Hi
I've tried 3819102 times organizing my day, week as well as setting long term goals with follows-ups.
Fact is that I always do it for 1 day and then I forget quickly.
Sometimes I feel like long term & well organized step-by-step plans lead to better success than playing it all "spontaneously". I feel like If I had the will-power to follow up through the plans, I'd be a better person.
I know that ISTPs struggle with comittment, hence my thread
Any thoughts about this?
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Some years ago I did a lot of research on procrastination and related topics, and I figured out what works for me. I don't know how much of this will be relevant to your needs, as I don't know what kid of plans, etc., you're referring to. When you say long-term goals, are you talking weeks, months, or years? Relatively simple things like preparing for an exam, or really complex things like a career ("where you want to be in 10 years")?
I think a lot of it is recognizing my limitations. For example, I know I need lots of breaks, and it turns out that if I work for 12 hours (e.g., 9 am to 9 pm), I accomplish only 5 hours of actual paying work (I'm a freelancer).
For volunteer work and so on, I know that I work best alone, and I can't commit to anything long-term. Especially if it involves working with other people. So if an organization I belong to needs someone to take notes at one meeting, I can do that, but I can't serve as secretary for a two-year term. Or if I do want an ongoing job, it should be something I can do alone (e.g., producing the newsletter, making weekly bank deposits). You might not be the same as me; my point is that we have to recognize our personality traits and limitations.
For daily, ongoing things, numbers work for me. I'm from an older generation, so a paper calendar works for me. I have a timer on my computer. When a half hour is up, I make a slash, like this: /. After another half hour, I cross the slash, like this: X. At the end of the workday I hope to have 5 Xs. Before I started doing this, I thought I was working "all day" and not getting anything done. This way I can see how much I really am working.
Post-It notes help for random things that don't belong on the calendar or that don't fit on the calendar. As tasks get done, I can cross them out and then throw out the note. If any tasks are left over I can put them on a new note.
The kinds of jobs I do take me about a week. Other people in my field can do them faster, but they're not me (also, they might not do as good a job). I do whatever it takes to get the job done on time, even if it means staying up all night occasionally.
Sometimes it isn't realistic to try to make yourself do something every day or every week or whatever. For example, my work is unpredictable, and sometimes I'm too busy to exercise. So instead of saying I'm going to exercise for one hour a day, I plan to exercise for 25 hours a month. I keep track of this on a paper calendar.
If you get bored easily, factor that in and take breaks. Your're not a robot. It took quite a bit of experimentation for me to figure out that I can't really do anything for longer than 30 minutes at a time, unless it's something I really love. (For example, I can do yoga or weight training for 30 minutes only, so I might do yoga for 30 minutes and then do weight training for another 30. But I could hula hoop all day.) For someone else, it might be 15 minutes or two hours. Try different time frames and see what works for you.
My ISTP sweetheart has trouble committing to his share of housework, even though he wants to help out. We talked about it and we figured out that he needs "external motivation." In our case this means we will do certain tasks together, rather than having him take sole responsibility for laundry or whatever. In your case, it might mean joining a support group or having an online "buddy" you can check in with daily. For example, there are groups for fitness, careers, areas of study, restoring old cars, you name it. If you tell someone else you're going to walk 5 miles today, or if you join a "challenge" group (e.g., walk to the moon), it might help you to actually do it.
Don't try to organize your whole day. You're not cut out for that. Just try to plan/organize the important things that you can't seem to get done otherwise.
If you try out my or other people's suggestions and find it's all still too much for you, be humble and admit that maybe you can't really accomplish all that in one day or one month or whatever. Decide what's really important and focus on that. Good luck!
