We Ask, You Answer: Your Stumbling Blocks

Travors says on January 3rd, 2008 at 1:54 pm

Getting up early. I’m a night person but not a “productive” night person.

Kalieris says on January 3rd, 2008 at 2:04 pm

Only one?

Internal rebellion. That six year old internal voice that screams “IDONWANNA!!!” when I try to implement a new routine or habit. I swear I spend 95% of my self-improvement energy on fighting myself. I would call it inertia, but it’s more active self-sabotage through refusal than it is passivity. If I could figure out how to shut that little voice up permanently, much happydancing would ensue.

Tom Gray says on January 3rd, 2008 at 2:21 pm

Consistently playing to my strengths. I spend too much time working on things that would be better delegated or farmed out and not enough time in activities where I shine.

Balfour says on January 3rd, 2008 at 3:06 pm

Surfing the internet.

Micahel says on January 3rd, 2008 at 3:24 pm

Flash games. I start one and before I know it, my time is gone.

Kevin X says on January 3rd, 2008 at 3:28 pm

Lately my biggest struggle with productivity is obtaining focus. It’s really been a mental battle for me since I have read and incorporated many other elements of productivity to my life and it has really paid off. I find more time for myself to do lots more things but now I am having trouble focusing.

When I am on one project, I start to think about another. When I move on to a new part of the day, I find myself thinking about something in the past. Even when I am trying to sleep (the best time of the day) my mind wanders so much and I think of great new ideas (which I have to quickly write down) or of the past day and the next day.

I don’t have ADD or anything, just a wandering mind. It’s helped with my creativity thus far but I hope it doesn’t get to the point when I can’t concentrate at all. I’m only in high school and with tests like the SAT coming up, concentration is key.

alex says on January 3rd, 2008 at 3:50 pm

I second the “six year old” comment.

When there’s many different tasks, some more urgent, some more important, etc. I cannot get myself to do even a single one of them. I just “avoid” everything. “Procrastination” isn’t it called?

The existence of so many other things that need be addressed by me (from work, from studies and also the personal things) is so overwhelming that I cannot focus on anything at all. And I can’t even dream of extra things like exercising, which I’d love.

At those moments, ANYTHING sounds better than the things I really have to do. Things I’d never care for on any other occasion, now I suddenly do! But while I’m at them I feel such guilt that it is depressing.

I end up doing only the “most urgent” things as the different deadlines come nearer. Usually low quality results ensue, and sometimes plain out failure of course.

gstar says on January 3rd, 2008 at 9:42 pm

Hurdle: Maintaining the “Vision”.

I’m an entrepreneur/ADD case with a billion things on the go at any time - I am constantly exploring new ideas, but sometimes there’s more “madness” than “method” in this approach. With so many seemingly unrelated components on the go, I often slip into productivity, procrastination, frustration, depression, and paralysis over the “next step”. Often, my tangents don’t seem to resolve or add up, and I feel like I’ve wasted time even though I’ve been intensely “working” for hours, days, or weeks. Self-doubt creeps in, and I get feeling like a failure compared to my more organized “steady as she goes” peers who manage to succeed in straightforward (if not rather dull) tasks consistently.

I attribute all of this to the importance of VISION - maintaining the “big picture” of where you are ultimately trying to go. I’ve heard it said, “Take care of the details, and the rest will take care of itself” - How do you narrow down what those details are, while not losing track of the overall goal?

Marina @ Sufficient Thrust says on January 3rd, 2008 at 9:55 pm

Mine is always waiting until a “better” time to write that book/blog post, launch that program, etc.

This year, I’m trying not to let any projects languish on the backburner and at least put up at 1.0 version of them. It’s a lot easier to improve something that exists than to work on something that lives in my mind.

I’m trying to hold myself publicly accountable to these 1.0 projects by linking to them off of my main website. Since I don’t want people to click through and see my projects mid-mess, I’ve magically been getting a LOT more done in the same amount of time.

E. L. Pheterson says on January 3rd, 2008 at 11:15 pm

Well, besides digg:

My current hurdle is those with which I live. I’m a college student currently living in a house with three other guys. I had lived with two of them last year in an apartment and we got along fair enough and spent ample time on our work in hopes of getting the grades we all wanted.

After moving to the house this year, and with the introduction of another resident, the attitude amongst my roommates has changed. All too often, they choose to skip classes and nightly, they choose to inevitably postpone their homework. I hear in their playful voices, presumably jokingly, but still, “school’s not for me.”

The lack of motivation of those around me decreases my ability to concentrate and does nothing but deteriorate my own motivation. That fact, paired with their 24/7 television routine has been a rather large stumbling block that may only be passed once I move away.

Brian Yuong says on January 4th, 2008 at 3:15 pm

Over active mind. Any time I hit a complex section of a project my mind tells me I could be more productive if I shift to another project that has been on the back burner for awhile. Then after moving to the next project i can’t stop thinking about the previous. Days aren’t long enough and i can’t stop thinking at night until a controled substance forces me to hibernate for 7 hours. Then its starts over again.

Work coding
Excelling in work
Hobbyist coding
Coding to make coding faster
Unique business concepts
Book authoring
Coded autonomous logic

It never stops!!

Tracey says on January 4th, 2008 at 4:41 pm

I put off things that I find unpleasant, such as returning phone calls, and in doing so make tasks much more difficult than if I’d just done them in a timely manner… tax returns are a particular procrastination trap. I put them off until I desperately need to have them done (eg to support a loan application; I’m a property investor), and then it’s all done in a frantic hurry and I forget about claimining deductions that I’m entitled to because I just need it finished ASAP.

Joe says on January 6th, 2008 at 5:09 pm

Plain laziness/procrastination. I tend to make all my plans and resolutions at night when I can’t really implement them. (I can’t exactly go outside for a run at 1 am). I never get around to it.

boris says on January 6th, 2008 at 8:50 pm

Health, is my biggest stumbling block. I do a very good job at managing most activities related to my business. However, no matter how well I planned… I have chronic health problems that get in the way very often