The black hole task

Murmurs rumble from the depths of your mind. Quickly you distract yourself, but it doesn’t go away. It only grows louder — a white noise like the coming tide. A heartbeat of cold panic flushes your skin. Before you can even pop that next Cheeto or click another reddit link, its on you. A banging cacophony of noisy thoughts and feelings. No words, just an overwhelming feeling of dread. It clawed its way up for the umpteenth time. That thing you need to do. That task, that chore, that email, text… it goes by many names.

This one is special though. This one you’ve been avoiding for so long you forgot that you were avoiding it. You forgot why too. You just know you’re supposed to swallow it back down like the bad acid reflux it is. It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. This is an insidious form of procrastination. The kind wrapped in expectation and fear. Little did you know that you’ve been burying this for so long that its developed its own emotional center of gravity.

Now there are other tasks you swallow down because you think to yourself, well… first I need to do that other thing. This is the deep dark vortex of the black hole task. You’ve avoided it for so long that its developed dependencies. And those dependencies have dependencies. Nothing can get done because you are emotionally invested in not doing that one thing. That black hole task.

Are you feeling the weight of its pull right now? At this very moment? There’s good news, friend. You don’t have to live with that. All this takes is three things, and you can feel much better soon.

1. Shine a light on it. — I know its scary. I know you think you don’t want to. But you really do. Just stop and think about the thing you’ve been putting off for the longest. Think about why. Ask yourself some questions about it and be honest. Acknowledge the anxiety.
2. Bravely take action. — Its not going to be comfortable at first, but thats sort of the point, isn’t it? To force yourself to be a little uncomfortable. This is how you induce those positive feelings of reward. If you cant find the emotional momentum, you can use physical momentum. Seriously. Stand up. Stretch. Touch your toes. Swing your arms. Do a squat or 5, maybe some jumping jacks. Now turn and put your hands on the task.
3. Pay attention to what you’re thinking. Remember how you were swallowing down that black hole task? Every time it came up your little voice asked you “Should I do this?” and your big brain came down with an automated ban hammer. Next time ask yourself a minimum of three different questions to get your mind engaged and really think about what you want.

Bye-bye black hole.