Progress has a momentum all of its own (or making molehills out of mountains)
Is there a more universal challenge than the challenge of procrastination?
We want to do things, we want to make change and we want to get going. We don’t want to waste time and be a ghost to our dreams, floating around them but not getting anything solid happening. But how often do we find ourselves at the end of another day that started with intention and gusto but ended without much to show for it?
Into that floating time come the trivial and the light, but also the malformed ways we have developed to cope with nothing to do, be it digital compulsion, or comfort eating, or the practice of making our mood someone else’s problem. Even things that start trivial become more serious; a gentle daydream is fine until we can’t call our mind back when we need to.
Though there are many reasons that cause us to delay (and understanding them is essential if we are to step around all stubborn and predictable circumstances), whatever the reason, how do we snap out of it?
Achieve one small thing toward the goal
A mantra that I have found extremely effective is “Achieve one small thing toward the goal”. Ask yourself what is one small thing I can achieve toward the goal? What small thing will make a contribution toward the place I wish to head? What one small thing will bring about the kind of life I wish to live? What one small act will build my character?
One task completed, builds into another, into another and all of a sudden you are underway. Focus is off the enormity of the list, the difficulty of the task, or the fact that the solution feels so far away, and you are on to what you can control, the small piece in front of you.
The mountain becomes achievable molehill after achievable molehill.
I have realised that progress has a momentum all of its own. All of a sudden a happy morning has passed and a sense of accomplishment is already building for the day; before long the once looming list is all ticked off and the surprise is that it took half as long as expected.
Quick return from distraction
Sometimes it takes us a while to realise that our minds have drifted off and need to be called back.
In our house, after we get “lost in the mirror” (when we have a look at our phones for some useful purpose but get reeled in by the bright colours and dopamine flood and forget why we went there) we don’t dwell on it, don’t allow it any more time than it has already used up. Achieve one small thing toward the goal.
More than our phone, it can be that we haven’t realised that we’ve lapsed into anger, or self-hatred, or bitterness, or resentment.
When we do realise, move right on and attend to the one small thing that is building the life we wish for!
If this has brought to mind anything that you would like to talk through or have help with please get in touch. Either choose a time or send an email via the contact form.
Sources of ideas and stories are acknowledged when used significantly unchanged. Underlying mental health concepts are from the Living Wisdom approach to Pastoral Counselling.