the problem is embedded in the Storyline, and
the Storyline is what must change

19. How to fight the monkey?

20. 1. Planning

21. Create your to-do list
● Work
● Education
● Private life
● Home
● Health
● Hobby
● Travel
● Etc

23. How to create correct to-do lists:
change Enormous & unclear into Small &
manageable
- Nouns -> Actions
- E.g. “Article on procrastination” -> “Read article on procrastination”
- Identify 1st step
- E.g. “Read article on procrastination” -> “Find and download article on procrastination”
- “Buy tickets to Dune” -> “Find out if my friend wants to go with me to Dune”
- More than 2 steps -> a project. Write down its steps.
- Learn how to code ->
- 1. Sign up for Codeacademy course
- 2. Do the course between now and december
- 3. Identify knowledge gaps and fill them with Udemy
- 4. Build mock app and send for feedback
- 2 minutes rule

24. 1. Planning
2. Doing

36. There’s only one way to truly beat procrastination:
You need to prove to yourself that you can do it

37. 1. “I choose” instead of “I have to”
2. Find your methods to help you beat the monkey
a. External panic monster
b. Paid instead of free
c. Minimize distractions
d. Start with non-threatening time period
e. Work in pomodoros
■ What I’m gonna be doing next 20 minutes
■ Pomodoro (20 min)
■ Conclusion
■ E.g. chrome extension Marinara

38. 1. “I choose” instead of “I have to”
2. Find your methods to help you beat the monkey
a. External panic monster
b. Paid instead of free
c. Minimize distractions
d. Start with non-threatening time period
e. Work in pomodoros
3. It’s a slow process. Regularly review
BUT:
- Give/plan yourself time to relax, our will is limited
- Best ideas come in the bathroom
- Are you generator or impulse worker?

39. Eisenhower matrix

44. What we talked about
● What is procrastination
● Procrastination mechanism
● How to beat the monkey
○ Planning
○ Doing
● Eisenhower matrix

45. Recommended reading

46. Q&A

47. Thank you!