RazorCut
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I wouldn't consider a cold shower or drinking black coffee a task, more of a punishment (personally I hate cold showers unless I've just come out of a sauna, but I have learned to love black unsweetened coffee). So that does make you a lunatic in my book.
Starting your day with your most unpleasant task (what Brian Tracy would call eating the frog) is certainly a good method as, once it is out of the way, you know it's all down hill from there.
I've found that we generally procrastinate over a task because we think of it like an iceberg. Over 90% of an iceberg is under the waterline. We see the tip of the iceberg and consider that the easy part, getting started. We assume that all the graft, the hard slog, the sweat and the toil, is hidden away and only shows itself once we have committed to action.
We envision it to be so hard that we will make a poor job of it which creates all sorts of fear of failure, of humiliation, of letting others down etc. so our Amygdala (lizard brain) has a hissy fit and does its utmost to put us off. However the truth of the matter is that often the hardest part is just in getting started.
How often have you put off doing something only to find, once you have finally forced yourself into motion, that, not only was it no where near as bad as you thought it would be, but that you actually somewhat enjoyed the experience?
I came up with a method that helps overcome the inertia of starting. I visualise a task as an inverted iceberg.
90% of that huge block of ice is now above the waterline with just 10% below. The ice above still represents the effort required to start the task. The small amount below is the effort required to complete it.
Looking at it this way it it is far easier to get started as you know that there is much less effort required in actually completing the task which helps calm the lizard brain down.
Starting your day with your most unpleasant task (what Brian Tracy would call eating the frog) is certainly a good method as, once it is out of the way, you know it's all down hill from there.
I've found that we generally procrastinate over a task because we think of it like an iceberg. Over 90% of an iceberg is under the waterline. We see the tip of the iceberg and consider that the easy part, getting started. We assume that all the graft, the hard slog, the sweat and the toil, is hidden away and only shows itself once we have committed to action.
We envision it to be so hard that we will make a poor job of it which creates all sorts of fear of failure, of humiliation, of letting others down etc. so our Amygdala (lizard brain) has a hissy fit and does its utmost to put us off. However the truth of the matter is that often the hardest part is just in getting started.
How often have you put off doing something only to find, once you have finally forced yourself into motion, that, not only was it no where near as bad as you thought it would be, but that you actually somewhat enjoyed the experience?
I came up with a method that helps overcome the inertia of starting. I visualise a task as an inverted iceberg.
90% of that huge block of ice is now above the waterline with just 10% below. The ice above still represents the effort required to start the task. The small amount below is the effort required to complete it.
Looking at it this way it it is far easier to get started as you know that there is much less effort required in actually completing the task which helps calm the lizard brain down.