Re: Slackers Annonymous
Sorry to be a spoil-sport and give a serious reply. I've had a lot of trouble with procrastination in my life, so I feel for you.
The best way to get started is actually the simplest. Everyone needs to commit to weekly meetings that can be pretty short. At each meeting, you go around the room, and each person says ONE thing they want to do in the next week. JUST ONE. And not something huge (writing a whole term paper), but a small specific piece (getting 2 books from the library for the term paper). Be sure to write this down on a master list for the group.
The next week, everyone says whether they've acheived their goal, and if not, why. Then everyone sets a new goal for the following week.
Actually having to go and say whether you've done whatever can really make you do whatever you said you'd do: good old-fashioned peer pressure. And people often procrastinate because they are overwhelmed: a task seems too big to start. But if you set little goals, your goals will be doable. And each time you accomplish one of your little goals, you get positive reinforcement from the group. (And, of course, if someone doesn't know where to start breaking down the bigger goals, sometimes the group can help.)
All the time-management books recommend the same things: break your larger tasks into smaller tasks so you aren't overwhelmed. Concentrate on finishing one step at a time. Reward yourself with something for finishing a step. It's certainly easier said than done (which I know all too well!), but it's a start.
Good luck.
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