Kill Procrastination by Cutting Out Baddie Words
You don’t have to force yourself to do something you don’t want.
You’ve set some desired goals, and you want to be productive and get to work on it.
However, something is getting in the way. Instead of applying yourself, you resist doing what needs to be done. You wish you could kill procrastination then and there.
A dreadful feeling gnaws at you as you procrastinate.
That’s because you know you should do something. You know you ought to take action, but…
Another day goes by, and the same thing happens. Then another day passes and another. You feel like life is passing you by. You know you need to get to work on your goal. Why wait any longer? Do it now! But you just don’t want to do it.
You were a child once. Perhaps you remember how you freely drew pictures with pencil or crayons. Or how you did crafts or wrote stories.
Unless the activity was a homework assignment, you did it just because you wanted to do it.
You weren’t doing the activity because you should do it. You just did it because what you were doing was natural to you and it was fun.
How To Make Work Fun
The reason for the term “hard work” is because we take the fun out of activities that could be enjoyable. Why it’s no fun is because we take it too seriously.
Of course, you need to take the goal which you’re working towards seriously. However, if you’re not having any fun, then there’s something wrong.
Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. — Aristotle
So what are the two “bad” words you need to eradicate to lighten things up so you can get the job done?
What are the two KILLERS OF ENTHUSIASM that cause not wanting to do what’s needed to do in order to accomplish an objective?
The two words that kill enthusiasm and fun are “should” and “ought”! Simply put, if your mind is thinking along the lines of how you should or ought to be doing something, it’s highly likely you just won’t want to.
It just so happens that all human beings (not to mention all sensate creatures) are motivated to move towards pleasure and move away from pain. And saying to yourself that you should do a particular task makes that task seem painful.
Happily, there’s an effective alternative way. This alternative way will get you to get the job done more pronto.
That is, simply substitute the baddie words “should” or “ought” with a helpful phrase. The helpful phrase is “want to.”
So, for example, if you happen to be thinking along the lines of “I should be writing an article” but you’re feeling reluctant or resistant, substitute “I want to be writing an article.”
By replacing with the words “want to”, this immediately changes your point of view of the task you need to do.
So why might you want to work on or write an article?
It could be because you truly love words and arranging them in a way that’s pleasing is your kind of artform. It could be because you have a message you really want to communicate and doing this gives you satisfaction. It could be because writing is actually fun, just like drawing pictures was fun when you were a child, just as long as you didn’t take it too seriously!
So the way to make an activity or task less like “work” and more like fun is to drop the baddie words “should” and “ought” from your thinking (and speaking). They are harsh, judgmental words. They make you automatically rebel and create a negative energy of resistance.
Instead, get into a lighthearted mode towards what you need to do to accomplish your goal or objective by thinking in terms of “want to.”
Then think a bit about why you really truly want to do something, the way you want to really truly do something if you were a playful child again.
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