Posts Tagged ‘procrastination’

Pen spinning

Posted February 16, 2012 by
in Cabinet of Curiosities, Pens, Paper & People | 1 comment »

I was catching up on recent posts by my French counterpart when I saw this one from early January about pen spinning (“it’s very simply the art of juggling with your pen”). A propeller pen of one’s own, n’est-ce pas?

I immediately got a pang of nostalgia for my 9th grade geometry class, when a bunch of us taught ourselves to spin pencils around our thumbs. Alas, I’ve since lost the technique, but it was still fun to watch the video that Murielle posted, the so-called Daydream of a pen spinner, which is actually a commercial for Samsung Mobile.

I blogged about a Hong Kong pen spinning tournament last year. But did you know there’s also a World Cup of pen spinning?

Judging from the promotional video above, it’s no joke.

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The expandable hour

Posted September 24, 2008 by
in Planning Tips | 1 comment »

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In general, I think I’m a fairly efficient person, but I often find I fit the tasks I have to do to fill the time that’s available. Like many writers, I can be very productive when I’m on deadline or juggling multiple assignments. It’s when my workload’s light that things start to go downhill, as I take little breaks to catch up on blog reading, clean the house or re-organize my desk, and put off what little work I need to do until the very last moment.

Many different theories have been put forth to explain procrastination—that procrastinators are perfectionists, for example, or that they lack self-confidence. I wonder if it’s not also because we’re subliminally addicted to stress, since we know that’s one sure way to actually get the job done. If I feel like I’ve been wasting too much time at the end of the day, I start to get stressed, and then I tend to sit down and actually finish the work.

At any rate, the answer is as simple as it is hard to implement: prioritize your tasks, then do them (I also like Karen’s suggestion of using an hourglass to keep track of time). If you’ve got time left over at the end of the day, work ahead—or kick back with a book or a glass of wine and enjoy yourself.

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Get up and go to work

Posted June 18, 2008 by
in Pens, Paper & People | 2 comments »

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In a recent “Talk of the Town,” playwright David Mamet revealed his dedication to Clairefontaine notebooks—and longhand composition: “I hate the computer… I hate their spell-check. I won’t ever do e-mail.”

(He does sometimes use a typewriter.)

“I’m afraid of only two things,” Mamet said, “Being lazy and being cowardly. I get up early in the morning and go to work.”

No writerly angst for him, thankyouverymuch…

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Procrastination special!

Posted May 13, 2008 by
in Editorial, Planning Tips | Add your comment »

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This morning at Slate, the editors tackle a topic that’s near to everyone’s hearts with a special report on procrastination. (Of course I read the whole thing before I started composing this post.)

My favorite piece: Emily Yoffe’s tale about trying to use online support groups and self-help books to stop procrastinating. Yoffe sounds like a woman after my own heart; “For me,” she writes, “Small tasks—getting the dry cleaning, checking the downspouts—have a way of inflating like helium, floating the day away.” Here’s her attempt to understand the psychology of procrastination:

Joseph Ferrari, a professor of psychology at DePaul University… divides us into two general behavior types: arousal procrastinators and avoidance procrastinators. Arousal procrastinators seek the excitement and pumping stress hormones of having to finish everything under duress. (I’m this type.) Avoidance procrastinators make their work the measure of their self-worth and so end up putting it off out of fear. (I’m this type, too.) I talked to Ferrari and discovered that after 20 years of studying us, his sympathy is wearing thin. “I don’t understand this, why they’re consistently like this. I don’t like cutting the grass, but I do it.”

In the end, the best advice comes from her 12-year-old daughter—stop taking so many breaks, and stop making excuses for yourself. Easier said than done, of course, but never mind…

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