btbnnyr wrote:
For motivational aspects of not getting things done, the only thing I find useful is to push yourself to start the things and complete them. It is like developing a habit of starting things and completing them. Over time, it becomes easier to do things. There are lots of decision steps on teh way, on the decision to start doing a thing, 1 minute later the decision to continue, 2 minutes later the same decision, 3 minutes, 15 minutes later the decision to complete the task instead of saving the rest for later, then 20 minutes later you could be done and feel good about getting something done. Each time it crosses your mind to stop, try to decide in favor of continuing. If the task is too long, break it up into shorter steps that take 5 instead of 15 minutes. Each step is a decision to take control over what you need to do, or give it up to your brain trying to screw you over.
I have had to learn to do this. My brain often still manages to screw me over, though, because it says "Oh, you don't need to do it
now, you can wait till later. Hey! You need to buy lentils for that recipe! How many kinds of lentils are there, anyway? You should go look it up on Wikipedia!" Then I spend the next three hours following links on Wikipedia until I remember what it is that I'm actually supposed to be doing.
Being easily distracted makes it hard to be strict with myself. I have ideas on what I want to do that day, but then I get lost in something else. It doesn't help that I have a poor sense of time. And if I'm really bored by an activity that I'm forcing myself to do, I'll become sleepy. I will then be unable to stay awake and concentrate.
But yes, pushing myself to do something right away is the only thing that makes sure that I at least start it. And I can't let myself stop, because it's very possible that I won't go back to complete it when I need to. If I do it right away, I don't have time to build anxiety about completing the task, or think about how much I really, really don't want to do it.
12 Apr 2016, 4:02 pm
