Q. I prefer writing by hand & am now stuck/prevaricating on the typing up stage. Really hate sitting typing at my computer. Eek..

This was a question sent in by Frances, one of my readers. It’s funny what can trigger procrastination. If typing is a bugbear for you, try one of these alternative strategies instead:

1. Take pictures. If you have hand-written notes and don’t want to type it up, why not take a picture of it instead and store it in something like Evernote?

2. Record it. Record an audio file instead of typing it out in an email. Do a podcast or a video instead of a written blog.

3. Dictate it. Use dictating software, hire a professional transcriptionist, a student or someone via People per Hour or Fiverr.com to type it up for you.

4. Co-create meeting minutes. I took part in an online brainstorming meeting recently where the host shared a Google Doc and gave everyone access to type. Everyone could type their ideas into it, and while someone was speaking, someone else could be typing. Someone even nominated themselves as spell-checker as we went along! By the end of the meeting, we had a comprehensive set of notes without anyone needing to go away and add ‘type up minutes’ to their to-do list.

Finally, if you find that you can’t get around it, and you just have to get on and do it, then

5. Treat it like going to the gym. Something you resist to begin with, but you know you feel good about afterwards. Do it in short bursts, use a timer, put on some energising music to get going, and give yourself a reward after.

What are your biggest procrastination bugbears or productivity challenges? Let me know in the comments below.