Zen leo babauta9/10/2023 ![]() ![]() What kind of commitment? You can write it on a piece of paper and look at it every morning. Making a commitment to being aware is a great tool for remembering. It might be causing you anxiety, and making your work suffer. So what harm is the procrastination causing? Well, it might be stopping you from achieving your dreams or big goals, from pushing your boundaries and learning new things. The first thing you need to admit is that the procrastinating is actually doing bad things to you - if we think it’s not a big problem, we won’t take any of the other steps listed below. Here are the ones that tend to work for me: So what we need are a set of tools for remembering. It could be hours before we come up for air and realize we’ve been procrastinating. Once we open a computer, for example, a series of habitual responses kicks in and we’re suddenly in the deep end. The problem with remembering to be aware is that we get caught up in our moment-to-moment actions. But how do we become aware? How do we remember to be aware? How to Remember These are some of the more common examples of what’s going on when we procrastinate. ![]() And often it’s just the temporary pleasure of getting something new in our inboxes, of finding something interesting/pleasurable. Why? What need are we fulfilling? Often it’s a need to be up-to-date on everything, a fear that we might miss something. We have those tabs open all the time and go and check them every few minutes. Often we compulsively check email, social media, blogs, news sites, etc. We can’t step back unless we’re aware that we’re getting caught up in less important tasks. But when we step back and think about what matters most, what will make the most difference in the world and in our lives, we can see what we need to focus on, to make time for. What tasks are more important? It’s hard to know when you’re caught up in the flow of things, just doing things left and right, quickly switching between tasks, and so on. So we have to be aware that our motivation isn’t clear, or that we’ve forgotten what that motivation is in the face of discomfort. But when we remind ourselves of our motivation, we can focus. Why are we putting ourselves through this suffering? It’s way easier to put it off and do other “important” things instead. Lots of times we forget our motivation for doing a hard task. The worst-case scenario of failure is often not that bad when we really think about it. When we see fears out in the open, in the light, we can see they’ve been overblown in our minds. Fears, once we’re aware of them, can be beaten by the light of day. But we don’t often know that this fear is even there - we just act on the fear. Procrastination is often about fear - fear of failure, fear of success, self-doubts. If we’re aware of this, we can solve each of these problems - hard tasks can be broken into easier ones. Without thinking too much about them, we label these tasks as hard, scary, overwhelming, time-consuming. Our minds tend to focus on the hard parts of tasks that we’re procrastinating on. The urges can be beat if we are aware they’re happening. Or we get the urge to go to something easier, more comfortable. ![]() We get the habitual urge to check email or social media or news. So what’s going on when we procrastinate? Try these: So let’s talk about the awareness of what’s going on when we procrastinate, and then how to remember Awareness of What’s Going On This remembering is what mindfulness is about. The problem isn’t just being aware of what’s going on - it’s remembering to be aware. Once we know what’s happening, the fixes are (fairly) easy. The problem isn’t finding solutions to procrastination - it’s being aware of what’s going on in the first place. You can’t clear away distractions unless you realize you’ve been following the urge to go to these distractions.Īwareness is everything with procrastination. You can’t break a task into small steps unless you realize you’re dreading the task. You can’t step back to clarify what your Most Important Tasks are unless you realize you’re procrastinating in the first place. Honestly, I know the solutions: clarify what task is most important, clear away everything but this more important task, clarify my motivations for this task, break it down into something smaller and easier if I feel difficulty.īut they don’t work unless you’re aware of what you’re doing. They were less important and I knew it, but they were quick tasks and so easier than writing an article on a tough topic. I put off writing this article (ironically, I know, and yes I know you’ll put off reading this article) by doing a bunch of smaller tasks, for example. ![]() We all procrastinate, and by and large, we all know the solutions to our procrastination. ![]()
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