Things I do to combat procrastination (3 of N) - The garbage collector

This is the the third part of an N part series on Procrastination. If you haven't already, check out Part 2 and Part 1 !

In the spirit of naming these techniques after Computer Science related concepts, we will go with the title of "The Garbage Collector" for this one (Disclaimer: No JVMs were harmed in the making of this article)

Technique 3: The Garbage Collector

Okay, so let's say you followed my advice and have gotten the ball rolling with Technique 1: Reverse exponential backoff and have also determined what to do with Technique 2: Recursive chunking and First Action. The first battle is won, you are working. You have successfully achieved Task Initiation.

So here you are finishing the details of that requirement doc or finally debugging that pesky bug......and then your brain says "HEY YOU HAD TO CALL THE CLINIC TO FIX THAT DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT, RIGHT???"

Now maybe you listen to it and make the call.

Game over.

All and momentum you built up is gone.

You'll have to make the task initiation effort again (or atleast some part of it).

Why? Because you'll have to do a context switch, and context switching is expensive, both for your CPU and your brain (I am going to keep peppering computer science references here and there)

The other case is that you will try to forget about it and bring your attention back to the task. But it's very likely this thought will recur, and will force you to take this decision of "act or not act" again and again. That's draining.

And if not this thought, then the next one: your thought-producing-factory called "mind" has a full time job of doing that, and it's not procrastinating,

Maybe you suddenly remember that you have to prep for that upcoming open mic and you have to practice that bit you always screw up.

Ordering Cat Litter?

Book tickets for home before the prices increase!

Or in the worst case you could see a "break;" statement in your code which reminds you of that text from last night by a certain someone asking for a "break", post which your thoughts might spin up a whirlwind of a mental argument of what you "should" have said last night on that call post that text.....you get my drift. (This example is NOT based on real events btw. You have to believe me. Please.)

Hmm what do we do then?

Enter the Garbage Collector List.

What is it? A simple running list (perhaps one for each day) in digital or a physical notebook (I personally prefer a section of my Notion Journal page for that day, but it really depends on you)

What goes in it? Anything and everything you might think of during your "focus" sessions. Could be todos, anxieties, hopes, dreams, fears, shower thoughts, jokes, whatever. Anything that is NOT the task. Simple.

I wrote things down, Now what? Well, whenever you finally take a break, just review it. If there's any todos in it, either schedule them in the calendar or do them right away. For anxieties, you could spend some time coming to terms with it using a healthy coping mechanism (dealing with anxiety is another blog post in the making, maybe. If you want me to do it, do comment please :)). As for shower thoughts you could post them in the /r/ShowerThoughts subreddit :D

So that's it. Let me write down the technique in a step-wise fashion here, so that it's easy to implement and remember:

1. Always keep a notebook and/or a digital notebook browser tab open while working. We will call this the Garbage Collector. Dedicate a page solely for the day's distracting thoughts.
2. Whenever you notice a thought coming into your consciousness while working--something that urges you somehow to break your concentration and stop the task--simply note this thought down in the Garbage Collector.
3. Now that you have written it down, let the thought go and come back to task. Remind yourselkf that you WILL get back to it when you take a break (which you anyway will in max 1-2 hours or so).
4. When you're taking a break or at the end of the day, review the list. Move them into specific compartments and do the appropriate action needed e.g. todos -> add to calendar with reminders, anxieties -> apply some psychological exercise to make peace with it, insights -> keep noting them down in some insight folder, meme ideas -> post on social networks like this one :P

Aaaaand that's it.

I'd urge you to go ahead, try this out and let me know if it helped (and definitely DM me if it didn't, we'll work out why and learn something in the process)!

Finally, do check out Part 2 and Part 1 in case you haven't yet !