• Blog
  • Archives
  • Bio
  • Awards
  • Speaking
  • Book
  • Contact

Worse than procrastination

Published: Wednesday, 03 April 2013

One of the biggest muscles to exercise shouldn't be getting yourself motivated to not procrasinate.  Sure, procrastination is a big issue, and eventually, the days turn into weeks, turn into months, turn into years, and you still haven't done anything.

But I find that procrastination really isn't that much of a deterrent to people.  When push comes to shove, people submit their homework assignments, get their forms in, and make sure they organise their priorities to spend time with friends.

Hence I think the muscle that needs exercising is always giving up the thought of, "what are other people thinking about me?"

Will they think I'm a loser because I want to start this company?

Will they think I've gone crazy if I tell them I'm not going to apply to grad jobs?

Will they think I'm stupid if I don't finish my assignment completely?

Will they laugh at me if I fail?

Will they think I have too much time on my hands because I do this?

Will they say, "oh John's not serious.  He's never been serious about anything in his life."?

Will they mock and tease me?

Will they talk about me behind my back, while shaking their heads?

Because doing homework, submitting forms and spending time with friends are all the norm.  But you going out there and writing your books, starting your cupcake business or inventing a time-saving device are not.  Stop worrying about what other people think about you and you will procrastinate less on the things that matter.

About Me

Marita ChengForbes named me a world's top 50 woman in tech & 30 Under 30. I founded Robogals and Aipoly and was Young Australian of the Year 2012. Currently working on robotics company Aubot. I'm the youngest Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and I give speeches around the world.

I tweet @maritacheng and I'm on Facebook.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Random Articles

  • Jevaroo - pouring a glass of water

    Here is our 8-degree-of-freedom robotic arm Jevaroo, pouring a glass of water and then moving around to show its range of movements!

  • Aubot Instagram

    Aubot has created an instagram page with fun photos of Teleport!  Check them out here!...

  • Real Girls Change the World

    Went to Utah and spoke at the Girl Scout National Convention in front of 6000 young women from all over America.  Pretty insane!  The panel was...

  • Teleport In Action Video

    After months of careful, hard work by the team, we have launched a new Aubot website!  Have a look at our new website here! In addition to that -...

  • Teleport Brain Control

    We launched Teleport Brain Control, so that people with a disability may attend school or work remotely via our telepresence robot Teleport,...

  • AWW Women of the Future Awards

    On 22 September, by an esteemed panel that included Honourable Dame Quentin Bryce, Chloe Shorten, Today show co-host Lisa Wilkinson, 7.30 anchor...

  • The most important thing

    … isn’t the car you drive, whether you earn more money than your neighbour, who you know, or what you know;  it is your health.  Without your health, you...

  • Regaining focus

    During my time at Robogals, towards the end of every year, I would lose focus. Why?  All my major projects for the year would have been wound up.  My...

  • Robot repairs

    Robot troubleshooting on the fly in Sydney.

  • YouthActionNet Global Fellowship Day 0: The "best" and "better" plans

    A month ago, I came up with a list of the things I wanted to consider during my YouthActionNet Fellowship retreat.  In the 24 hours that it took me...

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Scroll to Top