Too busy to read?

"Determination is one important aspect to fight off reading laziness and distractor.

Secondly always adopt the principle of consistency even though a bit.

Thirdly prepare to read anytime any where when opportunity avail. One important prep is to always bring a reading material with us anywhere we go. So when there is an opportunity such as - fatigue of work, waiting for meeting- we can grab the book and read it.

Fourthly - multitasking. Read while doing other things e.g read while eating lunch or dinner at work or home. this is especially good for newspaper as you don't need mental focus. Some people do it in toilet :-) Read magazine (handy) while putting your baby to sleep. The objective of reading is to gain knowledge. Audio is also one way. If you are driving or riding, play CD containing good material which are available in internet. Riders use earphone."


"Need to address two key words first:
1) Time - You'll only have no time when you waste them. If you want to read then you've got to cut down on the time spend on less 'important' things, e.g. television, chatting in the net, kedai kopi breaks.....

2) Reading- it's really not about the no. of books you read but the impact it has on your life and the useful points that you must memorise. Or else reading will just be a technical activity without retention and transformation.

So start using your time well and read effectively...."

"How do I squeeze time to read? I park my car further and took the MRT to read and to exercise.
1) MRT Travel time = 40 mins (to and fro from Kembangan to Raffles Pl.)
2) Exercise level = brisk walking 1.2 km (to and back from where my car is parked)
I wouldn't be able to achieve this if I drive to work everyday."

"At home, spare 1/2 hour a day before sleep to read."

"while waiting 4 someone or before i go to sleep."

"...not to do it during spare time but to allocate time for it like how we allocate time for meetings or for our special ppl..."

"Sell away that TV...... seriously!, it will unleash u to do many things in life ...... read books, have meaningful conversations with your family or loved ones, etc."

"Carry reading materials with me on my PDA."

Baby Steps

Failures aren't born. They're made. So are successes.

Studies have shown that defining success is the first step to achieving it. This means defining success for you, in your terms. People who don't have a personal definition of success feel less successful and less satisfied in their lives. They also earn less money.

If your life is not guided by a plan with goals you create, it will be guided by a default plan, a plan created by your past conditioning and others' expectations of you.

Some people resist the idea of a plan for their lives because they think it's something rigid. But having a plan is exactly what allows you to take advantage of serendipity, the unexpected, new opportunities. Your goals allow you to recognize and take advantage of the unexpected when it shows up in yourlife.

Just think: If you took only 1 baby step each day toward your goal for the next 30 days, by the end of the month you'd be 30 steps closer to your goal! It's only baby steps you need to take to reach your goal. Not giant leaps, not overnight success, not hours each day.

People set themselves up for failure by thinking that they have to devote huge chunks of time to their major goal each day. Not so. It's the progress toward that goal that counts, the consistent and persistent action done in little chunks on a regular basis.

If you haven't been exercising, would you just go out and run 10 miles? Some people make this mistake by setting unrealistic actions each day: the goal isn't unrealistic, the daily actions are.

You want the feeling that progress gives you, the energy and momentum that little daily actions give you. You want to stay motivated. That's why baby steps work.

How little is a baby step? In your first month of moving toward your goal, a baby step is the smallest action you can do in 10-15 minutes each day. Not 30 minutes, only 10-15 minutes each day.

What can you do today in 10-15 minutes to take a step toward your priority goal?

Here are some ideas:

Brainstorm a list of all actions you take toward your goal. Later, identify those priority actions that will only take 10-15 minutes for the next 30 days.

Make a list of people to call who can give you some on-target information about
your goal.

Make 1 phone call that moves you toward your goal.

Write the challenges you expect to face in reaching your goal.

Each day, write how you can handle each challenge (reduce it, avoid it, break
through it, get support, etc.)

Read something for 15 minutes related to your goal.

Schedule a future meeting with a person or group related to your goal. (Yes, the
meeting itself will take longer than 10 or 15 minutes but scheduling it won't.)

Start your daily habit of progress toward your priority goal with only 10-15
minutes each day. You can take these baby steps!

Stop Procrastinating II

Reaching Goals and Dreams

• Define at least 1 major and 1 minor goal (minor goal can be a subset of major goal)
• Use Visualisation - clip photos in the mind
• Take a Time machine trip to the future - the ill-effects of procrastinatio and benefits of being effective
• Consider your options
• Liking what job you do
• Set Target Dates
• Knock on many doors - ASK people
• Rewrite your Life Script!
• Believe in the Power of the Will

Improve Interpersonal Behaviour

• Reject the temptation to be passive. When tasked to do a job which you dislike, don't take your own sweet time (procrastination). Stand your ground and state why you shouldn't do it.
• Play by the Boss's rule. A negative attitude is to procrastinate because you want to avoid resentment. A positive attitude is to accept the delegation readily and positively. Maybe more opportunities will open when you do the task.
• Avoid wearing social masks. To get our own way, we hide our true feelings/motives.
• ~ The Slowpoke - slow motion
• ~ The Creative Person - Cannot do anything 'ordinary' because highly-talented
• ~ The Whining Person - Wants sympathy; overburdened, therefore uses this as excuse for procrastination
• ~ The Tired Person - Escapes blame because of tiredness

Stop Procrastinating I

Why Procrastinate?

• Fear of Failure - Rejection
• Fear of Success - New commitments?
• Childhood experiences
• Inertia - taking the first step
• Task is too BIG

Overcoming Resistance - Some Techniques

• Visualisation - poking finger thru tissue paper barrier - visualise and START!
• Words - Apply the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair - Think of the words and START!
• There is NO difficult tasks.. only Challenging ones!
• Make a half-baked start - if you wonder where to start, just start anywhere, as long as you START!

Stop Kidding Yourself

• Denial of Reality
• Rationalization
• Living in the 'Land of Tomorrows'
• Blaming External Factors
• Displacement of 'Aggression' - channeling of aggression from source to scapegoats
• Reaction Formation - Wishes something in unconscious level, then converts into opposite at conscious level
• Narcissism
• ~ Excessive preoccupation with self
• ~ Slow poke
• ~ Still combing Hair
• ~ Change clothes for the 3rd time
• ~ Hasn't left house yet
• Identifying with the wrong person
• ~ ok if person has positive traits
• ~ NOT OK if person has negative traits.. especially PROCRASTINATION

Subduing an inferiority complex (that might lead to procrastination due to lack of self-confidence)

• Get rid of invisible audience or critics - just do it!
• Don't minimise your good points
• Don't maximise your shortcomings
• Your negative personal constructs are not in reality, they're just in your head
• Don't be afraid to change, step out of the comfort zone!
• Give yourself a pep talk. Stay Focused! write on a mirror to yourself
• Don't be afraid to make mistakes, don't be overcome by perfectionism

Breaking out of Procrastination

• Make a habit analysis on how you tend to procrastinate on what kind of tasks
• Tackle the procrastinated tasks that are easiest first
• Brainstorm solutions on each type of procrastinated task
• Reward yourself by doing a task you least likely would procrastinate(watch TV) for having done a task you would most likely procrastinate (study, do assignment)
• Specify a responsible behaviour in terms of well-defined task, not in terms of time (e.g. to study 1 chapter of maths, NOT to study maths for 1 hour - this will take forever)
• Define task clearly in both limited and concrete way (e.g. to study 4 pages in chapter 5 of Physics, NOT to study more)
• Make a behavioural contract in writing between adult self and child self (adult: If I study 4 pages of Physics, child: I can watch TV later without guilt)
• Reward yourself after that
• Alternate between High-Probability behaviour and Low-Probability behaviour - Premack's Principle