W-Shadow.com

There’s an interesting post/survey combo up on LessWrong.com that discusses the effectiveness of various techniques for defeating procrastination and akrasia. At the moment it lists more than 20 different tactics, ranked based on the feedback of the people who have actually tried them. Go check it out.

Here’s a quick run-down of the techniques that are currently ranked the highest, with some pertinent links :

• Monoidealism (+9, 2 reviews)
  Have one and only one thought absorbing your non-verbal imagination. Do only one thing at a time.
• Collaboration with Others (+8, 2 reviews)
• Think It, Do It (+6, 2 reviews)
  As soon as you become aware of something that needs to be done and can be done (without major disruption), then I do it right away.
• Cripple your Internet (+4.7, 10 reviews)
  Install a browser add-on that prevents you from visiting time-waster sites like Facebook and Reddit.
  • LeechBlock (+5.4, 5 reviews)
  • PageAddict (+3, 1 review)
  • Freedom (Mac)
• Regular Exercise (+4.5, 2 reviews)
• Melatonin (+4.0, 5 reviews)
  Waste less time on sleeping  (the reviews note that melatonin does not work for everyone).
• Execute by Default (+3.7, 7 reviews)
  Instead of deciding whether to do something, come up with a plan that includes that something and decide to follow the plan.
• Getting Things Done (+3.3, 3 reviews)
• Utility Function Experiment (+3.3, 3 reviews)
  Attach point values to various actions and try to maximize your score.

See the LessWrong post for more details.