Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Beating Brain-Deadedness

Yes, I think I just made up a word, so you don't have to email me to tell me.

But a funny thing happened as soon as I put up the last post about having absolutely zero motivation to accomplish anything ever. I had, as I noted, a long list of to-dos, and obviously, they weren't going to get done on their own. (Including sending in my estimated taxes, which, oops, I was so brain-dead that I flaked on. So, er, yeah, this whole procrastination thing was definitely taking its (literal) toll...and let's hope I'm not penalized by the nice folks at the IRS!)

But anyway, after posting, I did something new-to-me, which was, as soon as I thought about a task, I did it. Like, that moment. So, I thought about paying my AmEx bill and even though I really wanted to click on Facebook, I instead clicked on my banking page. Then, I thought about those damn taxes and instead of clicking on People, I wrote a check. And as soon as I started doing this crap, it got easier...and really, didn't take up too much more time or energy.

And then, I actually started focusing on work. It all started snowballing - something flashes in my brainscan and rather than waste the energy of thinking of when I could do it another time, I just did it! I wrote three blog posts, I started going through my proof pages, and best of all, I actually sat down - right when the impulse struck - and drafted the first scene for my new book.

It was so energizing! I can't recommend this more. Normally, I'm a list-maker - I jot everything down and axe it as I go. But right now, it seems like the only way for me to accomplish stuff is to seize the moment. Try it! It might work for you!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is something my mother has taught me to do. Think about it, do it right then. I'm a huge procrastinator, but I must say that the times when I actually make myself do what needs to be done, I do have a lot more energy to do it. I think sometimes just thinking about how much I don't feel like doing something, robs me of the energy to do it. Thanks for the post.

Larramie said...

The big "MO" at work! I did the same yesterday and today as you'll soon discover. ;)

Trish Ryan said...

I go through times when this is the only way anything gets done. It's a good tool to have :)

Anonymous said...

Okay, I am totally going to do this for the whole rest of the week! No, maybe the rest of my life. I can spend a whole day dreading something, and resisting it. In fact, sometimes it seems that the ONLY way I get something done is when I'm doing it to procrastinate from the thing I REALLY should be doing!

suzanneelizabeths.com said...

I love this idea...I hate imagining the number of hours I spend in aimless wondering around the internet when I should be writing or reading or moving my body. I'm going to give this a try and procrastination the boot.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tip! It's hard to really enjoy my leisure time when I'm stealing it from things I should be doing.