It's strange how I get more work done at the office than at home. Peace and quiet can be more of a deterrent to efficiency than phonecalls and emails.
Countless times - at home, in hotels, in airport lounges - I proudly believed would be perfect to get some writing and reading completed but, sigh, like a tyre fast losing air my resolve is gone in a matter of minutes. Either I channel surf or Web surf or dose away or read but a few pages before dying to get out of the place, or something stops me from being the productivity demon I know I can be - if only I put my mind to it.
Procrastination creeps up unexpectedly (how's that for an excuse?).
But why? Why is it so tough to get cracking when the settings is, apparently, 'just right' to work? And then it hit me. It's the same reason why making the classroom too cosy is a reeeeeeeeeal bad idea if you want your students' full concention : Cosyness equals sleepy comfort equals drifting/dreamy minds equals non-attention and not-even-there-ness.
Our minds follow the ambience of our bodies, which shadow the mood of the environment.
So nowadays I'm sure that if I want to get work done on my day off, I probably have to :
Countless times - at home, in hotels, in airport lounges - I proudly believed would be perfect to get some writing and reading completed but, sigh, like a tyre fast losing air my resolve is gone in a matter of minutes. Either I channel surf or Web surf or dose away or read but a few pages before dying to get out of the place, or something stops me from being the productivity demon I know I can be - if only I put my mind to it.
Procrastination creeps up unexpectedly (how's that for an excuse?).
But why? Why is it so tough to get cracking when the settings is, apparently, 'just right' to work? And then it hit me. It's the same reason why making the classroom too cosy is a reeeeeeeeeal bad idea if you want your students' full concention : Cosyness equals sleepy comfort equals drifting/dreamy minds equals non-attention and not-even-there-ness.
Our minds follow the ambience of our bodies, which shadow the mood of the environment.
So nowadays I'm sure that if I want to get work done on my day off, I probably have to :
- plant myself at McD's/Starbucks or anywhere where sleep is near-impossible (or improper)
- 'build' pro-work momentum by reading the business section or deliberately calling up a colleague to talk shop
- go or a jog so my mind doesn't easily go to snooze mode
It'd help to know what our best (and worst) times/venues for work and thinking are. One thing we don't want to continue is making the same mistakes over again - especially when deadlines are near.
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