The Long Holiday Hangover/Miscellaneous Monday

Hello All!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and got to spend time with all their friends and family.  I know it's January 10th, and I am embarrassed to admit how long after the holidays it has taken me to get back into the swing of things, including blogging.  But not to fear, I'm back and ready to write.

I have been procrastinating, a lot (obviously).  Today on Miscellaneous Monday I'm sharing how I procrastinate, as well as some tips to avoid procrastination and get things done!

• Besides reading the news and a few fun blogs, I procrastinate by visiting Sporcle.com: mentally stimulating diversions.  I'm sure most of you have heard of this addicting quick, quiz game website that tests users knowledge on a plethora of subjects.  But if you haven't taken one of their addicting quizzes, check it out.  Regardless of which subject you have the most trivia knowledge, sporcle has designed a timed quiz for you to take.  My personal favorite is naming Forbes top 100 most powerful celebrities, or the top 100 girls baby names for the 1990s.  

• My time procrastinating would probably be better spent sending e-mails to my friends.  In her list of ways to procrastinate, this blogger suggests using your time to reconnect with friends who you haven't kept up with as much as you would have liked.  Make a list in your e-mail program (I love the task feature on Gmail) and use any extra time to drop a quick e-mail to a friend.  

• I also like to take a look at the New York Times bestseller list.  I usually google the books, read some reviews and travel from book to author to another author until I find something I might be interested in checking out at my public library.

• Lastly, If I am at home and really desperate to avoid a bad chore, I will always do laundry.  It is one chore I don't mind doing and can be somewhat theraputic.  What is the one household chore you don't mind?

If you are interested in learning how to control your urge to put things off, follow these tips emphasized in multiple blogs/articles/books and compiled here.  

• Don't add tasks to your to-do list that don't have to be done immediately.  I like this advice because when my to-do list is too long I get overwhelmed and tend to shy away from the tasks.  If I have a five item list, I am much more likely to complete all of those things.
• Check your e-mail only when you have time to answer them.  It seems in this age of technology we want to be available all the time, but what good is reading an e-mail if you aren't able to respond? 
• Probably the most obvious, but most important is to just get started on the task.  Once you get started you get a little momentum and an intolerable task doesn't seem so terrible anymore.  So I bet you should hop off the internet and finish whatever you have to be doing!

How do you procrastinate, and better yet, what are your tips for getting things done?

-Best wishes for keeping your new year's resolutions on track!