The Hard Truth About Procrastination

by Maria Molfino 

 

There are deep psychological reasons behind procrastination. It’s not about willpower and laziness. It’s about fear and resistance. In observing my own tendencies, coaching, meditating, and leading workshops on this topic, here’s what I’ve learned:

Indecision is really about fear

When we trace back the root of indecision, we see that indecision is a manifestation of fear. Fear of what? Fear of making the wrong decision.

If there is a right and wrong decision to make, the thoughts are “If I choose the wrong decision, I won’t advance as much, I won’t get closer to the results I want, I won’t obtain my goals…I will fail.

Indecision = fear of making mistake = perfectionism = fear of failure.

If you’re in a period of indecision and uncertainty, move into any form of action, no matter how small the step. You will learn and then course-correct as needed. You may lose time (which sucks in a culture obsessed with speed), but at the end of the day, you have gained peace of mind. Indecision and worry just drains your mental energy. Stay away!

Unlink your work from your worth

Especially as creatives, designers and writers, we tend to put a kind of heaviness around the work that we do. That’s because we see our work as an extension of ourselves. And our work is very much an extension of a very deep part of ourselves: our personality, experiences, desires, dreams, values and fears.

But there’s a trap!

 

The trap is linking our work to our sense of worth.

This association can often happen on a very subconscious level. We receive feedback on a piece of work and we feel bad because we believe we are bad or not good enough.

Linking our work to our worth puts an intensity around the work. The more intensity and pressure you put on the work, the more likely you will procrastinate it. Find ways to make your work light. Learn to unlink the association between you and what you create.

You are much more than your design, job or career. Aren’t you?

Create more pause because it gives you more choice

Distraction and procrastination are best friends forever. Some distractions are definitely self-induced–you are resisting the task and so you are allowing yourself to be distracted, or you are even seeking out distraction.

We react to our own resistance, but aren’t aware that’s what’s happening in the moment. In other words, distraction is a problem with awareness and reactivity.

Throughout the day, create more spaces and pauses. Notice, observe, and choose differently. Pause gives you choice.

How to create pause:

• Develop a meditation practice. This will decrease your arousal/stress and increase your awareness and focus throughout the day, so that you can become aware of your tendencies of resistance and distraction.

• Practice holding your phone and looking at it without touching anything!
  
  
• Whenever something is loading and you see the loading icon, pause and ask yourself: Do I really need to do this right now? The loading icon would serve as a mental trigger for you to pose the question. Pretty powerful!

Work for less time. Eight hours is a myth! You don’t need to work for eight hours. You can work for far less time. But here’s the trick: design your day for concentrated bursts of focused work.

We tend to work in a very diffused way over several hours, where our attention is divided and we aren’t clear about what really needs to get done. We’re at the mercy of distractions. We have little output to show for the amount of time we have actually spent. But if you have periods of time that you’re concentrated and producing high quality work, you’ll have more leisure time.

One great strategy for this is called the unschedule. Schedule everything but work into your calendar. If you were to imagine your healthiest, most amazing self, what would you schedule?

Exercise, meditation, cooking time, friends, fun, festivals, hobbies, etc. Schedule it all.

The remaining time is your concentrated work time.

Experiment with the unschedule for a week and see how it goes! You’ll be surprised.
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6 Ways to Get Your Resume Past the Resume Filter

by Brian Penny

 Applying for jobs used to mean driving, walking, or taking public transportation all over town dropping off resumes and filling out applications. These days, you can apply for hundreds of jobs a day from your computer, as you have an internet connection. In the process of transitioning online, many businesses have automated the first few steps of the application process, and, just like any other automated process, you can game the system if you’re smart about it.

If you need help getting past the resume filter in the job application process, here’s what you need to do:

1. Read the Job Description

It sounds obvious, but it’s amazing how many people just read the job posting title, scan over the requisition, and go immediately to apply. This is how you end up at a job you don’t like. As much as you need money, you don’t want a job you completely hate. You will inevitably loathe certain aspects of your job, so don’t make it harder on yourself. Read the job description and make sure it’s something that: a) you want to do, and b) you’re able to do, competently. If you’ve only had a paper route and a McJob in high school, you have no business applying to be the Vice President of anything. Read the job description so you understand completely before applying.

2. Identify Required Qualifications

When reading the job description, check out the qualifications. Employers will list the minimum requirements that they’re looking for. These qualifications ARE the resume filters, so if you don’t meet these qualifications, you’ll be filtered out.
It literally works like this: if I’m only looking for people with a Bachelor’s degree, my resume filter will only show me applicants who have a Bachelor’s degree listed on their resume. Think of it as a multiple choice scantron – if the answer is C and you filled in A, you got the question wrong. There are no second chances with automation; if anything is listed as “required” or “qualifications,” you won’t get past the filter without it. It is very black and white, with no gray areas.

3. Identify Desired Skills

Many jobs list desired skills, as well. That’s letting you know that once your resume meets the minimum requirements to move past the resume filter and be shown to a human being, they’re going to show preference to applicants with the desired skills. A Bachelor’s degree may be the barrier to entry, but they’d love to see a Master’s degree. The Master’s degree is only “desired” and not “required” though, so make up for it in other ways. Companies are willing to train the right person.

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10 Tips to Turning Your Internship Into a Full-Time Gig

“10 Tips to Turning Your Internship Into a Full-Time Gig” was provided by POPSUGAR Smart Living.

For a lot of us, graduating from college was the easy part — it was finding a job afterward that made us wish we could start freshman year all over again.

This stage of life is an unfortunate time that every postgraduate must endure.

If you weren’t given a trust fund or poached by recruiters, then you know this “rite of passage” all too well.

Searching the web for hours on end, connecting on LinkedIn, and completing countless applications without any response becomes your daily routine.

I went through the same experience after I graduated college.

Even with four internships under my belt, I had no idea just how competitive the job market was.

I realized that the best way to get my foot in the door was to expand my search. I started looking for internships (that would accept recent graduates) with the hope it could lead to a job offer.

Lucky for me, it did!

Here are 10 tips on how to turn your internship into a job:

Make friends

It’s tough to be new in the office, especially if you’re an intern.

That’s why it’s so important to put yourself out there and get to know your co-workers.
Take an extra trip to the water cooler or bathroom — the more people you meet in these communal spaces, the better.

Here are some conversation starters!

Another great way to mingle with new co-workers is to join in on any company events.
Go to happy hours, game nights, and other office get-togethers to show your fun side.

Be professional

Just because you are one of the youngest in the office doesn’t mean you have to act that way.

Stay professional, and show that you are mature.


You can still crack jokes and have fun; just avoid talking about partying with your friends every weekend.

If your co-workers view you as responsible, then they will trust you with more projects.

Ask the right questions

After you receive an assignment, don’t be afraid to ask for clarification if the directions are unclear.

You want to avoid completing a task incorrectly because you were too nervous to ask questions.

However, try not to bother your manager with tons of obvious questions if the answer can be found on the Internet or an office training manual.

You don’t want them to regret giving you the project when they could have done it themselves in the first place.

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