Transcript
0:00 way to overcome procrastination is to do something harder than the hard thing that you're putting off give me a tactical example of this I need to write a chapter on tools for Focus for my book I'll do anything but that okay so then you have to find something worse than that so for me worse than that is anything involving a spreadsheet just the idea of a spreadsheet gives me hives I would force myself to do 5 to 10
0:20 minutes of establishing a spreadsheet of my expenses and taxes related to some segment of my work life so doing that you'll see it will make writing that book chapter very accessible it's a downhill cruise from there so we've got do something that is harder than the thing that you're trying to get away from if you can do cold exposure that's kind of cool if you're like I got to sit down and do this I find myself for 10
0:41 minutes kind of fluffing about trying to do stuff I go upstairs I have a cold shower okay that was way more miserable if you like it then no but if it's way more miserable then that's the thing to do
Summary
- Procrastination can be countered by doing something harder than the task at hand.
- Engaging in a challenging task, like creating a spreadsheet, can make the original task feel easier.
- Cold exposure, such as taking a cold shower, can serve as a mental reset and make other tasks seem less daunting.
- The principle is to create a contrast that reduces the perceived difficulty of the avoided task.
- Short, intense challenges can help break the cycle of procrastination.
- Finding personal challenges that are more uncomfortable can motivate you to tackle the original task.