Hi,
I've been thinking about how to write this article. I wrote a first draft a few days back but my sister said it was too gloomy and preachy. How did that happen? The article was 'Four ways to stop procrastinating and get things done'. Those essays already exist online and I am not really good at giving advice for the sake of giving it. I am only good at voicing my inner world and its many dimensions. So here it goes - I have never beaten procrastination, I've only managed it.
I lose myself in my many distractions. The internet really keeps me 'busy' and so does my family who I 'spend time with' (by that I mean fighting and passive aggressively taunting my sister) I am usually numb and bored and do nothing. I dream away into space producing nothing. What a shame! I have so many ideas! If only I could work on half of them. The truth is, its easy to give in to the next thing, jump from one activity to the next mindlessly running around. Do I really care about the activities I am engaged in? Do they contribute in any way? The answer is no.
Until recently.
I've tried everything by the way. Scouring mother google for advice; envisioning the result; chanting the lord's name; praying and negotiating that I will exchange some amount of work for money. Trust me, there is no real remedy to getting things done other than actually doing them. But how to cross the river of struggle and get to the doing?
The only way to battle procrastination is to face is head on in the moment – by switching from compulsive consuming to conscious action.
Write it down – When I contemplate working, there is a secondary thought in my mind that tries to avoid working. It's a subtle whisper, hard to notice. One day I instinctively wrote down the secondary thought (sometimes action). I wrote down the thought word to word and even wrote down an explanation for it. It worked! Writing down thoughts makes them more volatile, more susceptible to reflection and change. I have a choice when I look at a record of my thoughts on a page – to continue with the distraction or not. I am more aware of the things that I am facing once I voice it out. It stops my cycle of compulsion and switches me into a more conscious gear. There is a difference facing my inner voices after I become present'. Over time, this evolved into a list of the many thoughts and ways in which I procrastinate. It's a reference point – something to avoid my own pitfalls.
Water – I break the chain of busy-ness by washing my face (This is effective when I binge watch endlessly). Every time I splash some water on my face, I reset - both mentally and physically. I feel refreshed and see things differently. Do I go back to work? Not all the time but at least I make a choice in the matter. It's a pause in the day of running. A moment of stillness in the sea of chaos that I make of my day.
What do you make out of your day? Something good I hope.
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