Too often, we try to solve this particular problem with sheer will: Next time, I will make myself start working on this sooner. Reason #3 You are putting something off because it’s hard, boring, or otherwise unpleasant. So if you are sitting there, putting something off because you don’t feel like it, remember that you don’t actually need to feel like it. The rest of us just show up and get to work.” Burkeman reminds us of renowned artist Chuck Close’s observation that “Inspiration is for amateurs. ![]() In fact, as Burkeman points out, many of the most prolific artists, writers, and innovators have become so in part because of their reliance on work routines that forced them to put in a certain number of hours a day, no matter how uninspired (or, in many instances, hungover) they might have felt. But you don’t need to feel like doing it. Yes, on some level you need to be committed to what you are doing – you need to want to see the project finished, or get healthier, or get an earlier start to your day. ![]() I really don’t know why we believe this, because it is 100% nonsense. Somewhere along the way, we’ve all bought into the idea – without consciously realizing it – that to be motivated and effective we need to feel like we want to take action. Think about that for a minute, because it’s really important. But as Burkeman asks, “Who says you need to wait until you ‘feel like’ doing something in order to start doing it?” Physically, nothing is stopping you – you just don’t feel like it. Intimidating bouncers aren’t blocking the entrance to your gym. After all, no one is tying you to your bed every morning. In his excellent book The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking, Oliver Burkeman points out that much of the time, when we say things like “I just can’t get out of bed early in the morning, ” or “I just can’t get myself to exercise,” what we really mean is that we can’t get ourselves to feel like doing these things. Solution: Make like Spock and ignore your feelings. ![]() Reason #2 You are putting something off because you don’t “feel” like doing it. I know this doesn’t sound like a barrel of laughs, particularly if you are usually more the promotion-minded type, but there is probably no better way to get over your anxiety about screwing up than to give some serious thought to all the dire consequences of doing nothing at all. The more worried you are, the faster you are out of the gate. When you are focused on avoiding loss, it becomes clear that the only way to get out of danger is to take immediate action. Working out regularly is a way to not “let yourself go.” Decades of research, which I describe in my book Focus, shows that prevention motivation is actually enhanced by anxiety about what might go wrong. For the prevention-focused, successfully completing a project is a way to keep your boss from being angry or thinking less of you. When you have a prevention focus, instead of thinking about how you can end up better off, you see the task as a way to hang on to what you’ve already got – to avoid loss. What you need is a way of looking at what you need to do that isn’t undermined by doubt – ideally, one that thrives on it. Anxiety and doubt undermine promotion motivation, leaving you less likely to take any action at all. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well, if you are afraid you will screw up on the task in question, this is not the focus for you. Psychologists call this a promotion focus – and research shows that when you have one, you are motivated by the thought of making gains, and work best when you feel eager and optimistic. As in, if I complete this project successfully I will impress my boss, or if I work out regularly I will look amazing. You can do something because you see it as a way to end up better off than you are now – as an achievement or accomplishment. Reason #1 You are putting something off because you are afraid you will screw it up. Figuring out which strategy to use depends on why you are procrastinating in the first place: The good news (and its very good news) is that you can get better about not putting things off, if you use the right strategy. Wait, weren’t you going to try to go to the gym more often this year?Ĭan you imagine how much less guilt, stress, and frustration you would feel if you could somehow just make yourself do the things you don’t want to do when you are actually supposed to do them? Not to mention how much happier and more effective you would be? And there’s the client whose phone call you really should return – the one that does nothing but complain and eat up your valuable time. There’s that project you’ve left on the backburner – the one with the deadline that’s growing uncomfortably near.
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