These tips will help you not to rape yourself anymore.
1. Find motivation
Being motivated doesn’t mean feeling elation or anticipation. Motivation is just one or more reasons why you take an action. And those reasons need to be found.
You may decide to do something because:
- it will reduce stress;
- it will benefit someone you care about;
- save money or make more money;
- will help you avoid negative consequences;
- will make you feel good about yourself;
- clear your mind.
Time management consultant and author Elizabeth Grace Saunders advises thinking along the lines of: “I don’t want to do this. But if I get over myself, I will improve my financial situation both now and in the future.”
Remember that you can always find a reason to move forward. The key is to focus on the outcome rather than dwell on the task itself.
2. Don't let your emotions take over
There are usually no physical obstacles to going for a run, finishing a major project at work, or finally finishing a book. We just don’t want to do it and let negative emotions ruin our plans.
But emotions can and should be controlled. One way to do this is through meditation. It will help you overcome the mental barriers you have built in front of yourself.
3. Structure the process
Chaos will not help you accomplish an unpleasant task. Therefore, it is very important to make the process clear and understandable. The following tips will help.
Break down the task into steps
Often the tasks we need to accomplish seem so difficult and overwhelming that we don’t know where to start. When this happens, we do nothing and accomplish nothing.
Psychologist Carol Morgan advises that in such cases, think of your task as merely the outline of a few simple steps. This will help you figure out where to approach the thing you are resisting:
At first, writing a dissertation of several hundred pages seemed impossible for me. But once I rethought the whole thing and thought of it as several shorter pieces of writing put together, it wasn’t so bad.
Don’t try to do everything at once
Imagine you need to clear out a clutter in your balcony or garage. That doesn’t mean you have to do it all in one sitting. Any step towards your goal is progress.
Do not set the bar too high. One session per week may be enough to accomplish the task at hand.
Allocate a certain amount of time for tasks
Take your time, give yourself time to do your work properly. But don’t relax too much and certainly don’t put it off until the last minute, otherwise you’ll have to do it all at once, which will only add to your stress.
Also, don’t let any step take up too much time. For example, you can give it 10 minutes a day and then move on to other things if you wish.
Prioritize
Once you’ve broken your task down into several steps, prioritize them in order of importance. Which ones are urgent and which ones can be left for later? For example, if you’ve been putting off paying your bills, deal with the ones that threaten you with late fees first.
Plan
Write down the steps in a paper or digital calendar. This way you can see at any time what tasks you have planned for a particular day, prepare for them and finally accomplish them. And when you mark tasks as done, you’ll feel a surge of motivation. According to Carol Morgan, this will help you stay on track while you learn to do things you don’t want to do.
4. Involve other people
Human beings are social creatures, and sometimes nothing inspires as much as working together. Delegate a step to someone, team up with someone to solve a problem, or simply surround yourself with people who also work. For example, go to the library or another place with a work environment to get an extra dose of motivation.
5. Combine pleasant and useful
Combining necessary activities with relaxing ones can help improve your mood and motivation. Allow yourself to complete a challenging task, say writing an essay or preparing a presentation, in a place you enjoy – a cozy coffee shop or outdoors in a park, weather permitting.
You can also try layering tasks on top of each other. Listen to music or a podcast while you prepare your workspace or do something that doesn’t require much concentration.
6. Reward yourself
Pleasures can serve as a motivator. Try to stay productive while working for a small reward. Blogger and career counselor Sarah Landrum suggests thinking of it as a bribe of sorts. It’s up to you to decide what kind of incentive works best for you. Maybe you’ll allow yourself lunch at your favorite cafe at the end of the week if you meet all your deadlines. Or you could set aside a small amount of money after each successful step and reward yourself with a nice purchase later.