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

How I won my battle against procrastination

Published: Friday, 23 September 2011

Just in the past 2.5 weeks, I've seen my productivity shoot through the roof, I have more energy and I feel great about myself (who wouldn't?)

 

No, this isn't a new fab drug or wonder-pill.  It was just a simple matter of changing the way I see a tiny thing in my life.

 

So let's reassess where I was 3 weeks ago:

  • 3 speeches to write, and submit/ deliver within the fortnight
  • 5 assignments and 3 mid-semester tests due within 3 weeks
  • I had to finalise trip details to the USA in November
  • Plan ahead to get things done before I go to Mexico in a fortnight
  • Lots of stuff to send to prepare for my awards
  • An abstract to write that was overdue
  • Stressed about negotiations taking place

 

And things were so not going to get done.

 

I use the HitList, I write a daily plan, but I procrastinated so much it was debilitating.

 

What usually happens is I pile on all these things to do, don't manage to get them done then delegate them off to someone else at the eleventh hour.  Except I couldn't do that this time, because these were all personal things that had to be done by me.

 

One night, while I was examining honestly what I do with a friend, I realised that amongst everything else, I also spend a lot of my time time watching television and YouTube videos because I thought that it made me more creative.  I thought, "really creative people made these tv shows and these music videos.  If I watch them,  I can store up good creative ideas for the future".  But while I was saying this aloud, I realised that I study mechatronics engineering and computer science.  If I really wanted to improve my creativity and thinking skills, I could just study my lecture notes or do tutorial exercises.  Because while everyone has access to those tv shows and music videos, not everyone has the opportunity to expand their minds through studying engineering.  And with that, I knew that I would be able to follow my plan, not procrastinate, and get everything done.

 

Since then, I have:

  • Found a casual engineering job for 5 - 10 hours a week
  • Submitted everything I needed to, including all my assessments in on time!
  • Finalised two negotiations
  • Recruited a new Robogals Global team member, participated in two photo-shoots, met up with heaps of old friends and contacts, conducted a few media interviews, etc.

 

And all I can say is, it feels awesome to finally know myself as someone who can make a plan and make everything on it happen!

 

So what's in the way to you being productive?  What do you need to get honest with yourself about?

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

  • Don't focus: search for something that sticks

    During my second to fourth years of university, I worked on Nudge, mew and Robogals.  I did various projects with all those initiatives over that...

  • World Entrepreneurship Forum

    After Utah, I flew to Lyon, France to speak at the World Entrepreneurship Forum.  It was fantastic to meet with successful entrepreneurs from all...

  • Aurukun Advance Queensland

    As part of my Advance Queensland Hot Desq tenure, I was granted the unique opportunity to visit a remote Aboriginal community, Aurukun, to encourage kids into...

  • Nexus Impact Accelerator Fellow

    I spent the last few days of February in Washington DC attending the Nexus Global Summit as a Nexus Impact Accelerator Fellow. NEXUS is a global...

  • EmTech Singapore

    Spoke at MIT's conference in Singapore, EmTech.  Other speakers in my session spoke about autonomous robotic cargo ships, advances in drones and...

  • When to launch

    I was thinking about my business idea and wondering when would be the right time to launch, if to launch and how. It was really doing my head in. I...

  • Accolades: Sonya and Harry

    I'm so proud of Sonya Chan and Harry Eakins, who were both recognised by their faculty at Imperial College for Services to the Community. Sonya Chan...

  • A Summer at Engineers Australia

    I saw on Facebook that Engineers Australia Victoria were moving into new premises.  I saw the national CEO Steve Durkin at an event.  He said I was...

  • Don't kid yourself on your priorities

    What are your priorities?  Work?  Family?  Relationship?  Start-up?  9-5?  Non-profit?  Volunteering?  Watching television?  Reading blogs?  Eating?  Meetings? Don't...

  • How the community keeps you going

    When I first started Robogals, the first thing I did was tell people about my vision and ask that they sign on to join. From that, I got a team of 3...

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Scroll to Top