Here are two complementary methods that work for noticing I am procrastinating.
Method 1: Train yourself to frequently ask “what should I be doing?”. If the answer is different from what you are currently doing, it is quite likely you are procrastinating.
Method 2: List activities which you know begin procrastination (browsing back to the same news site you’ve already visited three times today, looking for games to play, checking the TV schedule, checking which friends are available for chat). You can do this while thinking back to times when you know in retrospect you were procrastinating, even if you weren’t aware of it at the time. Just making yourself aware of these activities should cause you to notice when you are performing them, giving a hint that you might be procrastinating.
The key with method 2 is catching the moment you begin procrastinating. Method 1 helps figure out the cause.
Here are two complementary methods that work for noticing I am procrastinating.
Method 1: Train yourself to frequently ask “what should I be doing?”. If the answer is different from what you are currently doing, it is quite likely you are procrastinating.
Method 2: List activities which you know begin procrastination (browsing back to the same news site you’ve already visited three times today, looking for games to play, checking the TV schedule, checking which friends are available for chat). You can do this while thinking back to times when you know in retrospect you were procrastinating, even if you weren’t aware of it at the time. Just making yourself aware of these activities should cause you to notice when you are performing them, giving a hint that you might be procrastinating.
The key with method 2 is catching the moment you begin procrastinating. Method 1 helps figure out the cause.