So if I’ve looked at my list and agreed on what things are the really important long-term goals, and what things are not, then I mix them up so that there’s a balanced list which ensures that I stay focused on the important things, but I also get a chance to please myself by doing something quick and easy along the way.

What I usually do right after completing something easy and ticking it off on the list, I take some time to look at the tasks list to firstly acknowledge the positive progress I’ve just made, and to secondly review the next big task or the one I’ve previously worked on.

So I think our approaches are very similar, but I also get self-confidence and motivation boost now and then. It really helps me and since I’m focused on the long-term tasks, I’m not worried about procrastination.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Scott! Please let me know when you’re in a position to share some details of this software project of yours. Sounds very interesting!

A lot of this project involves setting up a lot of boring code. Other times I encounter some fairly frustrating problems that trip up my progress. Whenever I get in this state, my initial feeling is to run away from this and work on something easier like design or writing.

At these times I find it good to take a few minutes to outline what I am doing now and how it relates to my rough project schedule. By literally seeing, “wow, if I don’t get this done right now, I’m going to lose a lot of time!” it really gets you moving.

When you are getting frustrated with the trees, back up and look at the forest hey?

Thanks for the comment. I agree with you even more as I’ve just read the Steve Pavlina’s entry on the Conscious Procrastination. So I guess it is yet again about having the right balance when looking at things.

If you spend all your time doing quick and easy things, you’ll get buried in them and will never get a chance to do the long-term and probably much more important things.

Thanks again! It’s a learning curve for me, so I’m sharing what works for me and only then I usually find out that some parts of the experience I’ve left out of the article because they would seem natural and obvious to me, might be crucial in someone else’s personal development.

I’ll probably revisit this topic some time later, maybe you’ll have more ideas to add.

I have another suggestion to add.

If you are feeling frustrated with problems that are happening in the day, connecting with your longer term goals can really get you past it. Just open your journal (or just a piece of paper/word processor if you aren’t that organized) and start writing about your day and what you have learned that has put you closer to your long-term goals.

This way, minor annoyances can be blown past. If you got a few things that moved you forward, then you can write about your achievements. If you didn’t get done anything then you can write about how you can make changes to prevent that in the next day.

Whenever I am getting frustrated or stressed, this approach works incredibly well for me. I don’t tend to experience a lot of stress or frustration that lasts more than a couple minutes, but it is still a good practice to use even if you are in a good state.