Hello there, it’s been a while. I had the intention to write weekly and even set aside time to do it. Why? My mind knew they needed to be done but my body just would not physically carry it out. Maybe you can relate. Every Monday would start with the best of intentions but somehow I’d find all these other “urgent” (but not important) tasks fill up my time between waking up and bedtime. By the time Sunday rolled around, I was tired with little to show for it.
It’s not just in our minds – task paralysis is a real problem, especially for those of us perfectionists. Fear of failure causes us to freeze or procrastinate. I spent the past month trying out different management methods and found the following methods to be most effective.
5-second rule
Get up and do things the moment they cross your mind. The rule is once you get an instinct or gut feeling to do something that you know you should be doing, start it immediately before your mind starts to overthink.
Big moves, mini steps
Prioritize the things that will change your life in the long run and break them down in to easy to digest steps. By making the effort to complete the step minimal, it reduces the stress attached to it and actually helps build up confidence to keep up the momentum.
Start with the hard things
Everyone has a limited quota of self-discipline and focus each day – it dwindles down with every activity and decision. Tackle the harder things first and limit the number of unimportant and non-urgent items.
After trying to exercise regularly for the past year, I’ve been able to commit to a daily practice with the three methods above. First of all, I abandoned my previous definition of exercise (remnants of my gym days) which meant intensive and lengthy workouts that would just overwhelm me. Instead, I focused on being active – something is better than nothing. Then I moved onto baduanjin (a form of medical qigong) which required only 10 minutes to complete a set and was a full body workout plus meditation. There were days when I was super lazy but I prioritized it over screen time and more importantly, moved before I could talk myself out of it. Now almost two months in, I feel and look better already.
The benefits of tackling task avoidance also include a stronger ability to handle stress and a steady momentum of luck. I truly believe that the universe is always on our side but it can’t send us what we want if we don’t have the capacity to hold it. If you’re reading this article – congratulations, you’ve done half of the hard work already. Now, get up and start doing that thing before the next 5 seconds is over.
