The ultimate answer to 'how do I stop procrastinating and work on what I really care for'.

in #blog7 years ago

I found it. The ultimate answer to 'how do I stop procrastinating and work on what I really care for'. It's actually really easy once you know it. It took me a few months to figure it out. But once you're used to a routine, it will look difficult to change your bad habits. There are actually a few things to put into practice, so don't expect to change in one day. Also, we will still procrastinate, for the reasons I will explain in the conclusion.
To start with, why do we procrastinate? It could be for multiple reasons, and depends from people.
1) It could be because we are afraid to get started. In anything we do, not only creative domains, it takes around 15 minutes to warm up, and those are the most difficult. Once past that, it all comes naturally, because that is what you like to do. So if you draw, just grab that pencil and start sketching. If you write a novel, just start writing down a few lines with whatever goes through your mind. etc.
2) We unconsciously are drugged to dopamine, the natural biologic thing that our brain creates when we play games, check facebook, watch videos, and more. We want to get that feeling. Just like any other drug, unless it's a natural one. All that useless activity keeps us away from focus and doing what we like.
3) We are out of willpower. I believe this is the most difficult to fix, with 5). See that as a stock, that runs down through the day, and recharges with your sleep. Every little decision that you do requires some willpower. It also works as a muscle, I mean that you can make the stock bigger with practice. The casual scenario is that we wake up, go to work, come back home with little willpower. Right? After a long day at work all we want is chill out. All our dreams magicaly disappear. Then the next morning we regreat. This has been happening to me for so long.
4) We have things in our mind that stress us, that we want to forget.
5) We live in a bad environnement. If everyone around you is partying, watching netflix all day, etc, it will be harder for you to even work 10 minutes on your stuff. Because it becomes the standard. It's better to find other people with higher standards.
Now that we know why we procrastinate, here is what we will do to put into practice to get what we really want.
I think 4) is what should be dealt with first. There is a moto that says : "An empty desk equals an empty brain". While this is true, that doesn't mean we should keep our place a mess. An empty brain is actually what we are looking for. It's a figure of speech, of course, but we really want to clear things out so that we can fully focus on our work (I don't like the word work but let's use that for any project, hobby, etc that we want to get done). It is way easier to work that way, you will see. If until now you used to keep your place a mess, then clean it asap. Also if you have some kind of homework or chore that needs to be done, do it. "But that is so boring!" you will say. What if I told you that there is a way to make it become a enjoyable moment? Most of the chores only takes your hands but not your brain. Use that time to get new ideas, think about your project, you'll see that in the end that kind of time is precious, and rather than being avoided, should be enjoyed.
To deal with 1), well then it's simple : when you're ready to work, then just START. Don't overthink too much. Try to get going for at least 15 minutes, but if you last 15 minutes, then the hardest would have been done. You'll start enjoying what you're doing and the time will fly. It's called "the flow" by the way. Turn off your phone, turn off sound and desktop notifications if you work on a PC.
The problem with working full time is that it takes all of our willpower and at the end of the day nothing's left for ourselves. To counter that, is to get a part-time job instead, but that is not always possible. What we can do is to rotate our sleep schedule, get up earlier and work on our stuff before going to work. But sleep is a complicate thing and it takes some time to be able to do that. Also, a lack of sleep is the thing to avoid at all costs, since you'll have even less willpower at your disposition. A usefull tip to get started is a quick nap when you get home before doing anything else. It helps a lot clearing out your thoughts and gaining energy. A 3 hour nap will just waste your time, and you'll wake up more tired than you already were.
As a conclusion, now that you now why you procrastinate, you should be able to find advance in your projects. It won't be easy, and most importantly, it's better to listen to yourself. Because procrastination isn't always a bad thing. Your brain needs it. It helps finding new ideas, solving problems, all of those are tasks that your brain need to do and those take time, but are done automaticaly while procrastinating.

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will try! thanks for your words.

I do that for myself first but maybe that can help other people aswell

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