Willpower (or procrastination!) part 2
Procrastination is often our response to the diminishment of our willpower. As we start “using up” our resource of willpower, we seem to find lots of ways to procrastinate, to distract ourselves from our feelings of frustration and/or inadequacy! I think many of us see ourselves as a “pro” at procrastinating.
We learned it young, first from our parents. Do you remember later how you used to be able to distract your child when they were in pain
or upset? A song, a piece of food, or a bright shiny object could help the pain or upset be forgotten or diminished.
Well, we do it to ourselves as adults! When we don’t want to face something, we distract ourselves (procrastinate) with something more appealing than what is going on in the moment: a webpage (or six?), some food, a drink or a bigger bright shiny object than we might have used with our child.
The pain of doing the tax return, making that difficult call, or even writing a blog entry can all be relieved with such things. It’s the Law of Distraction, procrastination if you prefer.
And we still get by. For the most part, procrastination slows things down, but doesn’t bring us to a halt.
The tax returns get done, albeit at the last minute;
the call gets made, eventually;
and the blog post entry gets published, finally.
The procrastination slows us down but we do still get by.
One Idea
I hadn’t thought much about it before, but I now realize that work can be a distraction to help us procrastinate! I read Gretchen Rubin’s book “The Happiness Project.” She says one of her Secrets of Adulthood is that
“Working is one of the most dangerous forms of procrastination.”
When there’s some chore you don’t want to tackle, every (any!) other chore can seem more alluring. Have you ever found yourself doing almost any other chore that the big, dreaded one?
Another Idea
Writer Raymond Chandler had a sneaky habit that helped him. Chandler set aside at least four hours each day for writing. He didn’t force himself to write, but he didn’t let himself do anything else. He wouldn’t let himself read, write letters, write checks-nothing. He
summed it up.
“Two very simple rules:
a) you don’t have to write, and
b) you can’t do anything else.
Still Another Idea
This deals with what you want now vs. what you want most. To be effective (as a student, a worker, a person) we need to be clear about what we want now, and what we want most.
What we want now is to go on Facebook and YouTube, to watch TV.
What we want most is to become disciplined and motivated, to learn and to grow, and to pursue excellence.
So let’s not allow what we want now prevent us from getting what we want most. Make an appointment with yourself for each of your “want mores” and treat them just as you would an appointment with your boss, your partner, your doctor.
What do you do to get yourself to do what you want most? We’re all looking for more and different solutions to our procrastination issues!
12 Comments
Great job! I know I am starting my two hours a day writing, tomorrow. I guess I’m still procrastinating with the other two.
Sandy, congratulations on getting your new habit started! I’d love to be kept up to date on your progress.
I simply make an appt with myself. It’s a bit like the jug the professor used to illustrate his point–put in the big rocks first (that’s the most important goals) and next add some gravel to fill the spaces between the rocks and then some sand and finally the water. I figure my priorities the same way, biggest ones first. Then work the less imortant ones in where there’s room.
Works for me!
Meg, I love the example of the jar and the rocks. It is such a visual reminder and it sure makes a lot of sense!
Its often easier to stay at home and be lazy. Just set the time for yourself to get out of the house ( go to a movie, out for dinner, a concert, a play, a ballgame, something ). Then it gets easier to get out and be lazy later.
Another healthy choice is whether or not get out bed in the early morning or stay in bed and just think about things. Set the time for yourself to get up and go for a walk. Good exercise, fresh air, healthy and think about things while you walk or ride a bike.
Get moving instead of not moving.
Earl B
Earl, Yep! Get moving instead of not moving…great advice! And I too have found using a timer helps-either in limiting the time I spend on procrastinating or as a reminder to get moving!
I completely agree with the principle “now versus most” –at least 90% of the time. But have you ever had procrastination work in your favor? Sometimes when I am not hyper-vigilant, I find it is a good thing that I let things rest. Perhaps it could also be called “not living too fast.” But thank you for the post, because it occurs to me that the concept of procrastination is akin to the concept of addiction. This means we use various things (drugs, alcohol, sex, shopping, exercise, even cleaning house) to distract us from dealing with either what is really upsetting us or from doing what would lift us higher. Nice post, Pat! Keep writing!
Cindy, I’ve often thought that being a “human being” rather than a “human doing” is great advice. We all need to slow down in order to keep going!
Great post Pat! Remember “How do you eat an elephant?”…………You taught me early on in my Real Estate career to tackle the big/worst jobs first and I have found this to be so helpful. After you get all the “big stuff” out of the way the rest of the day seems easy and definitely more fun! Thought it was an interesting statement made by Gretchen Rubin………..have to think about that and read her book because I know I do use work sometimes to procratinate!
Tish, and do you also remember “if you have to eat a frog, do it first thing” or it just gets harder to do it? I wonder why all those lessons are about eating? bites of elephants? bigger frogs before smaller ones?
Good thoughts from everyone, I do have a tendency to procrastinate but when I do the big jobs first, things get easier.
Cecelia, I think the momentum creates good feelings and they create the energy for the rest!