Bringing Yourself To Do Something Is Most Of The Battle And Lots Of Butterflies

I Am A Pro Procrastinator

I pushed myself to write this post and this was probably more work than writing this post will be. Honestly, writing a post on this blog is hardly work at all and it would be pretty ridiculous to consider it such. But the thing is that it requires effort on my part. Not so much work, just a fair amount of effort. I don’t think the two are quite the same thing.

I’d like to think that I know myself fairly well and I know that for me, bringing myself to do something is probably the hardest part of procrastination. I guess you could say that this is something that just about everyone is aware of when it comes to procrastination but I think that it is still a rather profound concept. I mean, the realization of this is what got me to start writing this very post. It isn’t that I haven’t realized this fact before, it’s just that realizing it in the moment helped me out tremendously with actually overcoming procrastination. I think that my main problem with procrastination is that I get caught up in negative emotions and the smaller details of things. It’s a combination of the fact that I a very sensitive emotion wise and to the world around me, I think a whole lot, I am very cynical at times, I lack confidence, and some other things I can’t come to think of right now. These are the collective traits that help to make me one of the worst procrastinators on planet Earth. That’s an exaggeration but I actually think I may be up there on the list of the very best chronic procrastinators. Man, the possibilities of having a job where all you do is procrastinate.

Yeah, so my relationship with procrastination is a very strong one. Whenever I think about having to get work done or do any type of task that requires a higher level of mental effort or anything I find generally unenjoyable, my elite procrastination skills start to kick in. A surge of negative emotions flows all around my body as a result of thinking about whatever it is I don’t want to do. I automatically begin to see whatever it is I don’t want to do in a negative light and I don’t stop seeing it that way. The thing is, I make the task out to be way worse than it actually is for the most part and I know I do this. For instance, right now I know that writing this post and forcing myself to express my thoughts really isn’t all that bad and even enjoyable. It’s nice to have a creative vice and I am actually all about creativity and expression. But when I first think about writing a post here I tell myself that I don’t have anything interesting to say, or that people won’t like what I have to say, or that it isn’t worth doing at the time. Deep down, the thought of fleshing this blog out, expressing myself through writing, potentially connecting with interested readers, getting a substantial amount of traffic in the long run, and creating an informational resource is very exciting to me. This blog really is an extension of me and this site as a whole is mine. In my mind, that’s pretty damn cool.

But like I said, my negativity and self doubt gets the best of me and this is what causes my procrastination. And this is for something that I actually enjoy! So, you can imagine the mental wall I face when it is something that I absolutely despise. It’s a god damn reinforced brick wall, that’s what it is! Once again though, when I actually start to do whatever it is I’ve been procrastinating, it isn’t all that bad. Sure, it might be annoying as hell sometimes but all in all I am able to get into whatever I am doing and commit to it. Dealing with my procrastination is something I’d definitely like to improve upon as I progress with this blog and I’d also really like to document it here as well.

Butterflies In The Stomach

I’ve been experiencing something rather strange for the past 2 weeks or so. I didn’t mention it to my therapist the last time I saw her because I don’t see it as a huge ordeal…yet. We did talk about my increased anxiety, though, and how I’ve been more consciously aware of it and dealing with it. The strange thing I’m talking about is butterflies in my stomach. I’ve been getting them a lot. It’s at the point where it is annoying and it’s keeping me awake when I try to sleep sometimes. The strange thing about this is that I’m experiencing it at random. Yes, I have been feeling increased levels of anxiety overall (actually, it might be a little better recently) but these sensations aren’t related to my anxiety most of the time. I am sitting here right now and getting butterflies as we speak on and off. And the thing is, I’m not even thinking about something that makes me anxious. This is what confuses me. I usually experience this sensation when I think about something that makes me anxious or during a situation that makes me nervous or uncomfortable. I really don’t know what to think of it. Is it my sub-conscious mind anxiety ridden? Is it hormones? I don’t know! And this bugs the hell out of me. I’m definitely going to cover this in future posts because it is genuinely bothering me. For now though, I think I’ll end things here.

Need Motivation For Work? Think About What It Offers To You

Believe me when I say that I know exactly what it feels like to be completely unmotivated and unwilling to get anything done. I am FAR from perfect when it comes to getting myself motivated to work and in the mood to get things done. With that said, I do know of a certain motivational technique that almost always does the job for me. It’s hardly groundbreaking but it is highly effective nonetheless. The technique I am referring to is thinking about the end result, that “something” that you want, whenever you aren’t feeling motivated to get anything done at work.

I am self employed so getting myself motivated to get work done is crucial. I don’t have anyone telling me what to do, I don’t have a boss, and I don’t have any source of motivation to work other than from myself. This is why staying motivated and willing to get things done is half of the battle for me. Thinking about the potential outcome of my work and visualizing what an increased amount of income can do for me as far as my lifestyle in general helps me out a lot. When I think about what that extra money can do for me and what it can help me achieve I feel pretty damn good. I close my eyes and picture myself in a situation that would only be possible by me working my ass off and I stick with that image until I feel like I am “there”. This really gets me going motivation wise. When I start to mentally “taste” what I can achieve through my work it makes me realize that while working my ass of may not be so pleasant at times, it sure as hell is worth it in the end.

So, how can you use this technique in order to increase your motivation to get work done even if you hate your job and are receiving minimal pay? Well, I am not going to lie to right now and tell you that getting motivated to do work when your work is dreadful and pays a crappy wage will be easy. If you genuinely hate your job then you are going to have to work twice as hard in order to get real work done. You are going to need to remind yourself what your job can offer to you, as crappy as it might be, in the end. You need to think, “What is this job providing for me at the end of the day?”. Maybe you won’t be able to go on a shopping spree due to your current job and maybe you won’t be able to go shopping at all, but you have to be able to SOMETHING as a result of working at your job. If you want to get motivated to work then you need to try your hardest in order to think about the good that results from working at your job and you need to focus on that good instead of letting all of the negative overwhelm you.

A Simple Way To Get Motivated And Start A Routine

What do you know? I’ve been slacking yet again. Yep, I’ll admit it. I’ve been pretty damn lazy as of late. For the past few weeks I’ve found it extremely hard to get motivated and start a work routine for myself. And as a result of this, I haven’t gotten any work done and I’ve spent the majority of my time doing “leisurely” activities. However, during this time I have picked up at least one useful technique. It is a technique that can be used to get yourself motivated and start a routine. Pretty exciting, right? Let me explain this technique for getting motivated and getting “stuff” done on a regular basis in greater detail so that you can get a better idea of what it is all about…

First of all, I want to make it clear that I am most likely not the creator of this productivity booster. I say most likely because while I haven’t seen this method discussed anywhere else, I am sure that others are aware of it. Anyhow, the goal of this technique is to get yourself motivated to do “more” and to do “more” on a regular basis. You see, there are many things that we should be doing on a regular basis that we never get around to doing due to procrastination, lack of motivation, bad time management, etc. And this is exactly what this method of boosting motivation and productivity can be used for.

This is the perfect technique for not only motivating yourself to do something but also doing that something regularly…even if you hate the idea of doing it.

Do More Of This And You Can Do More Of That

The concept behind this technique is simple; start a new routine of something you enjoy in order to start a routine of something you don’t enjoy doing. Basically, by starting a regular routine it will become easier for you to start an entirely new routine. Those last two sentences weren’t too convincing  so I’ll explain my unique case to you. Keep in mind that while this technique for getting motivated and getting things done has worked extremely well for me, I cannot guarantee it will work for you. I understand that this can be said for just about any personal development technique out there but I just felt the need to get this across to you after the boring start to this paragraph.

Anyway, here’s how it went for me. As I mentioned before, I’ve been pretty lazy and unmotivated for the past few weeks when it comes to getting work done. I have found it very hard to do just about anything related to the work I do (including writing content for this blog). The thing that changed everything for me was something my Dad said to me. He said something that was meant to be a joke, but as with anything directed towards me I took it way too personally. The comment was about the current shape of my body and it got to me. What did I do? I decided it was time to start working out again (something else I had been putting off). However, I didn’t start working out on my own. Luckily, my buddy had been interested in working out and somehow the topic of him and I working out together every other day came up. This was the perfect opportunity for me. It forced me to keep to a workout schedule and it allowed me to enjoy the experience more by having a friend there with me.

I’ve been working out regularly ever since.  Now, I haven’t been working out for a very long time on this routine but it has spawned a wealth of new benefits including more motivation to tackle other responsibilities and start new routines based around those responsibilities. It is hard to express the feeling in words and I realize that my success with this technique may not make complete sense, but I am still sure of one thing…it worked.

Once I began to start a routine that directly impacted my health and well being I wanted more. Starting a new work routine and earning more money only seemed natural to me.