Motivation

Perhaps reward yourself with a little something (not always edible!) after each task ticked off?

Here are my tips derived from many years of working at home and being self employed.

#1 I find that a physical list in my page to view diary helps so I can tick off the jobs as I finish them. I dont always finish 100% of the jobs but thats life. Unattended tasks that are important get put to the top of next days list.

#2 Divide larger tasks into "bite sized chunks" so that they dont seem so daunting. And rewarding yourself for progress (as suggested upthread) is a good tactic.

#3 Another tip I learned in a time management course was "file the pile" - get on with one job at a time and put the others out of sight or out of mind. Humans were not intended to multi task.

#4 If the job is an ongoing one that you cant finish in one session make a note (either mentally or in some convenient form) of where you got to so you can easily take it up again.

#5 This may not work in family situations but living solo I am pretty ruthless in getting important jobs done and avoiding interruptions. This usually involves techniques like inserting ear plugs and not answering the door.

biglous thanks for that list. I have become a waster of time over the last few years and jobs build up. I like the bite-size idea for some of the bigger jobs I haven't yet done.

You need to work out why this happens, have you too much to do? do you get distracted by things or people? or are they things that you don't want to do or really need to do?

Unless things are particularly important or you will forget to do them then you do not need to write them down, it can be daunting looking at a list especially if you are listing every small job, housework, shopping and that sort of thing do not need listing you can see what needs doing and what has to be done.

Without knowing what type of things you mean it is difficult to advise.

biglouis

Here are my tips derived from many years of working at home and being self employed.

#1 I find that a physical list in my page to view diary helps so I can tick off the jobs as I finish them. I dont always finish 100% of the jobs but thats life. Unattended tasks that are important get put to the top of next days list.

#2 Divide larger tasks into "bite sized chunks" so that they dont seem so daunting. And rewarding yourself for progress (as suggested upthread) is a good tactic.

#3 Another tip I learned in a time management course was "file the pile" - get on with one job at a time and put the others out of sight or out of mind. Humans were not intended to multi task.

#4 If the job is an ongoing one that you cant finish in one session make a note (either mentally or in some convenient form) of where you got to so you can easily take it up again.

#5 This may not work in family situations but living solo I am pretty ruthless in getting important jobs done and avoiding interruptions. This usually involves techniques like inserting ear plugs and not answering the door.

I like these ideas.

Particularly no. 2. Only started that myself recently.
It certainly helps doing some jobs in bite size chunks.

I find that working at something with Mr A slows me down - he is very easily distracted and will wander off at a tangent, totally forgetting what we were aiming to do.

For instance, when we were cleaning up a spare bedroom last week. We moved a cupboard out of the way and we cleaned the glass doors on a bookcase and dusted it down. I moved on to clean the window and windowsill. Mr A however got distracted by the books inside the bookcase and was still 'sorting them out' when I had finished the windows and windowsill, hoovered, cleaned and put back the cupboard we had moved and cleaned the mirrored wardrobe doors. Getting distracted is the difference between doing a job in an hour and doing it in two or three hours.

But how do you motivate a man to do things like tidy his workplace/wash the car or get it to the carwash/replace a light bulb/do his own tax return? I could go on.

I would ask if these jobs are really important Purplejoanf or, like a lot of us, you simply start something that takes far longer than anticipated? I always underestimate the time needed to do a job properly.
I now limit my tasks/jobs to one a day and take a weekend break, but then I’ve only got myself to consider.

Romola

But how do you motivate a man to do things like tidy his workplace/wash the car or get it to the carwash/replace a light bulb/do his own tax return? I could go on.

Tidy workplace - I find if I tidy mine, he tidies his. Not sure if he then sees it as a competition?

Wash car - cant answer.

Replace a lightbulb - if something inconveniences him, he will do things a lot faster than other things.
For other things, I give him a small list from time to time. Feels like pot luck as to whether I have to wait 4 weeks or 4 months.

Tax return - we have an accountant.
So I suppose, some of his paperwork gets done quicker because of that.
Apart from that, I do about half the paperwork in the house and he does the other half. So the work is spread evenly. Which helps us both.

A friend of mine uses what she calls ten, ten, loaf. It boils down to doing one thing for ten minutes, a second thing for ten minutes then taking a break for five minutes ie loafing. It needn’t be ten minutes, it can be any length of time that suits you, but it suits her personality where she finds it hard to concentrate on one thing for very long.

I have reward system. If I do a task which I don't like or don't want to do, I set myself a time limit, do as much as I can, then have a reward. Might be a coffee break, or reading for a while, whatever.
And I make lists every day. Things which really need to be done.
If I get a lot done in the morning then I'm allowed to put the TV on at 2 pm and watch a film on Netflix. Or similar.

I find no pleasure in sorting/cleaning/dusting type jobs.
I'm afraid I am interested in too many other (?) time wasting things - I do work (for mysrlf) from home - and that does get done - but motivation for other tasks is hard to find.

Once I start a task it always takes at least three times as long to do ot as I'm ridiculously thorough (pernickety?).
I've been trying to say "good enough" to myself for about a decade now. Sometimes I listen - but mostly I don't.

I've always worked from lists and felt real satisfaction at crossing things off once completed but for the last year or so haven't seemed able to concentrate on things. I start doing one thing, get sidetracked and then later on come across whatever it was I started on umpteen tasks earlier.

Saw this today.

I like having lists too. I have a 'needs doing' list and a 'to do tomorrow' list. Everything goes on the 'needs doing list' but tomorrow's list is only the things I think I can fit in. I absolutely hate doing half a job - it never gets finished and ends up being a waste of time.

So if I'm very busy tomorrow, maybe going out or having visitors, I'll just check to make sure I've done the urgent things. If I have a couple of hours I might just tidy some drawers or de-cobweb or clean a window and windowsill or hoover. Anything simple that doesn't need lots of organising.

My daughter uses a 'life organising' app on her phone. It's not free but not desperately expensive. She pays £20 a year. She reckons it has revolutionised her life. There are lists for various categories. The 'housekeeping' list suggests various tasks to do each day. She doesn't agree with all of them e.g. dust mirrors every day! but she dismisses those. However, bathroom and kitchen jobs are done every day. Her house, even with three children under nine years, is pretty clean and tidy and she is much happier. I'm considering downloading the one she uses. It's called MePlus. You can find a list of organising apps in your phone's app store.

When very busy I would divide jobs into two types: jobs that would have to be done in the short-term like washing up, loading washing machine etc and jobs that could be put back forever, clearing out shed, taking all that stuff to charity shop/dump. When the mood took me I would arise and ignore the housework and get one of the put back forever jobs done. Another ploy is to pretend not to be clearing out the shed and just take the odd thing out as you pass, nibbling away at the edges till suddenly it's mostly done.

I'm a terrible procrastinator but fortunately my husband isn't. He keeps all the paperwork for the tax and files everything we might need again so I needn't worry about that.
I'm happy to ignore the housework until it offends me, but he's willing to whip round with the vacuum regularly though he isn't at all thorough.
I do clean the bathroom, cloakroom and kitchen - probably not as well as some but they look fine and we don't go down with anything!
The one thing I do keep up with regularly is the washing as we don't have much drying space so can't afford to let it build up.

I find that if I'm wanting to start a big job like painting a room or attacking a garden project, I prepare everything the day before (get the paint/brushes/rollers/drop cloths out, or the garden tools/compost/plants) etc. It's STARTING the job that's difficult but if you've done that preparation, you're unlikely to put it all back, are you!

I love a list and also post it notes dotted here n there with extra jobs on if one catches my eye on the inside of a cupboard door and I have time it jogs my memory to do it I also set a timer for 20 minute and see how much I can get done in a room

I like the preparation the day before idea. I do that when I make a bolognese sauce. I chop the carrots and onions the day before and get the other ingredients out on a tray ready apart from the mince. Then it's good to go the next day straightaway.
Makes it easier to start and not procrastinate.
I shall try the same with other jobs.

I get through a lot because I get up early and I take advantage of my energy, which is at maximum in the mornings. I usually never do too much but a bit every day adds up. I have my stop time and that is always by 12 and my reward is a treat after my lunch and is mostly a couple of chocolate brazils

I would say that a starting point could be to know your own circadian rhythm and then go with the flow, so make a short list and do one thing a day, if you have the energy.

Personally I have what could be a wasted time, at the end of the day, before I go to sleep at 10. I go upstairs at 8.30 after making sure that the kitchen looks nice for the morning. I get ready for bed and then go into my sewing room, which has a completely different ambience to the living room. Then I sew for a short time and bit by bit over time, I get a garment made

Lovely.x

I find the only way to motivate MrMirren to do anything is to " do it together " . He likes doing things with me and will sit around ad infinitum , do puzzles if not occupied.
It's lovely that he likes my company but this means I never get jobs done unless I am involved which means I never get let off any jobs .