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procrastination

Ten tips to sucker punch your procrastination

Reading this article will cost you three minutes which you could also spend working. Interested? Then you’re most definitely the type of person who could use these tips against procrastination.

You know how it goes. You have work to do, but all kinds of other things seem to pop up. Instead of just doing the job, you get sidetracked by little things and procrastination is the result.

It’s not satisfying to look back at your day and come to the conclusion that you wasted your time on crap. However, there are things you can do to get yourself going. It’s a battle, but you can win. Here are ten tips for you to sucker punch your procrastination in the gut and get stuff done.

1 Be aware of procrastination

Not everyone even notices he or she is procrastinating. When you become aware of something, you can work on it. That is the first step.

2 Remove distractions

Damn that smartphone. All your friends and the entire internet in the palm of your hand. Put the device out of reach, as far away as possible, to lessen the temptation to check it. Also, turn off every single notification. Try to remove all other things in your vicinity that might distract you.

3 Non-negotionables

Decide what your ‘non-negotionables’ are for the day. If that is one particular task, write it down on a post-it or something and put it in your field of vision. When you finished the non-negotinables, you’ll see the threshold for other tasks has become a lot lower.

4 Five minute start

Take five minutes to actually start with your task. Stay focused those five whole minutes and the likelyhood of your brain committing to completing it is higher. Sometimes it’s your brain that needs a kickstart. Five minutes of concentration can do the trick.

5 Cut it in pieces

One big ass cake is not easy to eat. If you cut it into pieces and finish one slice at a time, you can still finish the cake. This sucks as dietary advice, but it’s a great way to manage large and complicated tasks. Try cutting up the task in smaller bits. Multiple small bits make a whole. And if not, at least you managed to finish a part of it.

6 Be realistic

It can be tempting to set your expectations too high. If you have a task involving nine parts, for instance, be realistic about what you’ll be able to complete in a day. If three parts is reasonish reasonable, set your goal at ‘at least three’.

7 Scratch ‘I have to’

Saying ‘I have to’ over and over will not improve your mood. If you change it to ‘I choose to’ or ‘I want to’, you take control and responsibility. It’s all about mindset in the end.

8 Look at the consequences

Wat are the consequences of putting off your tasks? If anything, the first consequence is how you feel about yourself. Feeling like a lazy procrastinating loser is not the best feeling in the world when there’s stuff to do.

9 Look at the benefits

Take a look at the benefits of finishing your task. How will you feel when it’s done? Your mind will be more at peace, the task is, you know, done, and probably somebody else also benefits from your work. Focusing on the positive is always best.

10 Use a ‘helpline’

Ask someone, a friend or colleague, for instance, to help you. He or she can ask you whether you finished your task at a set or random moment during the day. Or check up on how far you are. A little pressure or control can work wonders.

These tips might help you battle procrastination. If you indeed manage to finish the task, reward yourself. You’ve earned it.

things

Things you should always have spares of

When you own things, as everyone does, you know these things will fail you one day. Or you will run out. With a lot of stuff, that isn’t a problem of course, as you just go out and buy new stuff. For a few things, however, running out or them breaking down are catastrophic!

Here is a list of things you should always have spares of.

1 charger for your phone

Imagine your phone’s battery running on empty without having a charger. Or rather, imagine your charger suddenly flipping your off and dying, with only 5% left on your phone. Oh, the humanity… Heed this advice: make sure there is a spare cable somewhere in your house in case of emergencies.

2 sugar

If you’re a sugarjunk, like we are, running out of sugar is kind of a big deal. Of course you can go to that hot (or elderly) neighbour to borrow a cup of sugar, how cliché. Or you just make sure there is a package of sugar somewhere in your house, specifically bought to save you in case you run out.

3 coffee

This one might fall into the junk-category again. We at Reasonish experienced this horror quite recently when the coffee machine broke down. As if by magic we started to crave coffee like crazy, drooling and trembling like chihuahua’s. It was sad and a little embarrassing. Keep extra coffee in your cupboard and only touch it when you have to.

4 batteries

Alright, this is kind of a given, but you’ll be surprised how many people don’t have spare batteries lying around. When you use a remote control, having spare batteries is pretty important, because most tv’s aren’t controllable without it. Ten years ago you could still change the channel or volume by hand, but that luxury has come and gone. We won’t even mention other important things that need batteries, like a flashlight and… other… household appliences…

5 cat-/dog-/other animalfood

If you run out of stuff, it’s your own fault, but your pet shouldn’t be the victim of your bad judgement. Keep an extra bag of food for your Kitty or Rex somewhere, so he or she (or they) will never have to be hungry. And no, your lasagne is not a suitable replacement food for any animal.

6 deodorant

This one is mostly for the benefit of people around you. You’d think that running out of deodorant isn’t really a big deal, but someone who has to smell your sweaty pits wouldn’t agree. The thing with smell is, that you get used to it at some point. You’ll probably don’t even be able to smell your own stink. Keep a roller of some kind in your bathroom. Just a tip.

These were some very important things you should always have spares of.

food porn

5 tips for making the perfect food porn

Apparently people like to make pictures of their food nowadays. And by ‘nowadays’ we mean ‘the past couple of years’. If you start to think about it, it’s actually a weird habit. “I have food. Look at my food!” It kind of feels like a cat that brings you his latest kill to admire. Mostly people didn’t kill the food they are taking photo’s of, but the principle is the same.

Some pictures are quite nice, especially when it involves luxury dishes served in restaurants. It can even make you hungry AF. Other pictures look more or less like vomit, and you don’t want that, do you? Since this trend is here to stay, we have a couple of tips for you to make the perfect pics of your food.

1 Don’t

Just don’t do it. Fuck off with your smartphone and just EAT your food, dammit. So you’re in a fancy restaurant abroad, good for you, showoff. Go enjóy that incredible dish on your plate, instead of making a damn picture of it! *sigh*

2 Alright, if you must: No distractions

A smudge on the table or visible utensils distract from the gorgeousness of your food. Make sure there is no crap in the pic. No hands or fingers, no hairs or other garbage.

3 Arrangement

Try to arrange the food as if you’re Leonardo DaVinci. Use the Golden Ratio, or make sure there is balance on the plate. Balance is always pleasing to the eye. Come to think of it, balance is pleasing in every aspect of life.

4 No gunk

Gooey gunk, covered in sauce is not the way to make your friends’ mouths water. Don’t bother to snap a pic of your spagetti bolognese or rice and pilaf.

5 Angle

The angle of the picture can make quite the difference. Make sure the plate or the item you’re snapping is in the centre of the picture, avoid flares and try to get the top and side of the food in the frame.

There. Now you can make awesome food porn that will dazzle everyone.