Search
This area does not yet contain any content.
Justinian News

Holding onto Hope: Gina Rinehart's Bleak House ... Seeking chunks of the huge iron ore pit, Hope Downs ... Tracing the tangled Wright, Hancock, Rinehart litigation ... Allegations of fraud against the family trust ... Manouvering ... Tax "advice" ... Shifting vesting date ... Money, the root of unhappiness ... Anthony-James Kanaan reports ... Read more >> 

Politics Media Law Society


Rupert World ... Lord Moloch’s pal Doug the Diva – driving Washington spare … News UK’s model for unionism … What next for the Washington Post? … Concealed coal lobbyists running an anti-Teal campaign … More corruption busting for Stinging Nettle … The litigation industry spawned by Lehrmann ... Read on >> 

Free Newsletter
Justinian Columnists

Party time for Dicey ... Heydon's book - a pathway to rehabilitation ... The predatory man and the clever intellect - all wrapped up in the one person ... Academic tome and cancel agenda ... Despite the plaudits the record of abuse doesn't vanish ... Book launch with young associates at a safe distance ... Procrustes thinks out loud ... Read more >> 

Blow the whistle

 

News snips ...


Debbie Does Damien ... Mortimer's first public interview as CJ ... ABC's Law Report ... The ins and out of live streaming and the media's access to documents ... More >> 

Justinian's Bloggers

Conclave Part 2: Return of the Prodigal ... Vatican fraudster returns ... Fly in the Conclave ointment ... Claims to have been forgiven by Pope Francis ... Doubts about his entitlement to vote ... What can go wrong? ... Silvana Olivetti reports from Rome ... Read more >> 

"We're in unchartered territory here. A Pope hasn't died before during an Australian election campaign."  

Jane Norman, National Affairs Correspondent, ABC News ... April 21, 2025 ... Read more flatulence ... 


Justinian Featurettes

Letter from Rome ... Judges on strike ... Too much "reform" ... Berlusconi legacy ... Referendum on the way ... Constitutional court inflames the Meloni regime with decision on boat people ... Insults galore ... Silvana Olivetti reports ... Read more >> 


Justinian's archive

Tea is for Tippy ... Life of a tiffstaff ... Bright, ambitious and, when it comes to the crucial things, hopeless ... Milking the glory of the gig ...  Introducing Tippy, our new blogger filing from within the concrete cage at Queens Square ... From Justinian's Archive, March 15, 2010 ...  Read more >> 


 

 

« Times are a changin' in Blighty | Main | Life at USyd law »
Monday
Apr162012

I procrastinate

The Procrastination Equation by Piers Steel is an excellent distraction ... Junior Junior finds ways of putting off fee paying work right to the last minute ... Deadlines ... Smedlines

I always have. While I'm refreshing Facebook for the 76th time this morning, I swear I will get back into work in just a second.

There are no new posts on FB so I check the time, 10:30am. Perfect moment for a tea break.

A break can easily turn into two hours of distraction – boiling water, drawing the tea, sipping, reading the newspaper, internet research of restaurants reviewed in the Good Living section of the paper, looking up recipes for wattleseed pannacotta, and so on.

Suddenly it's lunchtime and two hours gets chewed-up with a clutch of girlfriends complaining about work, spouses, shopping, body hair and having to go to the gym.

By then it is afternoon tea time ... 

You get the picture.

The end of the day arrives and I haven't actually struck a blow.

When there is no salary, this is a serious issue - yet I manage to convince myself tomorrow will be different.

Besides, I have a hearing next week, but rather than preparing for it I've become obsessed by my procrastination problem and decided to tackle it head on.

I popped out and bought The Procrastination Equation by Piers Steel and have devoted three hours to extracting the marrow from this instructive volume.

I'm relieved to discover we are all genetically programed to procrastinate.

Well, relief for all of two-and-a-half seconds because I now have my back to the wall with this damned hearing.

There's nothing quite like an immovable deadline. It ensures several days of intense preparation, in which I produce cross-examination fit for a courtroom drama, and unimpeachable submissions.

The hearing goes swimmingly and, after a celebratory drink with the team, I head back to chambers where I'm supposed to draft some more submissions.

But, Facebook has been neglected for what seems like an eternity and needs concentrated attention.

Being a junior junior sort of barrister is a terrible breeding ground for procrastination. 

Any time without work must be filled with something to ward off boredom.

In doing so I've created little happy habits that I can't break, even when the real work is piling-up.

Checking the updates on my top 20 favourite blogs isn't a problem when I have eight hours to fill, but it's a difficulty when fee-earning work is upon me.

I swore when I started on this career path that I would spend downtime fruitfully, chatting-up solicitors and writing brilliant articles for the Law Society Journal

Needless to say, the best intentions in the world can be rapidly undone in the face of frayed nerves, chewed nails and an absence of income.

I picked up Mr Steel's book again and reasoned that if his insights stop me procrastinating, then the time I have spent reading it is hardly procrastination. 

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.
Member Account Required
You must have a member account on this website in order to post comments. Log in to your account to enable posting.