Foto door Joshua Earle op  Unsplash

De sleutel tot uitstel van uitstelgedrag? Maak het onmogelijk om te doen.

Uitstel is iets wat wij allemaal doen. Het is iets dat we altijd zullen doen. Het is iets dat zo diep geworteld in onze natuur is, dat het onmogelijk te vermijden is.

Meestal voelt hard werken gewoon niet goed.

Het is een soort van pijn om je te concentreren, zet al onze aandacht ergens in en mobiliseer onze wilskracht om op gang te komen.

Onze natuurlijke neiging is om weg te rennen van pijn. Onze natuurlijke neiging is om onze wilskracht te behouden. Onze natuurlijke neiging is om onze energie te behouden, tenzij het echt noodzakelijk is voor ons om te handelen.

Daarom is uitstel ons de normaalste zaak van de wereld.

No matter how much we love the type of work that we are doing, it will still always involve the pain of having to invest our energy into something that is not directly related to our own survival.

That’s not the kind of thing our brain can easily empathize with.

It would much rather preserve our precious energy in case something really life-threatening happens.

Make work a smaller pain than whatever the alternative is

Photo by Noah Silliman on Unsplash

You’ve probably noticed this phenomenon, too:

Most people no longer seem to have the ability to simply relax, do nothing for a while, and enjoy their time without any particular activity.

Honestly — I’m like that, too.

In today’s busy, crowded, and media-driven world, people seem to believe that not doing anything in particular for a while is a crime. They start feeling guilty and useless as soon as they inactive for more than five minutes.

For me most part, that is probably a bad thing.

We no longer have the ability to simply enjoy life for its own sake. To simply enjoy the moment, even if there is nothing in particular happening.

But anyways, I am drifting off.

Here’s the point I am trying to make:

You can use this phenomenon of getting bored quickly for the sake of your own productivity. All you have to do is to make yourself so bored, that you have no choice but to work.

Make the pain of working smaller than the pain of boredom.

In order to do that, you will have to deprive yourself of any other potential stimulus that may be around you.

Anything that might distract you from your work.

Anything that you might do.

Anything that might catch your attention.

In other words, make yourself so insanely bored, that you simply have no other choice but to get to work. Create your work environment in such a way that work is the only option there is.

If that’s the case, then you don’t need willpower to get to work.

In fact, you will be grateful that you have something to do. That you are able to avoid your pain of complete boredom.

And even if boredom is not your major pain, then this principle still holds true. You can still make work a smaller pain than whatever the alternative is.

All you need to do is to figure out what the alternative is in your case.

Your work environment is the key

It’s not a secret that the environment you are in is one of the most influential factors in terms of getting work done.

But here’s what most people forget:

Every single aspect of your work environment is affecting your productivity. Every little detail that could possibly be enough to distract you from your work, will distract you.

In other words, the best way of ending procrastination is by making your work environment so sterile, that there is nothing to distract you.

Nothing that your attention can drift to.

Nothing that could make you busy.

Nothing that could be entertaining in any way.

So, get rid of everything which could potentially catch your attention.

Turn off the internet. Have a computer with no software, except for the one you need to do your work. Set up a room with nothing but a table and your laptop.

No matter how drastic it seems, it will be worth it.

Conclusion:

The best way of ending procrastination is by simply not making it a choice.

Put yourself in a situation where the only thing you could possibly do is to work. A situation where nothing else but work is available to you. A situation where you’d bore yourself to death if you wouldn’t work.

Do this every single day, for a long period of time.

Eventually, you will form a habit around work. And perhaps, you will not need a sterile environment anymore.

Obviously, there are plenty of people who can work well from coffee shops, or any other busy places. But these people have trained themselves by developing the right habits.

They have enough self-awareness to know…

… what triggers their motivation- and their distraction.

… in which environment they can perform best.

... wanneer ze wijzigingen moeten aanbrengen om weer op het goede spoor te komen.

Ik ben er zeker van dat je daar uiteindelijk zult komen.

Maar tot die tijd beveel ik aan om gewoon jezelf geen andere keuze te geven dan te werken.

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