Is laziness the most universal human quality? It sure may feel this way at times… but I believe most of the time people indeed want to Do the Damn Thing! However, I’ve noticed a few common barriers afflicting our active psyches.
Time is relative (to your propensity to procrastinate).
One factor may be our perception of time. Sometimes our mental “calculations” about the time required may be intentionally or unintentionally generous, thus allowing us to feel as though the task cannot be completed in the time allotted. As I recently realized after running a half marathon in 2hr 4minutes, one hour is plenty of time to go on a 5 mile run, although I often tell myself it is not. This brings me to my next point, that
achieving goals begets achieving goals.
I don’t consider myself a competitive person, but it seems somewhat inescapable to compare oneself to your past self; and beating yourself releases a nice dose of seratonin! If you still can’t achieve something, break it into smaller goals. Once each piecemeal is accomplished, you will have done the darn thing. Sometimes, annoyingly, even small aspirations are thwarted by the internal “voice” that tells us we can’t, we are unable, we are undeserving, or whatever other lies, instead tell yourself
“I can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
This statement does not ignore those thoughts of inadequacy, moreover, it allows us to move beyond them and instead tell ourselves what we want to become. Positive post-it notes are often used, but my most effective tool for silencing excessive self-criticism is meditation. Meditation gives me the space to understand where the negative thoughts are coming from. Similar to knowing someone insulted you because they were having a terrible day, understanding the root of your thoughts allows you to distance yourself from their impact.
Do something thrilling.
Finally, whenever I feel I have fallen out of motion, I get a boost of inertia from doing something that makes my fingers tingle. Some ideas could be exploring a new park, making your heart beat quickly through movement, meeting new people (free events or meetup.com) or laughing really hard. Although they sound like more procrastination activities, they may just get you back on track to…
Do that Damn Thing.
-Nanmund Freud
