RECENT RESEARCH HERE AT LIFE HACKS LABS think they do — you can try some mental tricks suggests that it’s creative people like yourself that help alleviate the anxieties and mounting who seem to have the worst time staying focused pressure that are making your delaying tactics on their work. kick in.

Now, far be it from us to imply that MAKE has In his popular essay, “Structured Procrastination” somehow contributed to your personal procrasti- ( xrl.us/procrastination), John Perry posits that nation problem; you may, in fact, have a variety of procrastination is caused by an inability to finish work-related projects that will benefit from that new the most important items on your To-Do list. He kitty-cat jetpack. But if your boss is tapping her foot suggests creating tasks that seem important and and staring at her watch, you might consider a few urgent (but really aren’t) and then moving them tricks for getting back on track. to the top of your list. Since experienced procras-

For most garden-variety procrastinators, just tinators find self-deception second nature, they removing a few strategic distractions can reclaim can usually psych themselves into getting focus. Chances are, you already know your distrac- something accomplished just by pretending it’s tions better than you’d like to admit. Maybe it’s AIM, not that important.

IRC, talk radio, or that scrumptious stream of KEXP.

Start by dumping anything that proves to be an “For most procrastinators, attractive nuisance for the part of your brain that needs to think just about the work at hand. You’re removing a few strategic the best judge of what you need to keep your project moving forward, but the easiest solution may be the distractions can allow ^{most primitive: unplug the router.} If you need internet access for what you’re doing ^{you to reclaim focus.}” but can’t risk falling into a four-hour, unchaperoned surfin’ safari, try some localized hacking. One popular We are partial, though, to the inverse model of trick around the lab is to set up a Perl-based web procrastination espoused by Joshua Bryce Newman proxy that watches for 15 contiguous minutes of ( xrl.us/kickstart), who suggests scheduling regular, web browsing, then throws a gentle pop-up window short bursts of work surrounded by much larger to ask if you’re still just looking for that one piece of blocks of deliberate non-work. Give yourself a five information you claim to be searching for. (Watch minute task starting at 9 a.m., then get right back 43folders.com for a link to download this proxy.) to playing Galaga at 9:05. As Joshua notes, remov-

If that devil, AIM, has to be on for your work, ing that pressure and guilt can sometimes lead to consider getting an account with IM Smarter an impressive “productivity surge.”

( imsmarter.com). It’s an AIM proxy that lets you Speaking of “productivity,” it’s time we all admit build your own electronic scold. Once configured, that the biggest time burglar of them all is excessive you can, among other things, IM their smart little meta-work like rearranging your Day Runner, mov-robot (AIM:imsmarter) with a request like “remind ing your mail around in Outlook, or fiddling with the me in 15 minutes to quit reading Slashdot.” It obliges endless lists that are meant to help you with Getting by directing your attention back to work. Things Done.

A favorite nag for all seasons is the humble, Life Hacks Labs has learned that the cardinal rule digital kitchen timer. You can pick one up for $5 at of productivity cults can be rather painful in its any drugstore. Try setting it for 5, 8, or 15 minutes Zen-slappingness: if you’re spending more time — whatever you consider the maximum amount of thinking about your work than you are doing it, squandered time you can afford to lose today — you’re not being particularly productive. and when it starts beeping at you, get the hell back Whenever you feel the bug to stop working and to work. This can also be useful for “sprints,” where go play with your “system,” fight it off or make it you make a deal with yourself to go heads-down for into a reward for reaching a milestone. But don’t let 15 or 30 minutes of dedicated work in return for the it replace the real work you have in front of you. Skinnerian pellet of your choice.

If you prefer more cerebral approaches to your Learn how to reel in your mind at Danny O’Brien’s lifehacks. problem — and God knows, most procrastinators ^{com and Merlin Mann’s 43folders.com.}